A total in excess of $220,000 was raised for the 137 lots that made up the collection of the late John F. Dunlap, a great admirer and biographer of the publishing magnate, and among the manuscripts, a 17pp pencil draft for a 1934 editorial titled ‘Americanism versus Communism’ that lashes out against the New Deal was sold at $1900 (£1065).
A communication that Hearst sent to his private secretary, Joseph Willicombe, following a private meeting that he had with with Hitler whilst holidaying in Europe, was bid to $17,000 (£9520). Written on the back of four postcards, Hearst tells Willicombe “...flew up to Berlin and had a long talk with Hitler yesterday... Hitler certainly is an extraordinary man. We estimate him too lightly in America. He has enormous ability. Of course all those qualities can be misdirected”.
Sold at $8000 (£4480) was a spoof or mock newspaper written and crudely illustrated by Hearst in 1931. The San Simeon Sentinel is a comic work that pokes fun at both guests and employees at his famous Californian castle home, and of course includes material on the woman in his life – as in ‘Marion Davies Takes Up Tennis’. There is also a gossip column, ‘San Simeon Snappy Shots’ that purports to be by Louella Owe Parsons.
A large part of the collection comprised original drawings, coloured sketches and blueprints by Julia Morgan, the architect who worked closely with Hearst for some 25 years and designed dozens of buildings for him and his family – most notably of course, San Simeon itself and Wyntoon, a Bavarian fantasy created on the McCloud River, about 50 miles south of the Oregon border.
Work by Morgan is rarely seen as much is already housed in institutional collections and a great deal was consigned to the flames by the architect herself. Purchased by Dunlap from the Sam Simeon warehouse in 1965, most of the drawings and blueprints related to Wyntoon and bidding was strongest for the pencil and chalk drawings that she made c.1937 for Hearst whilst producing her plans for the house. One coloured chalk drawing of the pool and waterfall at Wyntoon, bearing a short pencilled note of approval by Hearst, sold at $3750 (£2100) and an altogether more prosaic group of ten drawings of a guest kitchenette brought $13,000 (£7280), but the main attraction was the drawing of the Bridge House at Wyntoon reproduced right.
This drawing shows a soaring structure that is actually much more elaborate than the modest, shingled structure that was eventually completed. One of the turrets was completely dispensed with and there was much reworking to the bridge entrance, etc. to accommodate cars and the like, but here it more closely resembles the timbered Bavarian-style guest houses that Hearst admired.
Also illustrated right is one of two lampshades of a type used in the Gothic Library at San Simeon, made up from vellum leaves from an early antiphonal. Again purchased by Dunlap from the warehouse at San Simeon, these were valued at around $750 apiece but sold at $5500 (£3080) each.
William Randolph Hearst and his Bavarian connections...
RECENT auctions held by Pacific Book Auctions have tended to be driven to a large extent by absentee bidding and by those using the ‘Real-Time Bidder’ internet option, but for a March 25 sale devoted to one man’s collection of letters, photographs, drawings and other mementoes relating to the life of William Randolph Hearst, those old fashioned habits of turning up in the room or even just picking up a telephone were dusted off.
