Remember the good old days when an autograph meant something? When you actually met the person ‘in the flesh’, the same person who shaped history and whose legacy continues to resonate?
Welcome to the world of Alfred Goldschlager. This unassuming man has spent a lifetime collecting signatures of the most influential p
eople of the 19th and 20th centuries, with the added distinction of having eyeballed many of them.
It began in his native Vienna, when as a small boy in the 1930s he was captivated by people of influence. It has continued until now with his extraordinary collection being entrusted to Charles Leski Auctions, which will offer 288 lots* containing more than 1,000 signatures
on August 15th in Melbourne.
* Autographs from other sources have also been included in the auction.
According to Charles Leski, Goldschlager’s collection is one of the best and most comprehensive to reach the market. He believes it would be difficult to find a collection of the same magnitude where the collector was on hand to witness many of the autographs.
The autographs cover the scale of human endeavour from Nobel laureates to people in the arts and letters, industry, politics, royalty, and the military. While many remain significant in history, some continue to influence the way we live.
“Just as an astute collector has an eye for an unknown painter, Alfred Goldschlager had a sense of who might one day achieve greatness among us,” Mr Leski said. “It was this uncanny knack that makes this collection so notable.”
Pre-sale estimates for the lots vary from $80 to $20,000.
Among the lots for sale (pre-sale estimates in parenthesis):
-
10 Nobel Prize winners.
Comprising photograph and signatures including Paul Flory (Chemistry, 1974); Linus Pauling (Chemistry, 1954 & Peace, 1962); and King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. ($400 - $500)
-
Sir Winston Churchill
Wartime British Prime Minister and Nobel laureate ($1,000 - $1,200)
-
Le Corbusier
Swiss architect who led the Modernist movement ($500 - $600)
-
Charles Dickens
Famous English novelist. Features a signed and framed 1859 letter to Coutts Bank at the time he was writing ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. ($800 - $1,000)
-
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
French engineer and architect who designed the Eiffel Tower ($500 - $600)
-
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
German philosopher, scientist and novelist. ($3,000 - $4,000)
-
Napoleon
Short on stature but big on ambition. French general at the time of the Revolution. Remarkable framed document with hand-painted Coat-of-Arms and large wax seal attached by ribbons. ($3,000 - $5,000)
-
Victor Trumper
Famous Australian cricketer. ($6,000 - $8,000)
-
Bishop Desmond Tutu
South African cleric, fierce opponent of Apartheid and winner of 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. ($100 - $120)
-
Holt Family Collection
Autograph book comprising 101 signatures including Cecil Rhodes, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Stanley, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Rudyard Kipling, Rachmaninof, Nellie Melba, Benito Mussolini and Somerset Maugham. ($15,000 - $20,000)
-
Charles Darwin
British naturalist and author of ‘The Origin of Species’. Display comprising four page letter. ($2,000 - $3,000)
-
Celebrities
Remarkable collection of albums and individual signatures including Lionel Barrymore, Roy Rogers, Nana Mouskouri, Peter Sellers, Danny Kaye, Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Robert Redford, Doris Day, Judge Judy, Louis Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Stefan Zweig, Pearl S. Buck, Robert Baden-Powell, Sarah Bernhardt, Sir Donald Bradman, Feodor Chaliapin, Maurice Chevalier, Duke & Duchess of Windsor, Errol Flynn, Adolf Hitler, Ira Gershwin, Victor Hugo, Nelson Mandela and Patrick White.
10 Nobel Prize winners.
Lot 83 |
Sir Winston Churchill
Lot 145 |
Charles Dickens
Lot 164 |
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
Lot 178 |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Lot 202 |
Napoleon
Lot 291 |
Victor Trumper
Lot 358 |
Charles Darwin
Lot 158 |
These lots are among more than 1,000 items of sporting collectibles, memorabilia and ephemera to be offered for sale over two nights.
Have a look at Auction 293 - Autographs, Sport & General Memorabilia
Have a look at Auction 293 - Autographs
Have a look at the Auction Calendar
These lots are among more than 1,000 items of sporting collectibles, memorabilia and ephemera to be offered for sale over two nights.
NEXT AUCTIONS: Tuesday, August 15th from 6.30pm and Wednesday, August 16th from 6.30pm each day
13 Cato Street, Hawthorn East
Catalogue can be viewed at www.leski.com.au
Tel: (03) 9864 9999
Issued by: Michael Krape, Michael Krape Consulting
Tel: 0403 135 880
michaelkrape@krape.com.au
|
|
