Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, and Winston Churchill Feature in Rare Autographs Auction

Ernest Hemingway’s driver’s license, a Marilyn Monroe photographic model release, and a monumental World War II map signed by Winston Churchill are among the items coming to University Archives’ online Rare Autographs, Manuscripts, Books & Photographs auction on September 9.

The sale features The Douglas Wertman Collection which will be offered in a series of auctions. Wertman was for many years Secretary of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club and his collection is especially strong in U.S. Presidents, First Ladies, the Supreme Court, and the Civil War. 

Highlights include:

• an Albert Einstein signed letter sent to his close friend and colleague Michele Besso from Berlin in 1926 in which he argues that simple experiments are not sufficient in themselves and should reveal an underlying order (estimate: $30,000-$40,000)
• Marilyn Monroe's April 30, 1946 photographic model release signed as Norma Jeane Dougherty when she was 19 (estimate: $17,000-$22,000)
• a George Philip Edition of a monumental map titled Dunkirk to Berlin / June, 1940 - July, 1945 / Journeys Undertaken By The Rt. Honble. Winston S. Churchill, O.M., C.H., F.R.S., M.P., / Prime Minister of Great Britain In Defence Of The British Commonwealth And Empire, boldly signed by Churchill at the bottom (estimate: $10,000-$15,000) 
• a George Washington letter signed, dated May 22, 1779 from military headquarters at Middlebrook, New Jersey, to Brigadier General James Clinton regarding logistical preparations essential to the success of the imminent Sullivan Expedition frontier campaign deep into the Iroquois Nation (estimate: $22,500-$35,000)
• an archive of correspondence written by British military commander Charles George Gordon who died trying to defend the city of Khartoum, Sudan against Muslim Mahdists in 1884 (estimate: $20,000-$30,000)
• Ernest Hemingway’s signed Florida driver’s license, probably the only one ever issued to him and dating circa 1939-1940 from Key West, Florida, listing 907 Whitehead Street as his primary address where he lived with his second wife Pauline Pfeiffer during the 1930s (estimate: $10,000-$15,000)