Op Weg, etc. – more Kerouac covers
Tuesday, March 30th, 2010Yesterday we looked at Jack Kerouac’s hand-drawn cover for “On the Road”. Of course, unless you’re William Blake or Chip Kidd, authors don’t typically get the design their own book covers. Here are some of the covers that have graced the many editions of “On the Road” since it was first published in 1957, as collected by the LibraryThing community.
 The once-ubiquitous Signet edition; this is the one on my shelf, dog-eared and underlined (and meriting a brief mention in my story Pieces). |
 The pensive Beatnik version. |
 Jazzy and somewhat alluring Pan Giant version. |
 I’m not sure I quite understand the cover on this Dutch edition of “Op weg”. |
 Another Dutch edition (my Dutch isn’t very good; is “Op weg” a dialect difference, or maybe Afrikaans?), this one making a political statement that isn’t wholly in keeping with the contents of the book. |
 The French edition of “Sur la route” (not translated by Ti Jean himself, of course), with a fanciful feel. |
 I think I like this Swedish cover the best; it captures the carefree spirit of the best parts of the novel. |
