BOSTON,
MA—At the 
and Literary Rarities sale held Feb. 18 at RR Auction, an
anonymous bidder from the U.S. made the auction house an offer it couldn’t
refuse. He or she bid $625,000 on a treasure trove of items from the estate of the
Italian American man who wrote The
Godfather and co-wrote (with director Francis Ford Coppola) the movie
trilogy that the novel inspired.
Born
Oct. 15, 1920, Puzo passed away July 2, 1999, leaving behind a body of work
that included 
(1955),
his first novel, The Fortunate Pilgrim
(1965), which he called his “best and most literary book,” 
(1969), the Mafia novel that made him famous, and 
(1996), which was adapted
for a 1997 TV miniseries.
Puzo,
who served in the military during 
before attending the New School
for Social Research and Columbia University, also co-wrote screenplays for such
films as Earthquake (1974), 
(1978), Superman II (1980), and 
(1992).
In
addition to a prolific writing career, Puzo was also something of a packrat,
which, as collectors and antique aficionados know, is not necessarily a bad
thing. He left behind 45 banker’s boxes of archival materials spanning a half
century of his work, including thousands of pages, drafts, storyboards, notes,
and varying versions of both novel manuscript and movie screenplay, along with the 1965 
he probably used to write the book.
With
such a wealth of material from such an iconic author, the winning bid of $625,000
seems like something of a bargain. However, the auction house, which was hoping
for at least $400,000, was definitely pleased.
“It
is a rare glimpse into the mind of the author of two of the most iconic films
of the 20th century,” said Executive VP at RR Auction Robert Livingston, referring
to The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. “The archive
covers his entire literary career and provides extraordinary insight into his
artistry. We are honored to have been selected by Puzo’s estate and couldn’t be
more thrilled with the results of the sale.”
The and Literary Rarities auction had a number of other noteworthy sales
as well, including: a signed 4 x 6 photo of Ernest Hemingway posing next to a
huge marlin (circa 1950s), $10,803.28; a letter from Hemingway to New York Times literary critic Charles
Poore (1953), $9,551.33; a signed copy (later printing) of Antoine de
Saint-Exupery’s Wind, Sand and Stars (1939),
$8,997.63; a signed first edition of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Ballads and Sonnets (1881), $8,179.33; a
letter from Marcel Proust to his lover, composer Reynaldo Hahn (1907), $6,144.60;
a signed 5 x 7 photo of Leo Tolstoy (1909), $5,519.85; a signed copy (later
printing) of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This
Side of Paradise (1920), $5,519.85; a signed 10.75 x 13.75 portrait of Ayn
Rand (1948), $4,788.53; a letter from T. E. Lawrence to J. B. Acres (1926), $4,446.75;
and a signed first edition, first printing of Margaret Mitchell’s 
(1936), $4,145.40.
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