Bob Dylan (photo Ken Regan Instagram)
42 love letters written by Bob Dylan in his youth were sold at auction this week for a whopping $669,875. He wrote the letters to his high school sweetheart, Barbara Ann Hewitt. They span 150 pages in the handwriting of the young musician. The buyer: a bookstore in Portugal.
The letters were written by Bob Dylan, then still Robert Alan Zimmerman, in the late 1950s, when he was around 17 years old. The unprecedented archive, which also includes a Valentine’s card signed by him, is being sold by RR Auction, a Boston-based auction house specializing in unique memorabilia .
The letters, which have never been published and shed light on a period of Bob Dylan’s life about which little is known. In 1958, Zimmerman already dreamed of changing his name and selling a million records, ambitions he shared with Anne Hewitt in his messages. He wrote about the preparations for the local talent show, shared short snippets of poetry and constantly expressed his love for the girl.
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Hewitt, Dylan’s age, lived in Minnesota, where she met the young musician in high school history class. The couple’s first date was on New Year’s Eve in 1957, according to RR Auction. They exchanged letters at least until the end of 1959. Hewitt’s letters remained in Dylan’s possession until her death in 2020, when Hewitt’s daughter found them and realized what a treasure she had in her hands.
According to the buying store, Libreria Lelo, the letters “reveal the feelings of teenage passion, and the dreams and aspirations of the writer.” The letters to its audience on January 13, 2023, the day the bookstore celebrates its 117th anniversary.
“At the age of 17, Robert Alan Zimmerman, like all teenagers of that time, wrote love letters to his beloved. The 42 love letters reveal the author’s intention to change his name, the dream of selling a million records (he sold many more), the music he listened to, the His talent in singing and of course his mastery of expressing emotions with words,” reveals Libreria to Lelo.
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