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Sale 35
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Lot 21
Howard Hughes Archive (1905-76) American aviator, industrialist, movie producer, and eccentric billionaire. An extraordinary collection of letters, documents, and photographs, many signed by and sent from Howard Hughes to lovers, his wife, his skipper, employees and associates. It also includes Hughes' famous brown hat and important aviation documents.
Collection of love letters from Hughes to Ziegfeld Follies and film star, Billie Dove (called "The American Beauty"), whom he met in 1929 on the Starlight dance floor of the Biltmore Hotel; they shared a three-year romance and became engaged but never married. These letters were kept by Billie Dove until her death in 1997: Ten autograph letters, 1-5 pages each; four are signed "Howard"; the remainder by pet name initials; eleven autograph notes, six signed with pet name initials; one typed letter, signed in type; One 2 page autograph letter with all but one line, "Do you love me?" crossed out; one original typed love poem; eleven envelopes, all but two addressed in HH's hand; five telegrams; one printed Christmas card; and several original photographs (4" x 5" to 8" x 10"), as well as several pages of notes in Billie Dove's hand regarding her first meeting with Hughes and other memories.
Howard Hughes and Katharine Hepburn Telegrams: 22 sent from HH to Miss Hepburn between 1937 and 1939, and two 1939 handwritten drafts from KH to HH; they often used nicknames, such as "Dan" for each other.
Six handwritten pages of notes (both sides) between Howard Hughes and his wife Jean Peters, from a yellow legal pad. The movie actress (she made her screen debut in 1947 in Captain From Castile) and the billionaire wed in 1957 but maintained separate bedrooms and lives for much of their 14-year marriage, with notes such as these being a chief means of communication. The two write all over the pages, with assurances of love, invitations to come and visit, talk of TV shows and movies, sympathy for illnesses, and an interesting exchange about someone named Cissy who died (HH writes, "…I gave her the hepatitis"), as well as a reference to the 1965 baseball game in which San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marachal hit Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro on the head with his bat.
Howard Hughes' legendary brown hat, made by Johnson Brothers of London for Brooks Brothers; the initials "HRH" are embossed into the headband. Numerous photos of Hughes during the 1930s and 40s show him wearing this hat, often in or next to an airplane. In the film The Aviator, Leonardo DiCaprio often wore a copy of this hat when he portrayed Hughes.
Three Signed Photographs: A black and white 6½" x 9" photo (matted to 12" x 14½") of HH in a plane, signed and inscribed to the president of the New York World's Fair Corporation: "To Mr. Grover Whalen with my most sincere wishes for the success of Worlds Fair 1939. Howard Hughes"; an 8" x 10" framed photo of HH and the four-man crew that flew around the world with him in 1938 in record time, signed by each man on or near his image--navigators Tommy Thurlow and Harry Connor, flight engineer Edward Lund, radio engineer Dick Stoddard, and Hughes (the signature on his dark suit is very visible in person), who piloted the plane; a framed 9½" x 7½" photo of HH with Carl B. Squier, aviation pioneer and the V.P. of sales for Lockheed Aircraft Corp.,signed and inscribed, "To Carl Squier / my best regards to the super salesman of all time. Howard Hughes" (signature and part of inscription are against the dark carpet).
1938 Document Signed by Hughes indemnifying New York City from any responsibility for his around-the-world flight, signed 7 July 1938, four days before he left in a heavily-modified Lockheed L-14 on his record-breaking flight ((3 days, 19 hours and 8 minutes), which catapulted him to international fame.
1938 Letter of Credit Document Signed by Hughes with the Amtorg Trading Corporation, in Russian, being a Letter of Credit that HH was to "present to the authorities at the airdromes whenever you make a landing in the U.S.S.R…." With ennvelope cancelled at New York 10 July 1938 and small American flag, both purported to have been carried on HH's historic flight.
Important 1965 Autographs Notes to ex-FBI agent Bob Naheu who worked as HH's personal emissary and dealmaker, both sides of a yellow legal page; secretarial notes at top; the rest in HH's hand, saying, in part: "I must have an absolute fix….We lose trading positions in the biggest business deal in history of industry in U.S. and the world…If Sonnett finds out we are surveiling him it would be the end of everything."
Group of 21 1930s telegrams to C.B. Flynn, captain of Hughes' 425-foot yacht, Southern Cross, with instructions, questions, etc.; 3 are in HH's hand, sent from the yacht to other people; also, 5 typed pages of instructions to Flynn (this one has some 10 lines added in HH's hand); plus 2½ pages of typed instructions for "C.B.F. and Mrs. Mays" demonstrating Hughes' mounting paranoia: "Never mention H.R.H.'s name…Never mention the Boat's name" etc. It was on the Southern Cross that Katharine Hepburn painted her first picture in 1937 while cruising through the Bahamas with Hughes.
1930 "Hell's Angels" Souvenir Book from Hughes' first film, made when he was only 23 and starring Jean Harlow and Ben Lyon. With full cast and crew lists, photographs, plot summary and production information; 6¾" x 5"; areas of gilded paper loss on back cover and loose pages inside. Additionally, there are issues of Look, Newsweek, and Life, with cover stories on Hughes, as well as a front-page newspaper story on his death.
A magnificent collection. It should be viewed in person to be truly appreciated.
Estimated Value $125,000 - 150,000.
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