Rare Romantic Note From Jackie Kennedy and Iconic Items at Auction on June 12
New York — Lion Heart Autographs, Inc., for more than forty years an internationally recognized dealer of autographs and manuscripts specializing in art, history, literature, music, and science, has announced an extraordinary live auction to take place on Wednesday, June 12, 2019 beginning at 1:00 p.m. which will feature over 175 lots of some of the world’s most rare and valuable manuscripts, autographs and memorabilia to date.
The auction will offer some extraordinary documents, autographs, letters and photographs from the world’s most famous entertainers, composers, personalities and playwrights. Among some of the most intriguing entertainment items is a letter written by JACKIE KENNEDY (Estimate $750/$900) on her blue Fifth Avenue stationery card to Roswell Gilpatric, presidents Kennedy and Johnson’s Deputy Secretary of Defense with whom she was intimately involved. Another highlight is a large signature on a card by America’s most famous composer, GEORGE GERSHWIN, written next to a caricature by Sam Hinerfield (Estimate $700/$900) as well as two letters by creator of the Addams Family, cartoonist, CHARLES ADDAMS. (Estimate $300/$400)
Other rare and interesting highlights include:
FEDERICO FELLINI: A rare letter written by the celebrated Italian film director and screenwriter discussing an opera adaptation of his 1954 film La Strada, music, film rights, and his hectic filming schedule. (Estimate $300/$400)
WILLIAM FAULKNER: A precious and extremely rare manuscript by the American author, Nobel Prize winner and screenwriter whose classic novels Light in August, The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying present a stark portrait of life in America’s deep South. Faulkner has penned twenty-one lines in his tiny hand of an early draft of a key passage from his Light in August. This leaf was given to New Yorker writer and Algonquin Roundtable with Dorothy Parker, who, in turn, passed it on to American poet Archibald MacLeish, who has annotated the manuscript in pencil: “Faulkner ms given me by Dorothy Parker in 1930 (?) [sic] A MacLeish.” Faulkner manuscripts very rarely turn up at auction because almost everything written by him is held in institutions. (Estimate $25,000/$30,000)
EUBIE BLAKE: African-American ragtime pianist and composer of “I’m Just Wild about Harry,” one of America’s most famous tunes and extensively used in President Truman’s 1948 re-election campaign. A complete, seven-page original piano vocal score of “I’m Just Wild about Harry,” written in Blake’s hand with notable differences from the original 1921 sheet music version. (Estimate: $8000/$12000)
BILLIE HOLIDAY: A rare and dramatic black-and-white, full-length photograph of Billie Holiday, America’s premier female jazz vocalist known as “Lady Day,” by photographer Siegfried H. Mohr, showing her wearing an elegant, sequined gown singing and holding a microphone in her right hand. It is inscribed on the back “For Yolanda [sic.] Stay as lovely as you are, Billie Lady Holiday” to Sri Lankan singer and actress Yolande Bavan. Because of her early death, autographs of Billie Holiday, also known as “Lady Day,” are rare and this is an extremely uncommon form of her signature. (Estimate: $2000/$2500)
SEPTIMUS WINNER: Uncommon musical quotation from one of his most famous works, “Listen to the Mocking Bird.” Winner was a prolific 19th-century American composer and arranger whose popular songs include “Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone?,” “Ten Little Injuns,” “What Is Home Without a Mother,” “Carry Me Back to Tennessee,” and “How Sweet Are the Roses.” (Estimate: $500/$700)
DARIUS MILHAUD: Uncommon three-page musical manuscript entitled Trois Chanson de Ronsard, likely an early draft for his Quatre Chansons de Ronsard composed in 1941 for French coloratura soprano Lily Pons, known for her long association with the Metropolitan Opera. Milhaud, whose work was influenced by jazz and Brazilian music, wrote the work while living in the United States. (Estimate: $3000/$4000)
LEONARD BERNSTEIN: A letter written by the beloved West Side Story composer to his girlfriend while he was a student at Harvard in 1938. (Estimate: $300/$500)
IRVING BERLIN: Photograph signed by the beloved and prolific American songwriter depicting Berlin at the piano. (Estimate: $600/$700)
STEINWAY PIANOS: A magnificent suite of six original, oversized and framed photographs inscribed to America’s premier piano manufacturer, Steinway and Sons, by some of the company’s greatest artists, including: Alexander Brailowsky (Estimate $1000/$1500), Vladimir Horowitz (Estimate $2500/$3000), William Kapell (Estimate $2000/$2500), Arthur Rubinstein (Estimate $2500/$3000), Rudolf Serkin (Estimate $1250/$1500), and Solomon. (Estimate $1250/1500)
ALEXANDER WOOLLCOTT: A lengthy letter by the American journalist, writer and Algonquin Roundtable member who was the inspiration for The Man Who Came to Dinner, commenting on numerous actors and playwrights including Ruth Gordon, Noel Coward, Ethel Barrymore, and Joseph Jefferson. (Estimate: $300-$500)
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW: Two manuscripts in Shaw’s hand in which he answers questions about post-World War I international diplomacy. The war prompted Shaw to abandon the creation of socially critical drama, and instead write criticism about the horrors of the period. An outspoken pacifist., one of the manuscripts comment on Mussolini and Russia cynically observing: “Our Pacifists are only crying Peace where there is no peace.” (Estimates: $500-$700 and $600-$800)
DAWN POWELL: Uncommon trio of signed contracts for Powell’s play Jig Saw, which tarnished her reputation for its transparent and unflattering portrayal of various theater personalities. (Estimate: $500-$750)
JOHN L. BAIRD: Two letters written by the Scottish inventor who produced the first televised picture of a moving object in 1926 and in 1928 developed color television. (Estimate: $400/$500 each)
“I always feel privileged to offer rare, historical documents and autographs, but our upcoming auction in June represents the broadest and most extraordinary array of items spanning hundreds of years of historical events and periods that I am simply in awe,” said David Lowenherz, founder and owner of Lion Heart Autographs. “We hope collectors and fans from around the globe share in our excitement as they peruse artifacts in art, history, literature, music, science and sports. Whether the human endeavor is represented by racing to Arctic regions, landing on the moon or fleeing from captivity, this auction, clearly has something for everyone.”
For bidding registration and catalog click here: https://www.invaluable.com/catalog/fx5ksap7sg
The auction will take place live and online, partnering with Boston-based www.Invaluable.com, one of the world’s leading online auction platforms.
Lion Heart Autographs, Inc. is located at 216 East 45th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY, 10017. Telephone: 212-779-7050; Fax: 212-779-7066; Email: lionheart@lionheartinc.com; website: www.lionheartautographs.com
