Jack Kerouac's original 120-foot scroll manuscript for 'On the Road' sold for $12.1 million at Christie's, setting a record for a literary manuscript. The scroll, part of the late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay's collection, was purchased by country singer-songwriter Zach Bryan, who plans to create a Jack Kerouac Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The sale highlights the soaring market for culturally significant artifacts and raises questions about public access to national literary treasures. Kerouac wrote the first draft in a three-week burst in 1951, and the scroll became a symbol of the Beat Generation. While the previous owner facilitated public exhibitions, the new private owner's stated plans for a dedicated center suggest the iconic manuscript may remain accessible to the public.