An archive of 100 documents relating to the career of former Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin Purvis will star in an auction of books and manuscripts at Potter & Potter.
It consists of letters, telegrams and manuscripts of varying types.
The documents date to between 1930 and 1943
The vast majority are signed and date to between 1930 and 1943.
The Bureau of Investigation, which would later become the FBI, was founded in 1924.
Purvis, known in the press as Little Mel, started there in 1927 and swiftly became one of its most accomplished agents.
He was responsible for leading the hunt for some of the most infamous figures in American history – including bank robbers Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.
He’s best known for leading the team that tracked down notoriously slippery gangster John Dillinger in 1934.
Purvis left the FBI in 1935, after a falling out with then FBI director J Edgar Hoover.
The lot includes memos sent to other members of the Bureau, many of which reference specific cases he was working on.
It’s valued at $9,500-10,500.
A collection of artefacts related to Jimi Hendrix’s stay in Toronto in 1969 is also on offer at the July 8 auction.
It consists of a pair of hotel keys and three sheets of paper displaying handwritten phone numbers (including two for Hendrix).
Hendrix was detained at Toronto airport on landing when drugs were found in his suitcase.
This led to a lengthy trial that finally resulted in a not guilty verdict.
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