Many of the prize pieces from the late Forrest J Ackerman’s (who passed away in December) extraordinary collection of science fiction, fantasy and horror memorabilia, props, books and collectables will be auctioned off during April. Hollywood specialists Profiles in History will be handling the sale (the same auctioneers who held that amazing science fiction auction we mentioned last year which included everything from signed photographs up to TIE Fighter models from the original Star Wars and life-size dinosaur heads from Jurassic Park). They don’t have the full list of items that will be going under the hammer online yet (although they have a nice little Flash piece mentioning it with an image of Forry, the style and lettering all done like a 30s horror flick), but according to horror site Shock Till You Drop and an Associated Press article a few prize items have been named – the Count’s ring worn by the great Bela Lugosi in the original Tod Browning Dracula (from that golden era of 30s Universal horror movies), as well as the cape Lugosi wore and his costume from The Raven.
“The Bela Lugosi Dracula ring, the cape he wore from the ’30s stage performances of Dracula and the robe he wore in The Raven are the most significant Universal horror items to ever come to public auction,” Joe Maddalena of auction house Profiles in History.
(an example of Constable’s first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
Enticing though those rare items of horror movie memorabilia are though, I have to say I am more drawn to the signed, first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (still one of the most influential SF/horror works ever and one which has permeated into our culture, being referenced to this day in news stories) and, even more delectable to any bibliophile, a first edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (not the first vampire novel by any means, but the definitive one), signed by Stoker himself – and also signed by Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Wow. The large number of items in Forry’s collection is, believe it or not, actually just a part of what he once had in it, having donated many items to museums and sold others, but he kept plenty of other items right till his death. Hopefully some of these items will end up going to museums or libraries where they can be seen by more people and not just into a private collection. Somehow I suspect that first edition Dracula will be beyond my bidding power, but just think, signed by Stoker, Lugosi and Karloff, what a piece of storytelling history.
Thu, Feb 5, 2009
Books, Conventions and events, Film, TV and radio