Original 'On the Road' travels to IU

The original manuscript to beat writer Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," a 119-foot scroll detailing Kerouac's travels across America and life on the beat scene, is being evaluated for preservation at IU's Lilly Library.\nIndianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay paid $2.43 million for the scroll in an auction at Christie's, who catalogued it at christies.com as being worth between $1 and $1.5 million. Last week, Irsay sent the scroll to IU Lilly Library preservationist Jim Canary to be evaluated for preservation.\nKerouac once described the manuscript in a letter to friend and beat poet Allen Ginsberg, quoted at christies.com.\n "…wrote whole thing on strip of paper 120 foot long -- just rolled it through typewriter and in fact no paragraphs -- rolled it out on floor and it looks like a road…," Kerouac wrote in his distinctive stream-of-consciousness style\nOriginally written in 1951, "The Scroll," as Kerouac and friends called it, is still legible but a bit tattered. Its first page is torn down the middle and Canary said at some point a dog even ate a bit of it. It is now 119' 4" long. Canary said he has so far evaluated about 40 feet of the scroll.\n"I'm doing a condition survey at the moment," Canary said. "I'm looking at it from beginning to end and noting any defects that I see. Any tears, smudges, tape."\nIrsay said the scroll is connected to many facets of his life. As the owner of a sports team, Irsay said he actively collects memorabilia. A rock and roll fan and poet, Irsay also appreciates the effects Kerouac and other beat writers have had on modern music and literature. Irsay hasn't yet read the entirety of his fragile, $2 million scroll. But he remembers reading the store-bought version of "On the Road" when he was 17.\n"The beats had a huge influence on Dylan and McCartney and Lennon," Irsay said. "I just have a real love for writing and writers and that kind of thing. Everything just comes together with the Kerouac script. First of all, the uniqueness of the scroll and the spontaneity with which he wrote it is a form of writing that I'm a big fan of. To me that sort of style is something that is really (full of impact) and I have an interest in."\nThe "spontaneity" to which Irsay refers is part of the legend of "On the Road." Kerouac supposedly wrote the entire piece in 20 days, cutting long sheets of paper to fit his typewriter and taping them end to end as he typed to form the scroll. The original manuscript lists the real names of the other beat writers on whom Kerouac based characters and includes crossed-out errors and original writing not found in the published version.\n"There's a strong interest about people wanting to read it as is with the cross outs and the real names in there," Irsay said. "I'm looking into the aspects of if there's a way to get something like that published. Like when Dylan did Blood on the Tracks, the first version was the best. Kerouac wanted to publish ("On the Road") as it was but the publishers wouldn't let him."\nIrsay spokeswoman Myra Borshoff said the scroll will be unveiled in Bloomington at a public reception in August, but no date has yet been set. Borshoff said Irsay plans to investigate options for making the document available for the public.\n"The farther I got pulled into it the more I really felt it was something I wanted to do," Irsay said. "I also had heard some concerns from people who really love the work itself and some concerns it might be taken out of the country or socked away or those sort of things. So from a stewardship standpoint I really felt good about saying 'hey I can help' or I can be a curator for this kind of thing. It's such a part of Americana in the aspect of the way it's written and how he travelled and everything"