Marilyn Monroe Letter Appraised at $52,460
At 16, Marilyn Monroe wrote a letter describing her wedding to Jim Dougherty to her foster mother Grace Goddard. The letter was seen at auction on Wednesday and fetched a high price of $52,460.
Yesterday, April 20th, Bonhams and Butterfields presented Manuscripts from the Estate of Charles Williamson and Tucker Fleming in Los Angeles California. The two dealers are well known for their personal collections of famous autographs and pictures of Hollywood elite throughout the ages. The pair collected items associated with the likes of Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, Faulkner, Greta Garbo, Hemingway, Hitchcock, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe as a few examples.
The sale fetched a grand total of $1.53 million spanning over 600 lots. The top item was an eight-page letter from Marilyn Monroe to Grace Goddard. The letter tells of the nervous 16-year-old Marilyn describing her wedding details to Jim Dougherty. The estimation on the letter was $25,000-35,000 but the work fetched $52,460 instead.
Hoping to market on the success of these sales, Bonhams will be holding their auction of Fine Books and Manuscripts and Illustration on June 22nd as a continuation of this previous sale.
Posted by, Lauren Guzniczak.