AUCTION OF A COLLECTION OF WOODY GUTHRIE LETTERS
On December 17th 2004, Christies at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York will
be holding it's biggest ever auction of Rock & Roll and Entertainment
Memorabilia:
http://www.christies.com/promos/dec04/1438/overview.asp
Lot 216 is described as a collection of Woody Guthrie letters, with the
following details online:
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/LOTDETAIL.ASP?sid=&intObjectID=4417776
This is a set of correspondence, lyrics sheets and artwork between U.S.
Folk
legend Guthrie (including a couple of letters each from his estranged wife
Marjorie and his girlfriend Anneke) and British Jazz and Folk promoter Ken
Lindsay.
In the early 1950's Lindsay worked at The International Bookshop in
Charing
Cross Road, running a mail-order department which specialised in recording
and distributing music across Europe. He initially wrote to Guthrie to ask
for his help and advice on obtaining original recordings by U.S. folk
artists. Guthrie responded enthusiastically to the idea, seeing a new
outlet
to his own material, as he was finding it difficult to record and perform
in
America owing to the political climate at that time.
They would continue to write to each other, negotiating recording deals
plus
discussing the idea of Guthrie touring Britain. Lindsay also received
gifts
of large lyric sheets, typed on unusual materials such as laundry paper
and
book dust covers, adorned with painted artwork. However, at first he was
unaware of Guthrie's personal and health problems, with the marriage to
Marjorie breaking up over his violence towards her and their children,
blamed on his alcoholism. When he was admitted to hospital, she wrote to
Lindsay with a personal account of these events. Then Guthrie was
diagnosed
with Huntingdon's Chorea, a heredity degenerative disease with no cure.
Soon
after the discovering this, he wrote to Lindsay about all these problems,
but still hoping that they could work together on various projects.
In 1953 Guthrie moved to Florida with his new girlfriend Anneke. Another
tragedy struck him there when his arm was badly burnt. Marjorie had
forwarded Lindsay's letters to Florida and Guthrie would write back to
him,
making light of the event. However, Anneke also wrote letters detailing
the
true problems of his injury, plus their plans for the future. Both letters
are adorned with striking ink drawings of animals. Later that year there
was
a final set of correspondence, still hopeful of doing deals, but also
graphically illustrating Guthrie's worsening physical condition with
scrawled signatures and writing. A typed lyric sheet to Guthrie's "Hard
Travellin'" was included, with the date and location scrawled across it.
Lindsay kept all this correspondence, including carbon copies of his
letters, the originals of which reside in the Woody Guthrie Archives in
New
York. Together, this collection tells the remarkable story of a turbulent
period in Guthrie's life, embellished with lyrics and artwork from that
time. Within a few years, Guthrie was literally "struck dumb" by
Huntingdon's disease, robbing him totally of the ability to write, compose
and perform. Thus this auction provides the rare op****tunity to obtain
some
of the last writings from this prolific genius, whose influence continues
today through artists such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.
The lot includes fifteen letters from Lindsay, (all except one are typed)
six signed letters from Woody Guthrie, one handwritten letter from Woody
Guthrie, two typed signed letters from Marjorie Guthrie, one typed letter
from Anneke and one hand-written letter from her.Viewing and contact
details
for the auction are as follows:
Rock & Roll and Entertainment Memorabilia
Sale 1438
17 December 2004, 10:00 am & 2:00 pm
Christies, 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York
Viewing
11 December 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
12 December 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
13 December 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
14 December 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
15 December 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
16 December 10:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sale Contacts
Sophie DeLaCour
Tel: +1 212 636 2434
Bid Department
Tel: +1 212 636 2436
Fax: +1 212 636 4938
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