1960 Scarce First edition, First printing - Rimbaud by Beat Generation Novelist Jack Kerouac.

A bold and scarce Beat-era broadside, where Kerouac meets Rimbaud in a single unfolding gesture.

Author: Jack Kerouac.
Title: Rimbaud.
Publisher: San Francisco, City Lights Books, 1960. First edition, first printing with 35¢ price (Charters A14). One of 2,000 copies printed.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 5 x 5 inches (folded); 25 x 5 inches (unfolded).
Pages: Single folded sheet (broadside).
Binding: An attractive near fine folded broadside, printed in black on vivid yellow paper, recto and verso; edges and corners exceptionally well preserved, housed in a removable protective mylar cover.
Content: Very good to near fine; bright, crisp, and clean, with a striking visual presence.

Estimate: (USD 600–800).

The book: A scarce and highly evocative first edition of Kerouac’s 202-line poetic tribute to the French symbolist Arthur Rimbaud, issued by Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights. Presented in a striking fold-out broadside format, the piece unfolds both physically and intellectually, echoing the restless energy of the Beat spirit. First appearing in Yugen no. 6 earlier the same year, this publication captures a moment when American counterculture openly embraced its European poetic ancestry. Today, it stands as a powerful and collectible artifact of Beat-era experimentation and literary devotion.

The author: Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, was a central figure of the Beat Generation. Alongside Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, he redefined postwar American literature with a style rooted in spontaneity, rhythm, and lived experience. Best known for On the Road (1957), Kerouac’s work reflects a lifelong search for meaning, movement, and poetic truth.