Let the Bunting unfurl in April: an auction for charity

Catherine Williamson, no relation, of Bonhams has provided a list of appealing items. She assures the entire catalogue will repay a reading.

lot 521
Autograph Letter Signed of Marilyn Monroe, 8 pp, September 14, 1942, to her stepmother, giving detailed descriptions of her wedding gifts, her new apartment, and married life; and also asking about the man she believed was her natural father. $25,000/35,000

This is the letter that Charles Williamson always referred to as the best thing in his collection, and the best Marilyn Monroe letter ever. He picked it up in the late 1980s or early 1990s at the Antique Show at the Armory in NYC from a furniture dealer who didn't really know what he had. The mylar sleeve still has a sticker from the armory on it.

lot 49
ALS of F. Scott Fitzgerald to actress Ina Claire, [c.1927], inviting her to dinner at his Delaware mansion, with the promise of more. The next lot is an ALS of Fitzgerald to Claire apologizing for his boorish behavior the night before. $1500/2000 each

lot 55
Typed Manuscript Signed of Maxim Gorky, 2 pp, 1912, commenting on the effects of the 1907 Anglo-Russian treaty dividing conrol of Iran: "The conduct of Russian troops in Persia is serving to strengthen the spread of ORthodox Pan-Islamism...." $1,200/1,800

lot 97
Typed Letter Signed of Margaret Mitchell, 1 p, 1937, to George Cukor, the original director of Gone With the Wind, apologizing for having missed Talullah Bankhead's recent stage performance in Atlanta, but her MacMillan editor had thrown her a party to celebrate her Pulitzer Prize. $1500/2000

189
Autograph Letter Signed of Paul Gauguin, 2 pp, 1902, complaining about the incompetence of the colonial administration in Tahiti. $10,000/15,000

283
Autograph Letter Signed of Giuseppe Verdi, 1 p, 1853, refering to the disastrous premiere of La Traviata at the Teatro la Fenice in March of that year. $1,500/2,000

317
Autograph Manuscript Signed of Ronald Reagan, 7 pp, c.1960, proposing that General Electric Theater create an anti-Communism episode based on a report by J. Edgar Hoover about "youth riots" in San Francisco. $5,000/7,000

333
Document Signed of Lucille Ball, 11 pp, 1951, an "audition and sales option" agreement with CBS to produce a pilot for I Love Lucy. $1,500/2,000

365
Document Signed of Charlie Chaplin, 1 p, March 18, 1939, announcing his intention to continue production on The Great Dictator in spite of recent developments in Europe, specifically Chamberlain's appeasement policy. $2,500/3,500

411
Document Signed of Greta Garbo, 2 pp, January 30, 1925, her first contract with M.G.M. $3,000/5,000

449
Photograph by Cecil Beaton of Katharine Hepburn, signed and inscribed by the actress to director and longtime friend George Cukor: "To George / Everything / Kate." $1,000/1,500

579
Autograph Letter Signed of Rudolph Valentino, 2 pp, 1923, written at the conclusion of his trial for bigamy (of which he was acquitted). $2,500/3,500

Here is a link to the full sale.