NEW YORK — Doyle New York‘s sale of the personal effects of Broadway musical master Stephen Sondheim soared far beyond healthy estimates June 18, drawing fans of the legendary composer who wanted to own a piece of his illustrious career and passions. Complete results are available at LiveAuctioneers.
The most anticipated lot did not disappoint. Created by workmaster Karl Armfelt for Fabergé in St. Petersburg between 1908 and 1917, this billiards table with a hidden interior compartment had been estimated at $12,000-$18,000. Floor bidding started at $5,500 and kept climbing until the final offer of $55,000 ($73,150 with buyer’s premium). The piece had been exhibited at a Fabergé event at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York.
Sondheim’s first big hit was as the lyricist (librettist) for the music created by Leonard Bernstein for United Artists’ 1961 smash hit musical film West Side Story, which had previously debuted as a Broadway musical in 1957. Columbia Records awarded him this gold record to commemorate $1 million in sales of the movie’s soundtrack in 1961. Doyle’s notes included this awesome anecdote:
The opportunity to write the lyrics for West Side Story came after the librettist Arthur Laurents saw a preview of Sondheim’s musical Saturday Night and thought he might be a candidate to write the lyrics for the show. Leonard Bernstein was writing the music for this adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and, while Betty Comden and Adolph Green were slated to write the lyrics, they were busy in Hollywood and Sondheim was given a chance to audition for Bernstein, whom he impressed. At first, Sondheim was discouraged — he wanted to be a composer and librettist of musicals, but he asked the opinion of his mentor Oscar Hammerstein II who said: “Look, you have a chance to work with very gifted professionals on a show that sounds interesting, and you could always write your own music eventually. My advice would be to take the job.” The rest is history.
The gold record was estimated at just $1,000-$1,500, but hit $35,000 ($46,550 with buyer’s premium).
Sondheim’s treasury of thesaurses and rhyming dictionaries were surprise overperformers in the sale. This lot of dictionaries, thesauruses, and books on crossword puzzles in well-loved condition hammered for $20,000 ($26,600 with buyer’s premium) against an estimate of just $400-$600. A set of four editions of Roget’s International Thesaurus, two of them dating to 1946, also trounced its $200-$300 estimate to hammer for the same price, $20,000 ($26,600 with buyer’s premium).
