Jack Kerouac Book Covers

A selection of front covers of various editions of On the Road (click on thumbnail to enlarge)

"When I'm old, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to study languages reading these."
(Kerouac's comment on the foreign editions of his books, 1966.)

UK Editions:

Deutsch 1958	Deutsch 1958	Pan Giant 1961	Pan 1963	Deutsch 1962	Penguin 1972	Deutsch 1973
Penguin 1980	Penguin 1987	Penguin 1989	Penguin 1991	Penguin 1998	Penguin 1999	Penguin 2000
Penguin 2007	Allen Lane 2007	Penguin 2007	Penguin 2007	Penguin 2008	Penguin 2008	Penguin (Aus) 2008

USA Editions:

Viking 1957	Viking 1962	Viking 1963	Viking 1971	Signet 1958	Signet 1965	Signet 1967
Signet 1968	Signet 1977	Signet 1982	Penguin 1980	Penguin 1990	Penguin 1990	Penguin 1991
Penguin 1994	Penguin 1999	Penguin 2002	Penguin 2003	Penguin 2005	Buccaneer 1978	Viking 1979
Penguin 1979	Quality 1993	Viking 1997	Amereon 1998	Penguin 2007	Viking 2007	Lib Am (proof) 2007
Lib of America 2007	Viking 2007 (proof)	Viking 2007	Penguin 2008

German Editions:

Rowohlt 1959	Rowohlt 1959	Rororo 1968	Reclam (GDR) 1978	Rororo 1993	Bertelsmann 1996	Rororo 1998
Rororo 2000	Rororo 2002	Rororo 2004	Rororo 2006

Dutch Editions:

De Bezige Bij 1961	De Bezige Bij 1970	De Bezige Bij 1974	De Bezige Bij 1978	De Bezige Bij 1988	De Bezige Bij 1989	De Bezige Bij 1994
De Bezige Bij 1996	De Bezige Bij 1999	Areopagus 2004	Areopagus 2004	De Bezige Bij 2006	De Bezige Bij 2007

French Editions:

Gallimard 1960	Gallimard 1972	Gallimard 1987	Gallimard 1990	Gallimard 1997	Gallimard 2003	Gallimard 2004
Gallimard 2007

Italian Editions:

Mondadori 1959	Mondadori 1967	Mondadori 1970	Mondadori 1970	Mondadori 1970	Mondadori 1974	Mondadori 1981
Euroclub Italia 1985	Mondadori 1989	Leonardo 1994	Mondadori 1995	Mondadori 1995	Euroclub Italia 1996	Famiglia Cristiana 1998
Mondadori 1999	Mondadori 2000	Mondadori 2001	Mondadori 2001	Bib. di Rep. 2002	Mondadori 2007	Mondadori 2007
Mondadori 2007

Spanish Editions:

Star Books 1975	Bruguera 1981	Bruguera 1983	Anagrama 1986	Circulo de Lect 1988	Anagrama 1989	Circulo de Lect 1994
Coleccionables 1995	Biblioteca 2001	Anagrama 2009	Anagrama 2009

Spanish (Catalan) Editions:

Editorial Pòrtic 1989	Edicions 62 1996	Edicions 62 1998	Edicions 62 2009

Others:

Argentina 1959	Argentina 1969	Argentina 1975	Argentina 1977	Brazil 1984	Brazil 1986	Brazil 1987
Brazil 1997	Brazil 2004	Bulgaria 1981	Bulgaria 1983	Bulgaria 1997	Bulgaria 2003	China 1998
China 2001	China 2006	Croatia 1971	Croatia 1997	Croatia 2008	Czech 1978	Czech 1980
Czech Rep. 1994	Czech Rep. 1997	Czech Rep. 2005	Denmark 1960	Denmark 1986	Denmark 1988	Denmark 1998
Denmark 2008	Estonia 1996	Estonia 2006	Finland 1964	Finland 1980	Finland 1988	Finland 2000
Greece 1981	Greece 2000	Greece 2007	Hungary 1966	Hungary 1983	Hungary 1994	Hungary 1999
Hungary 2004	Iceland 1988	Iceland 2008	Israel 1988	Japan 1959	Japan 1970	Japan 1972
Japan 1977	Japan 1983	Japan 1987	Japan 2007	Latvia 2003	Latvia 2007	Lebanon 2007
Lithuania 1972	Lithuania 1991	Lithuania 2004	Lithuania 2007	Macedonia 2000	Norway 1992	Norway 1996
Norway 2004	Poland 1993	Poland 2005	Portugal 1960	Portugal 1978	Portugal 1998	Portugal 2003
Romania 1970	Romania 2003	Romania 2009	Russia 2000	Russia 2002	Russia 2003	Russia 2006
Serbia 2005	Serbia 2009	Slovakia 1991	Slovakia 2002	Slovenia 1967	Slovenia 1998	Slovenia 2005
Sweden 1959	Sweden 1959	Sweden 1965	Sweden 1976	Sweden 1980	Sweden 1984	Sweden 2003
Sweden 2008	Sweden 2009	Taiwan 1999	Turkey 1993	Turkey 2008	Ukraine 1995	Ukraine 2001
	And finally, Jack Kerouac's own design for a book cover in 1952. It was never used.
Yugoslavia 1988		Kerouac 1952

This published version of On the Road was Kerouac's third attempt at writing his road novel. The first was begun in November 1948 and featured hero Ray Smith. This was abandoned, and a second version started in March 1949 with hero Ray "Red" Moultrie.

Further attempts were made in 1950 but proved to be false starts. It was only after Kerouac was inspired by the letters of Neal Cassady in late 1950 that he sought to write in a similar free-flowing style, the result of which was the famous scroll version of April 1951, which became the basis of the published version.

Kerouac was, however, still dissatisfied with the result and, having been introduced to the concept of "sketching" with words in the fall of 1951, he began working on yet another version of his road book, completing it while staying at the Cassady home in San Francisco in the early months of 1952.

Originally titled Visions of Neal, the book, which included a rewrite of the main events described in its forerunner, was only published in its complete form, as Visions of Cody, three years after Kerouac's death, in 1973.

Thanks to Rod Anstee, Niels Hansen, Michael Powell, Andrew Sclanders, Vojo Sindolic,
and Horst Spandler for the use of their book cover images.

A selection of books by William S. Burroughs can be found here:

A selection of books by Neal Cassady can be found here:

A selection of books by John Clellon Holmes can be found here:

A selection of books by David Goodis can be found here:

More Kerouac book covers can be seen here: