Hand written letters fron Brian up for auction

[Jason]

Ahhhhh a good old Sotheby's sale/auction...remember the controversy years ago about a set of "unheard Jimi Hendrix tapes" that turned out to be a bunch of stuff he did with Curtis Knight before he became famous?

[Wirestone]

Good work!

[Stegibo]

Well done! 

[Andrew G. Doe]

Neil at Christies sent me scans from the 1999 Sotheby's (New York) catalog where the vendor originally bought the letters. You're gonna love it... can I upload those images from my laptop, or does it have to have a web-based origin ?

[BennySahuaro]

Neil at Christies sent me scans from the 1999 Sotheby's (New York) catalog where the vendor originally bought the letters. You're gonna love it... can I upload those images from my laptop, or does it have to have a web-based origin ?

Can't wait to see them!

[Jason]

Neil at Christies sent me scans from the 1999 Sotheby's (New York) catalog where the vendor originally bought the letters. You're gonna love it... can I upload those images from my laptop, or does it have to have a web-based origin ?

Yeah, the scans have to be linked to from a image-hosting site.

http://www.tinypic.com is the easiest.

[Wirestone]

Holy macaroni! I am on pins and needles.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Here's an extract from one of "Brian's" letters. Remember, the claim is that these letters were written in 1964:

“We had our concert with The Beatles and, Betsey, John & Paul are so nice. We talked for a long time about American girls and American performers. They really are a couple of really neat guys. I really enjoyed working with them. Paul asked me how I got the ideas for my songs and if my friends encourage or inspired any of my writings. I told him that the ideas just somehow got in my head.”

Fish... barrel... 

[LeeDempsey]

Well done Andrew!  So do the letters include Brian talking about his conversation with Abraham Lincoln as well?   

[Andrew G. Doe]

Well done Andrew!  So do the letters include Brian talking about his conversation with Abraham Lincoln as well?   

Haven't got to that part yet... 

[Steve Mayo]

job very well done.....

[GoofyJeff]

Excellent work, AGD!   

I'd feel sorry for the poor sap who would have paid a fortune for these letters only to find out they're frauds had the auction not been stopped thanks to your efforts.

[Andrew G. Doe]

OK, here we go - enjoy (to enlarge some of them, right click then 'view image'):

[Amy B.]

Wow. I really thought that these reputable auction houses did some research before putting something on the block. A little research. Any research.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Wow. I really thought that these reputable auction houses did some research before putting something on the block. A little research. Any research.

The vendor bought them from Sotheby's of New York in 1999. I'm thinking they're going to be getting a phone call real soon. 

[Wirestone]

Ten grand?

For this???

I will say, Christie's did a great job of showing the least fake-looking bits. Because the images and quotes from this Sotheby's stuff are insanely, instantly bad and easy to discredit.

[Mark H.]

I can't imagine anyone paying any sizable amount of money for these horrible fakes.   Who buys this type of merchandise without knowing even a bit the the history of the parties involved.  Like a Beach Boys - Beatle concert that never occurred?

[Andrew G. Doe]

I can't imagine anyone paying any sizable amount of money for these horrible fakes.   Who buys this type of merchandise without knowing even a bit the the history of the parties involved.  Like a Beach Boys - Beatle concert that never occurred?

I think the finger needs to be pointed at Sotheby's New York, who handled the sale in 1999... and remember, if someone hadn't noticed this on Christies site, we wouldn't have got involved, and the sale would have gone ahead with no-one any the wiser.

It's a complete shot in the dark, but I've emailed Sotheby's New York about it. Not expecting any useful reply... but you never know.

And hey... this could be the start of a whole new career - international authenticator of Beach Boys memorabilia. 

[Emdeeh]

Nice detective work, AGD & co.!

[LeeDempsey]

Andrew, you don't know how interesting the reference to "Marymount girls" is in the letter allegedly from Dennis.  Marymount High School is a private, Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school located in the Holmby Hills/Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles at 10643 Sunset Boulevard.  The school also has a 2-year co-ed junior college (Marymount College), which in 1960 was moved to Palos Verdes Peninsula.  Check out this webpage for alumni of Marymount High School:

http://www.classmates.com/directory/school/Marymount%20High%20School?org=17954761

Scroll about halfway down and there she is:  Betsy Winans, Class of 1965...  (aka Betsy Winans Bodley)

On the other hand, it would be fairly simple to create a ficticious profile on classmates.com, so it could be part of the whole ruse.

If someone is brave enough, you can send Betsy a private message through classmates.com... 

Lee

[Andrew G. Doe]

Andrew, you don't know how interesting the reference to "Marymount girls" is in the letter allegedly from Dennis.  Marymount High School is a private, Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school located in the Holmby Hills/Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles at 10643 Sunset Boulevard.  The school also has a 2-year co-ed junior college (Marymount College), which in 1960 was moved to Palos Verdes Peninsula.  Check out this webpage for alumni of Marymount High School:

http://www.classmates.com/directory/school/Marymount%20High%20School?org=17954761

Scroll about halfway down and there she is:  Betsy Winans, Class of 1965...  (aka Betsy Winans Bodley)

On the other hand, it would be fairly simple to create a ficticious profile on classmates.com, so it could be part of the whole ruse.

If someone is brave enough, you can send Betsy a private message through classmates.com...  

Lee

Interesting indeed... but still doesn't explain away the points we raised, nor the inescapable fact that the handwriting samples we've seen from the lot are nothing like Brian's.  

Regarding your final sentence, well, who would ?

Damn right. 

[LeeDempsey]

I'm still wondering if the whole thing was dreamed-up fantasy of a high school girl, writing letters to herself as Brian and Dennis.  But that doesn't explain how the letters got to an auction house to shaft someone out of 10 grand...

Lee

[LeeDempsey]

Interesting indeed... but still doesn't explain away the points we raised, nor the inescapable fact that the handwriting samples we've seen from the lot are nothing like Brian's.  

Regarding your final sentence, well, who would ?

Damn right. 

I should have figured as much!

And if you really want to continue the detective work, you could call the school itself.  I believe U.S. privacy laws will still allow you to confirm a student's attendance and graduation.

Lee

[Andrew G. Doe]

Interesting indeed... but still doesn't explain away the points we raised, nor the inescapable fact that the handwriting samples we've seen from the lot are nothing like Brian's.  

Regarding your final sentence, well, who would ?

Damn right. 

I should have figured as much!

And if you really want to continue the detective work, you could call the school itself.  I believe U.S. privacy laws will still allow you to confirm a student's attendance and graduation.

Lee

That's exactly what Brad Elliott & I did for Alan - he called Ferris U the same day I emailed them, much to the amusement of the girl on the phone, who'd just looked up the dates for one Jardine, AC about ten minutes previously. 

Probably the most amusing aspect of that whole affair was that it took someone 40 years to think of doing it !

[Andrew G. Doe]

I'm still wondering if the whole thing was dreamed-up fantasy of a high school girl, writing letters to herself as Brian and Dennis.  But that doesn't explain how the letters got to an auction house to shaft someone out of 10 grand...

Lee

Sometimes the blindingly obvious answer is the answer.