As per The Boston Globe, an "unprecedented" collection of love letters written by teenage Bob Dylan have fetched $670,000 USD at auction — and revealed some interesting tidbits about how Robert Allen Zimmerman became the mythic songwriting luminary.
What's in a name, anyway? Well, for a young Zimmerman, his own seemed like quite a mouthful and lacking a certain rockstar je ne sais quoi. Handwritten between 1957 and 1959, his 42 love letters to school sweetheart Barbara Hewitt from history class reveal that the singer-songwriter toyed with the idea of many different stage personas.
Apparently, the artist considered going by the likes of "Elston" and yes, "Little Willie," as he waxed poetic about his dream of selling a million records under whatever moniker he landed on. He even envisioned his future artistically with a drawing of an imaginary band, captioned: "Little Willie, lead singer of the Night Gales."
In one of the correspondences, he invited Hewitt to a Buddy Holly concert in Duluth shortly ahead of the iconic singer's death in 1959. Elsewhere, he details his preparation for the Hibbing High talent show.
Would-be Dylan penned the letters when he was around 16, declaring his love to Hewitt, who died two years ago and left 150 pages to be unearthed by her daughter. They went up for sale at Boston's RR Auction House and received the winning bid of $670,000 on November 17 from Portuguese bookshop Livraria Lello.
"It's the formative years of Bob Zimmerman transforming into Bob Dylan," RR executive vice president Bobby Livingston said of the collection. "The beginning of the Bob Dylan myth."
He added, "In his myth, he hides everything," but these letters see the legend "wearing his heart on his sleeve."
Select photos of the letters can be seen here.
Last week, Dylan announced the latest in his long line of rarities compilations, Bootleg Series Vol. 17, and his new book The Philosophy of Modern Song hit shelves. Talking Heads' Chris Frantz also suggested that Little Willie "suck a dick."
Dylan's not the only one to pass on a true gem of a stage name — Keanu Reeves unfortunately decided against using "Chuck Spadina" as his.
What's in a name, anyway? Well, for a young Zimmerman, his own seemed like quite a mouthful and lacking a certain rockstar je ne sais quoi. Handwritten between 1957 and 1959, his 42 love letters to school sweetheart Barbara Hewitt from history class reveal that the singer-songwriter toyed with the idea of many different stage personas.
Apparently, the artist considered going by the likes of "Elston" and yes, "Little Willie," as he waxed poetic about his dream of selling a million records under whatever moniker he landed on. He even envisioned his future artistically with a drawing of an imaginary band, captioned: "Little Willie, lead singer of the Night Gales."
In one of the correspondences, he invited Hewitt to a Buddy Holly concert in Duluth shortly ahead of the iconic singer's death in 1959. Elsewhere, he details his preparation for the Hibbing High talent show.
Would-be Dylan penned the letters when he was around 16, declaring his love to Hewitt, who died two years ago and left 150 pages to be unearthed by her daughter. They went up for sale at Boston's RR Auction House and received the winning bid of $670,000 on November 17 from Portuguese bookshop Livraria Lello.
"It's the formative years of Bob Zimmerman transforming into Bob Dylan," RR executive vice president Bobby Livingston said of the collection. "The beginning of the Bob Dylan myth."
He added, "In his myth, he hides everything," but these letters see the legend "wearing his heart on his sleeve."
Select photos of the letters can be seen here.
Last week, Dylan announced the latest in his long line of rarities compilations, Bootleg Series Vol. 17, and his new book The Philosophy of Modern Song hit shelves. Talking Heads' Chris Frantz also suggested that Little Willie "suck a dick."
Dylan's not the only one to pass on a true gem of a stage name — Keanu Reeves unfortunately decided against using "Chuck Spadina" as his.
