Happy Birthday Shel Silverstein - Original Draft of A Light in the Attic

A Light in the Attic Original Draft Manuscript Handwritten and Illustrated by Shel Silverstein

Today marks the birthday of Shel Silverstein (1930 - 1999), the remarkable poet, singer-songwriter, cartoonist, and author. Our Collector's Treasure of the Day is his original handwritten and illustrated draft of one of his most famous poems, “A Light in the Attic.” In addition to various changes and corrections, Silverstein added a few lines to the left of the poem, as well as a cryptic series of capital letters down the left side. This one-of-a-kind manuscript lends tremendous insight into his process as an artist and poet, a truly remarkable piece. Authenticity guaranteed for life by Collector's Shangri-La plus third party COA.

Remembering Forrest J. Ackerman - Collector's Treasure of the Day

Forrest J. Ackerman and friends at the Ackermansion (1969)

Endorsed Check Signed by Forrest J. Ackerman and Marion Zimmer Bradley

Today marks the birthday of Forrest J. Ackerman (1916 - 2008), the sci-fi collector, publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine, and literary agent. Uncle Forry shared his sci-fi and horror  collections with other fans for decades at his Ackermansion, and he is truly missed. Our Collector's Treasure of the Day is this 1956 check to fantasy novelist Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930 - 1999), a client of Ackerman. She is best known for her fantasy novels such as The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover series. Signed by both. Provenance Jerry Weist Collection. Authenticity guaranteed for life by Collector's Shangri-La.

Symposium on Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts

Collector's Shangri-La is proud to participate in the upcoming Symposium on Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts sponsored by The Manuscript Society. Limited to 50 attendees, the event will be held in Los Angeles on Saturday November 17, 2013. Whether you are just starting out collecting, or you are a seasoned collector, you won't want to miss this event. We'll cover the history of autograph collecting, mistakes to avoid (forgeries, facsimiles, unethical sellers, etc.), methods of preservation, tips on hunting for treasures at estate sales, and special considerations for the historical collector. The $25 cost includes a buffet lunch. Click here for more details and online registration.

New Collector's Shangri-La Channel at Youtube

Collector's Shangri-La Channel at Youtube

We just returned from the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Manuscript Society in Santa Fe, NM. We used the occasion to “jump start” a new Collector’s Shangri-La Youtube channel with four short videos we shot at the meeting. Check them out here!

Collector's Treasure of the Day - Happy Birthday Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra/Perry Como Autographed White House Performance Sheet Music

Happy Birthday Ol' Blue Eyes! Today's treasure is a set of sheet music for a medley of Jazz standards including "Blue Skies" and "Deed I Do" that was written for a Frank Sinatra / Perry Como performance at the White House. It has been autographed by both Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998) and Perry Como (1912 - 2002).

Collector's Calendar for December 2012

Collector's Shangri-La provides a monthly calendar of selected celebrity autograph signings, collector's conventions, and other events through our blog at:http://collectorsshangrila.blogspot.com/

Sign up to follow our blog to stay up-to-date!

The Avengers #1 Signed by Stan Lee

11/30/2012 - 12/2/2012 New Orleans Comic Con at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.

Scheduled Guests include: Dean Cain, Eliza Dushku, Stan Lee, David Mack, Kevin Sorbo, Patrick Stewart, and many more!

Celebrity Chef Autograph Collection 

12/4/2012 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Union Square. New York, NY.

12/6/2012 7:00 PM at the Apple Store - Prince Street. New York, NY.
12/11/2012 6:00 PM at WalMart - Galleria Blvd. Charlotte, NC.
12/13/2012 6:00 PM at Bookpeople - North Lamar. Austin, TX.
Rachael Ray, celebrity chef, signing her book My Year In Meals

12/5/2012 7:00 PM at Mendham Books - Route 24. Mendham, NJ.
Jane Seymour, star of "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman", signing her book Open Hearts Family

12/5/2012 7:00 PM at Eso Won Books - Degnan Blvd. Los Angeles, CA.
Eriq La Salle, star of "ER", signing his book Laws of Depravity

Star Trek Cast Photo Signed by George Takei, Nichelle Nichols,  Walter Koenig

12/5/2012 9:00 PM at Midtown Comics - West 40th Street. New York, NY.
George Takei, star of "Star Trek", signing the book Kevin Keller

KISS Psycho Circus Signed by Todd McFarlane and KISS

12/6/2012 6:00 PM at Midtown Comics - Fulton Street. New York, NY.
12/11/2012 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Grove Drive. Los Angeles, CA.
Todd McFarlane, toy-designed and comic creator, signing his book The Art of Todd McFarlane

12/6/2012 6:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Grove Drive. Los Angeles, CA.
Denis Leary, comedian and star of "Rescue Me", signing his book Merry F***in' Christmas

12/6/2012 7:00 PM at Books & Greetings - Livingston Street. Northvale, NJ.
Andrew McCarthy, 1980s brat pack star, signing his book The Longest Way Home

12/7/2012 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Americana Way. Glendale, CA.
Kenny G, smooth jazz saxophonist, signing ElfBOT

12/7/2012 5:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Northwest Prairie View Road. Kansas City, MO.
12/14/2012 4:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Stevens Creek Blvd. San Jose, CA.
Kevin Pollak, actor "The Usual Suspects" and "A Few Good Men", signing his book How I Slept My Way To the Middle

12/9/2012 Clifton Comic Book Expo at the Clifton Community Recreation Center, Clifton, NJ.

If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) Signed by Betty White

12/10/2012 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble - Grove Drive. Los Angeles, CA.
Betty White, star of "The Golden Girls" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", signing her book Betty and Friends: My Life at the Zoo

Information sometimes changes. Before showing up, please contact the event location to verify accuracy, and let us know if there are any errors in our listing. Thanks!

The Autograph Legacy of a Society Hostess

Guest books can be a treasure trove for the autograph enthusiast—especially if the guest book belongs to someone famous in their own right. I’ve recently acquired for my personal collection a guest book used by Cobina Wright (1887–1970), an American opera singer and actress who later became a syndicated gossip columnist. She was quite famous as a society hostess, and her guest book that covers the years 1950-1967 contains hundreds of pages of autographs of A-list celebrity guests. It’s no wonder she had so much inside “intel” to fill her society columns—she was a true insider in the celebrity worlds of her day: Hollywood, Broadway, politics, high society, music, and art. It’s clear in studying this book that all of these worlds were inextricably linked, and it is utterly fascinating to see who was hobnobbing with whom! In alphabetical order, a sampling of the luminaries include:

Muhammad Ali, Army Archerd, Gene Autry, Anne Baxter, Edgar Bergen, Red Buttons, Rory Calhoun, Hoagy Carmichael, Jack Cassidy, Maurice Chevalier, Charles Coburn, Nat King Cole, Gary Cooper, Robert Cummings, Arlene Dahl, Marion Davies, Delores Del Rio, Phyllis Diller, Walt Disney, Doris Duke, Irene Dunne, Edward-Duke of Windsor, Henry Fonda, Joan Fontaine, Clark Gable, Eva Gabor, Reginald Gardiner, Judy Garland, Greer Garson, Janet Gaynor, Paulette Goddard, Howard Hawks, Susan Hayward, Charlton Heston, Bob Hope, Hedda Hopper, Ross Hunter, Van Johnson, Shirley Jones, Hedy Lamarr, Esteé Lauder, Liberace, Art Linkletter, June Lockhart, Fred MacMurray, Jayne Mansfield, Tony Martin, Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban, Patricia Neal, Richard Nixon, Hugh O’Brian, Merle Oberon, Louella O. Parsons, Norman Vincent Peale, Mary Pickford, Cole Porter, Otto Preminger, Anthony Quinn, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Edward G. Robinson, Buddy Rogers, Ginger Rogers, Gilbert Roland, Cesar Romero, Jane Russell, Rosalind Russell, Wallace Seawell, Norma Shearer, Nancy Sinatra, Edith Sitwell, Red Skeleton, Robert Stack, Barbara Stanwyck, James Stewart, Mark Taper, Norman Taurog, Elizabeth Taylor (Todd), Mel Tormé, Gloria Vanderbilt, Robert Wagner, Wallis-Duchess of Windsor, John Wayne, Clifton Webb, Mae West, Natalie Wood (Wagner), and Jane Wyman.

Autographs of Lillian and Walt Disney and others

The book itself is a beautiful object—an oversized volume bound in mauve-colored leather and embossed in gold-ink on the front cover “Cobina.” Her guest book takes one into the private celebrity world behind the veil. By looking at the personal sentiments, funny drawings, and “in-jokes” the reader gains a sense of the relationships and humanity beyond the celluloid and print artifacts we usually get to see.

On February 16, 1963 George Hamilton jokes, “hope you don’t mind going out with an old man!” At the time he was 24 and had just played the playwright Moss Hart in the film Act One. Wright was 76.

John Wayne displays his sense of humor in his 1953 entry, “We’re flat on our backs / Our room rent is due / But never mind about us dear / Happy Birthday to you”.

Art Linkletter playfully flirts, “once again My heart trembles as I meet Cobina—‘the other woman’”. He signs as “Art Linklet- ter + wife” while years earlier he had written: “Art Linkletter (a man you spent the night with) over the Atlantic—remember -”.

Not to be outdone in affection, Phyllis Diller signs on Bob Hope’s birthday in 1967 with a self portrait and hearts, “the other half of the Screen Team says Cobina is a silly broad who is lovely and adorable...I love you Cobina...meet my darling Warde Donovan”. This was Diller’s blockbuster year starring in Eight On the Lam with Bob Hope, the animated special Mad Monster Party, and her own Phyllis Diller Show.

Autographs of Judy Garland, Paulette Goddard, Otto Preminger, others

It’s a shame most of us don’t use guest books anymore. It’s an invaluable tool for subsequent generations to be able to peek into another time—and another world.

For more information on Cobina Wright, pick up a copy of her memoir I Never Grew Up (Prentice-Hall, 1952).

article by Kevin Segall, published in Manuscripts Volume LXIV- Number 3 Summer 2012 (a publication of the Manuscript Society)

Spectacular New Additions to Collector's Shangri-La

New Additions to Collector's Shangri-La

Autographs, original art, and memorabilia from The Avengers, Ray Bradbury, Sam Cooke, R. Crumb, Fantasia, Harry Houdini, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cole Porter, Charles Schulz, George Washington and much more!

1955 Peanuts Comic Strip Original Art Signed by Charles M. Schulz

Cole Porter Signed Photo

Fantasia Pastel Production Drawing Animation Art by Elmer Plummer

Full George Washington Signature along with Swatch of his Coat and His Hair

Greeting Card Illustration Original Art Signed by Robert Crumb

Harry Houdini Skeleton Key Display

Incredible Hulk #181 Recreation Original Art Signed by Herb Trimpe

Master of Kung Fu #60 Cover Original Art Signed by Ernie Chan

Pirates of the Caribbean Pirate Pistol Prop

Spider-Man Hooky Original Art by Bernie Wrightson

The Avengers Movie Poster Signed by Joss Whedon with Illustration by George Perez

William Morris Agency Contract Signed by Sam Cooke

A Whirlwind Account of The Manuscript Society Annual Meeting 2012 - Quebec City

It was my honor and privilege to join the Board of Trustees of the Manuscript Society this year. We're an international nonprofit organization founded in 1948 and devoted to the collection, preservation, use, and enjoyment of autographs and manuscripts. Our annual meeting is in a different city each year, and for 2012 we had the pleasure of exploring the treasures of Quebec City, Canada.

The Redpath Museum at McGill University

Neither my wife Stephanie nor I had ever been to Canada so we began our trip in nearby Montreal a couple of days before the official itinerary began. We visited the Redpath Museum at McGill University which consists of three floors of natural history and world culture artifacts - both areas are right up our alley. We also visited Montreal's McCord Museum of Canadian History - home to collections of costumes, paintings, art and aboriginal objects. It seemed like they must have known that we were coming because one of their main temporary exhibits was Mary Pickford and the Invention of the Movie Star. The exhibit featured some incredible manuscript items like a 1920 signed distribution contract for United Artists and a 1924 Motion Picture Relief Fund Certificate signed by Mary Pickford and Cecil B. Demille.

Pickford Inscribed Photo on her Wedding Day to Husband Douglas Fairbanks 1920

We took the train to nearby Quebec City and arrived at the historic Château Frontenac which was our home base for the annual meeting. My first full day there was spent with the other board members taking care of our regular business: budgets, membership, marketing, ethics issues, future annual meetings, honors, and scholarships. Since it was time for the well-respected Herbert Rubin to step aside to make room for new board members such as myself, he was unanimously elected as an honorary board member for life. At the end of the day, we enjoyed a cocktail reception with the other meeting participants in the Salon Rose Room. We learned that the room had hosted critical meetings between world leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and William Lyon Mackenzie King during the Quebec Conferences of World War II in 1944.

Our Quebec City adventure begins outside the Château Frontenac

The next day we begin with a talk by our host David Mendel entitled Quebec: World Heritage City. For those of us with a basic "American" education, the talk certainly filled a number of holes in our knowledge of Canadian history and served to orient us for our visit. We took a walking tour of Upper Town and stopped at the Ursuline Convent to explore its museum and archives. It is the oldest educational institution for women in North America and still functions as a school.

Outgoing president Barton Smith and the Manuscript Society outside the Ursuline Convent

Metting with the librarian to view the treasures of the Ursuline Archives

1831 Manuscript with the Seal of King William IV

1671 Testament of Madame de la Peltrie who started the Ursuline order of Quebec 

We had lunch that day at Le Parlementaire Restaurant at the National Assembly, where we took a guided tour and visited their library and archives. The origins date to 1791 and serve the members of the National Assembly in their duties of governance.

The Manuscript Society checks out the Goods and mingles with the Archivists

Oldest Item in the National Assembly Library - 1472 Thomas Aquinas Book

Register of Oaths taken by Members of the Legislative Assembly

Later that evening our group visited the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity with a special viewing of communion silver given by King George III. We were also treated to a double-bill concert. First, the church organist demonstrated a rare English chamber organ made in London in 1790 that was recently moved to the Cathedral. Next, our esteemed ex-president Barton Smith performed several piano pieces - including compositions by J.S. Bach, Chopin, and Scott Joplin. Finally, he quizzed the audience with a mystery ballad by a manuscript dealer who died in 2000 and was once a famous chanteuse. The song was on the Hit Parade several times, the most famous version being by Nat King Cole. Can you guess the answer?

The next day was filled to the brim with activity - a walk to Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica, an exploration of the exhibitions and archives of the Seminary of Quebec, and a visit to the National Archives of Quebec.

Inside the Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica

Visiting with one of several Librarians at the National Archives of Quebec

Early Choir Book at the National Archives

The Autograph of one King Louis of France (or is it the "Hand" of the King?)

The Autograph of another King Louis of France

James Pattison Cockburn (1779 - 1847) Original Illustration of Early Canada in the Archives

For lunch that day we had just barely enough time to cover a business meeting and auction off about 60 lots of donated manuscript material to benefit the Manuscript Society. The annual auction is always one of the highlights of our annual meetings, and certainly the most boisterous. UACC President Michael Hecht and I had a bidding war over a Jack London signed check which he finally let me have (thanks, Michael). I returned the favor by quickly parting with a David Selznick letter that I had been eyeing. I also was lucky enough to provide winning bids on several other goodies - an autographed Jack Benny letter, an Al Capp signed contract, and several signed Hollywood photos including Mr. Television himself, Uncle Miltie.

Milton Berle Signed Photo

Pearl Bailey Signed Photo

Our final day in Quebec City consisted of a walking tour of Lower Town and a trip to the Island of Orleans where we walked across the majestic Montmorency Falls. Our farewell dinner at the Garrison Club was accompanied by a talk about the Napoleon/Josephine/Marie-Louise love triangle by member Peter Friedman.

Our Hotel as Seen from Lower Town 

Me and the Mrs. at Montmorency Falls

Next year: Santa Fe, NM and another adventure. We can't wait!

Manuscript Society Visits the Autograph Collection of the LA Public Library

Eleven members of the Los Angeles chapter of the Manuscript Society gathered at 10:00 AM on May 5th at Los Angeles' Central Library. Among those attending were incoming president Beverly Hill (pictured with Kevin Segall and Emma Roberts), Board members Dennis Shapiro, Michael Hecht, and Kevin Segall, as well as retired Disney archivist and past Board member Dave Smith, and Gary Milan, renowned for his Revolutionary War and entertainment collections.

Beverly Hill, Emma Roberts, Kevin Segall

Thanks to the organizing efforts of Kevin Segall, we were escorted into the Rare Book Room where Subject Specialist Emma Roberts laid out some treasures, among which were a 13th century manuscript in Latin (sold to the Library in 1960 by the now-100-year-old Glen Dawson), a diary written by a Frenchman during the Gold Rush, an 18th century cookbook, and a book that was branded (!) to prevent theft (see photo).

branded book to prevent theft

The highlight of our visit, however, was the Charles Lummis collection of 1700 autographs, obtained from writers, artists, and other prominent people while Lummis was head librarian (1905-1910). On the special library stationery sent to them by Lummis, the recipients responded in a variety of ways, some with quotations, some with long explanations and some with original artwork (see photo).

Dorothy Dix Autographed Manuscript from the Lummis Collection

After our visit, the group retired to the Biltmore for lunch and a discussion of what we had seen.

Story courtesy of Michael Hecht