Inscribed Books by JFK and Ernest Hemingway to Spencer Tracy to Auction
A collection of Spencer Tracy ephemera including Ten Minutes by Lieutenant Commander Harry Manning, inscribed by the author to Spencer Tracy; a typed speech for Spencer Tracy to give in 1945 regarding Irving Thalberg; a Captain Courageous press book; and a travel Itinerary from August 1943
Bonhams' upcoming Spencer Tracy: Collection of a Screen Icon sale will feature literary items from the personal collection of Hollywood actor Spencer Tracy.
Running December 1–11, among the offerings are two new-to-market, inscribed first editions. The first is a presentation copy of John F. Kennedy’s first book Why England Slept (1940) inscribed to Spencer Tracy. Estimated at $2,000 – 3,000, this markes the meeting between Tracy and the 23-year-old future president during a signing for Kennedy’s first book in 1940. The inscription reads: "To Mr. Tracy / with best regards/ Jack Kennedy/".
Also going under the hammer is a first edition of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952), signed and inscribed by the author to Spencer Tracy: “For Spencer with much affection Papa / Finca Vigia 1952.” Estimated at $1,500 – 2,500, this personal gift from Hemingway foreshadows Tracy’s portrayal in the 1958 film adaptation which earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Known for his Academy Award–winning performances in Captains Courageous (1937) and Boys Town (1938), Tracy also enjoyed a remarkable on-screen partnership with Katharine Hepburn and the sale also features an unsigned oil painting of a church steeple scene attributed to her, as well as an Omega pocket watch engraved to him from Joan Crawford.
