Books · Photographs · Collections
I’m an author, curator, and antiquarian based in Manhattan. I’ve published books on my extensive Jack Kerouac collection, in conjunction with a Grolier Club exhibition, and on the archive of portrait photographer Marcel Sternberger with Skira/Rizzoli.
01 / Collection & exhibition
Visions of Jack Kerouac
The Grolier Club, New York · March 5–May 16, 2026
Twenty-three letters and postcards to his childhood friend George Apostolos and twenty-five letters to fellow Beat Ed White, together with his correspondence with other friends and writers, are the heart of my Kerouac collection. Many were previously unpublished. In them, he thought aloud, tested his ideas, and practiced his prose. They let us see the work behind a style so often, and too simply, described as ‘Spontaneous Prose’.
For the Grolier Club exhibition, I brought some of those letters together with manuscripts, important inscribed first editions, books from his own library, personal belongings, and previously unknown photographs.
I first thought of collecting Kerouac when I came across his annotated copy of Dostoyevsky’s The Possessed. I had read him for years, but this let me see him as a reader. His letters drew me in further: here was a young writer, working urgently on how he wanted to write, and to live.
Taken together, the letters, books, and other objects in my collection provide a fuller image of how Kerouac’s writing and life developed. Building this collection has allowed for a deeper understanding of a profoundly important writer, both for me as its collector and for the wider Kerouac world, including scholars.
The shop
I work with private collectors and institutions through the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop, building collections of antiquarian objects spanning literature, the history of ideas, science, photography, and other areas of human achievement. Our work ranges from finding a single exceptional piece to developing a collection over many years.
Working together
A collection should begin with something that genuinely interests you: a writer, an idea, a period of history, or a photograph you keep coming back to. Its boundaries needn’t be fixed at the outset. Part of the joy of collecting is discovering which objects speak to you most strongly, and allowing the collection to develop an identity of its own.
My role is to help turn that interest into a coherent group of historically important objects. A first edition might mark the arrival of an idea; an inscribed copy or manuscript may reveal a relationship or a mind at work. In selecting objects, I examine closely what makes a particular piece worth having, its condition and history, and what it adds to the collection as a whole or to our understanding of a subject.
Whether you are beginning a collection or developing one you already have, please reach out for a consultation.
Discuss a collection
02 / Photography & research
At the core of Marcel Sternberger’s practice was his theory of the psychology of portrait photography. He believed that a revealing portrait depended on genuine rapport: the photographer had to understand the person in front of the camera.
When Sternberger talked with his sitters as he photographed them, he wanted the conversation to bring out expressions that a formal pose might conceal. His records of the sittings help explain both the portraits and how he made them. You can read about his conversations and portrait process with Frida Kahlo, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and others in The Psychological Portrait.
As curator of his archive, I’ve researched and exhibited his work. The Marcel Sternberger Collection’s website has a more extensive gallery and more information about Sternberger and the archive.
Visit the Sternberger CollectionBook details
Marcel Sternberger’s Revelations in Photography
I drew on Sternberger’s photographs and archive to examine how he worked with his sitters, and what he believed a portrait could reveal. With an introduction by Phillip Prodger, former Head of Photographs at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Book details
Visions of Jack Kerouac
My essays on Kerouac’s literary development, religion and personal life accompany letters and objects from the collection, with a foreword by Ann Charters, contributions from scholars, and an interview with Kerouac’s contemporary and collaborator, David Amram.
Book detailsFeatures & reviews
Articles open on the publications’ websites. Some require a subscription.
I’m an author, curator, and rare book, manuscript, and photography dealer based in Manhattan.
I am a partner at the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop and curate the Marcel Sternberger Collection and an important assemblage of Jack Kerouac material.
For questions about my books and research or for interview and talk requests, please get in touch.
jacob@jacobloewentheil.comFor collection building, available material, and catalogue inquiries, you can also contact the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop and request my assistance.
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