Home / Arts and Entertainment / Zach Bryan Buys Kerouac's $12M Scroll
Zach Bryan Buys Kerouac's $12M Scroll
13 Mar
Summary
- Zach Bryan purchased Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' manuscript scroll.
- The winning bid for the nearly 120-foot scroll was $12,135,000.
- The scroll sold for significantly more than its estimated value.
Country music star Zach Bryan is the buyer of Jack Kerouac's iconic "On the Road" manuscript. The original document, typed onto a scroll measuring nearly 120 feet, was sold at Christie's for a staggering $12,135,000. Bryan, a self-proclaimed Kerouac fanatic, secured the Beat generation artifact.
The sale significantly exceeded Christie's pre-auction estimates, which ranged from $2.5 million to $4 million. The scroll's previous owner, Jim Irsay, had acquired it in 2001 for $2.43 million, an amount that was then a record for literature at auction.
Kerouac famously composed "On the Road" over three weeks in April 1951, utilizing the continuous scroll format to type at the speed of his thoughts. The manuscript features real names of his friends and captures his cross-country adventures, though names were altered for the 1957 publication that propelled him to literary fame.
Bryan's acquisition aligns with his deep admiration for Kerouac's work, having previously purchased a church in Kerouac's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, with plans to establish a Jack Kerouac Center. This is part of an ongoing effort to preserve and celebrate the author's legacy.
