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After the publication of ‘The Town and the City’ in 1950 Jack Kerouac was not happy with its book cover. So, in 1952 when he was looking for a publisher for his classic ‘On The Road’ he designed his own, his own DIY effort. He then sent it to a potential publisher called A.A. Wyn with a little note typed in top right hand corner that read:
Dear Mr. Wyn:
I submit this as my idea of an appealing commercial cover expressive of the book. The cover for ‘The Town and the City’ was as dull as the title and the photo back flap. Wilbur Pippin’s photo of me is the perfect On the Road one … it will look like the face of the figure below.
J.K.
Wyn turned down the novel and the book languished in the nether regions of literature purgatory until 1957. And we all know what happened after that. Personally I can’t stand his design but there you go.
