Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original publication of On the Road by Jack Kerouac, is the New York Public Library’s tribute exhibition, Beatific Soul: Jack Kerouac, On the Road. On view until February 24, 2008 and from March 1-16, 2008 is the first 60 feet of the original 120 feet “scroll” manuscript for On the Road, countless preserved notepads, photographs, numerous Kerouac drawings and even personal possessions.

The exhibition fleshes out Kerouac as a drifting artist with a whimsical direction in life. Although plagued with notorious addictions, he was above all a curious and passionate soul. The exhibit is broken up into eight “mile markers” that explore in depth the Beat generation and its prominent members, Kerouac’s early influences, his interests in Buddhism and Christianity, and other work such as his poetry and art.

I found the tiny details of Kerouac’s handwriting, a pressed leaf within a journal and the documents signed in blood jarring and memorable. But of all the meticulously preserved artifacts, the most haunting are the personal possessions neatly angled and placed within a glass case. Kerouac was known as a pack rat, and it is his eye glasses and clip-on shades, the harmonica that touched his lips, the dice that rolled within his fingers, his blood bank donor card, his compass that steered him across the country, his pepper mint gum and the Zig Zag rolling papers that really left a lasting impression on me. Kerouac was more than just a writer; he was a man with personal tastes who created a generation that is still celebrated 50 years later. The Beatniks still beat strong.