A letter from writer Ernest Hemingway to actress Marlene Dietrich will lead an autographs sale at Swann Auction Galleries on May 4.
It’s an intimate declaration of Hemingway's love for her that also includes a reference to his final book, The Old Man and the Sea.
Hemingway and Marlene Dietrich corresponded regularly for decades
Hemingway and Dietrich first met in 1934 and were instantly besotted with one another. However, they never acted on their feelings as they were never single at the same time.
In 1952, when this letter was written, Hemingway had been married to his fourth wife, Mary, for eight years.
As Hemingway later wrote, they were “victims of unsynchronised passion”.
In this letter he writes: “I always love you and admire you and I have all sorts of mixed up feelings about you”.
This isn’t the first letter from Hemingway to Dietrich to cross the block.
Another, in which he addresses her as “Dearest Kraut”, sold for $15,625 at Heritage Auctions in October last year.
A signed photograph of JFK and Dwight Eisenhower, taken during their December 6, 1960 transitional meeting at the White House, is valued at $10,000-15,000.
Material signed by both an incoming and outgoing president is extremely rare.
We have this incredible original poster from Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign for sale.
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