WESTPORT, Conn. – A letter written and signed by the legendary kung fu master Bruce Lee, a bank interest note twice signed by the notorious gangster Al Capone, and a letter typed and signed by Albert Einstein regarding the development and use of the hydrogen bomb are a few of the featured lots in University Archives’ online auction slated for Wednesday, June 26. Bid absentee or live online through LiveAuctioneers.
The auction will begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The auction is packed with rare and highly collectible autographed documents, manuscripts, books, photos and relics – 261 high-quality lots in all.
“Our June sale offers another great opportunity to collectors,” said John Reznikoff, president and owner of University Archives. “Not only does the auction feature the strong American items, but unique foreign material as well. You’ll find autographs from European royalty, revolutionaries, and political influencers from English King Edward IV to the Russian mystic Grigory Rasputin.”
There are several Bruce Lee items up for bid, but the centerpiece lot promises to be the letter Lee wrote and signed in 1966, on Twentieth Century-Fox Television Inc. stationery, with content relating to The Green Hornet and episodes titled The Preying Mantis and The Hunter and the Hunted. The letter (above), addressed to Taky Kimura in Seattle, should sell for $15,000-$17,000.
The one-page bank interest note twice-signed by Al Capone (as “Alphons Capone”) is dated Nov. 18, 1926, when Capone was at his infamous peak as a Chicago-based crime boss. The partly printed document is also signed by his mother, Theresa Capone, and his wife, Mae. It’s matted and framed and comes with a photo of Capone holding a cigar (est. $20,000-$24,000).
A rare military checklist signed during the summer of 1475 by England’s King Edward IV, approving a list of men and munitions required for his imminent invasion of France, is expected to reach $35,000-$40,000. The king’s distinctive monogram appears at the top of the first page. The document is displayed alongside Edward IV’s portrait in a double-sided frame.
A one-page letter written and signed by French Impressionist Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), from his days as a Parisian art student, accompanied by a color print of a self-portrait, has an estimate of $18,000-$20,000. Also, an impressive and large architectural drawing by Frank Lloyd Wright of the Duey Wright House in Wausau, Wisconsin, circa 1957, should command $5,000-$6,000.
A one-page letter typed in English and signed by Albert Einstein, regarding “the moral, social and political implications inherent in the construction and use of a Hydrogen Bomb,” typed on Didier, Publishers (N.Y.) letterhead, should fetch $9,000-$10,000. The letter, signed by Einstein on April 19, 1950, is matted and framed and is accompanied by the original transmittal envelope.
Official schedules for President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy during their fateful visit to Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963, including Jackie’s signature in initials, is expected to realize $15,000-$17,000. Also, items pertaining to Marilyn Monroe – strands of her hair, a brassiere, two custom blank checks and a color publicity still, all in a shadowbox frame – should bring $5,000-$6,000.
The Revolutionary War-date endorsing signature of Jewish financier Haym Solomon, on a check issued by Robert Morris as Superintendent of Finance, with double-sided portrait and plaque, is estimated at $20,000-$24,000, while a ship passport dated March 15, 1793, signed by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson regarding the British-seized ship Sampson, should make $10,000-$12,000.
A letter written and signed by Depression-era criminal John Dillinger, penned while in prison in Indiana, circa 1929-1933, to the prison assistant superintendent, requesting a job transfer, has an estimate of $15,000-$17,000. Also, the fine binding six-volume set of Winston Churchill’s The Second World War, signed by Churchill in 1957 on volume one, should achieve $8,000-$9,000.
A one-page letter written in Russian Cyrillic by Peter the Great (Czar Peter I, 1672-1725), in which he announces the birth of a daughter, Natalia, dated Sept. 10, 1718, should earn $14,000-$15,000; while a one-page letter of recommendation written and signed by the Siberian holy man Grigory Rasputin (1869-1916), for a starving unemployed man, should make $12,000-$14,000.
For details contact University Archives at 203-454-0111 or john@universityarchives.com.
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