Katharine Hepburn's mother was a noted suffragist and feminist who, after the death of her own mother, fought the wishes of her guardian to attend college. Like her mother, Miss Hepburn sought higher education and also attended Bryn Mawr, outside of Philadelphia. It was in college that Miss Hepburn decided to pursue a career in acting after performing in a number of the school's productions. The sale will include a selection of class notes (est. $600/800), as well as photos and a pageant program from May Day 1928 (est. $1,000/1,500) when she played Pandora in "The Woman in the Moon." While she was at Bryn Mawr she met Ludlow Ogden Smith, whom she married in 1928 and six years later she obtained a Mexican divorce. The June sale will include her dress from her wedding to Smith (est. $2,500/3,500). In Miss Hepburn's manuscript for her autobiography, "Me," she describes the dress: "...I had a pretty dress - a Babani. It was crushed white velvet with gold antiqued embroidery sort of around the neck and bit down the front and on the sleeves. " Following their wedding, Miss Hepburn quit show business to move with Smith to the suburbs of Philadelphia - a move that would only last two weeks before they were back in New York City, and Miss Hepburn was back on the stage.
Movie Press Kits and Original Signed Contracts
Memorabilia from Miss Hepburn's burgeoning film career includes a group of 12 press kits from the 1930s (est. $2,500/3,500) including those for her first Oscar winning role in "Morning Glory" (1933), "Alice Adams" (1935), "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), "Holiday" (1938) and "Break of Hearts" (1935) among others. Also included is the press kit from "Little Women" (1933) Miss Hepburn's fourth movie, and one of her early successes after negotiating a $1,500 a week contact with RKO Studio. The sale offers collectors a treasure trove of original signed contracts, including Miss Hepburn's very first RKO contract for the 1932 film "Bill of Divorcement" (est. $2/4,000), as well as the purchase agreement for the story rights to "Woman of the Year," Miss Hepburn's first film with Spencer Tracy, as well as contracts for "Rainmaker," and "Rooster Cogburn" (est. $1,000/1,500 each). Also included are two purchase agreements for the movie rights to "The Philadelphia Story" (est. $2/4,000), as well as several theater contracts.
Autographs and Photographs
Those wanting to catch a bit of Miss Hepburn stardust will have an opportunity to bid on rare examples of her autograph (she was notorious for her refusal to pose for pictures or sign autographs) including a signed photograph of Miss Hepburn as Rose in "The African Queen" (est. $800/1,200), accompanied by a photograph of Humphrey Bogart, as the gin-swilling Charlie Allnut (est. $1,000/1,500), opening up a crate of Gordon's Gin and inscribed by Bogart to Miss Hepburn: "For Kate who disapproves - Bogie." The photograph memorializes a serious incident which took place during the filming of "The African Queen" and is related by Miss Hepburn in her 1987 book "The Making of The African Queen". Miss Hepburn and most of the rest of the crew were felled by stomach sickness caused by polluted bottled drinking water, while Bogart and director John Huston, who "had so lined their insides with alcohol that no bug could live in the atmosphere " were absolutely fine. Also included is her diary which chronicles her time in Africa making "The African Queen" (est. $5/7,000) which was later turned into the best-selling book. "Making The African Queen was great fun. John Huston - Bogie and Betty and Peter - were great fun to be with. And the location in Africa was a first for all of us."
In the manuscript for her touchingly personal autobiography, "Me," Miss Hepburn notes: "I have a friend who keeps asking me why I am writing this book. Especially as I have said a thousand times: No - that is personal - No, I won't talk about that. What made me change my mind? I wonder myself. Something changed me. " About her parents, she writes: "How I miss you - I was so used to turning to you. It was heaven. Always to have you two to turn to - in despair - in joy. There you were - strong - funny - two rocks. What you did for me - Wow! What luck to be born out of love and to live in an atmosphere of warmth and interest. " The manuscript for the best-selling 1991 memoir, which includes both typewritten and handwritten pages, will be offered in the sale and is estimated to sell for $5/7,000.
Among the many other photographs included in the sale are a group of 50 large-format glamour shots taken by chief RKO photographer Ernest Bachrach in the 1930s, as well as a selection of portraits by other important photographers of that era including A.L. "Whity" Schafer, Alexander Kahle, Willy Maywald and George Hoyningen-Huene.
