Bob Dylan's High School Love Letter Sold for 900 Million Won at Auction

150 Pages and 42 Letters of Love Letters Sent to a Lover
Sold at Portugal's 'Lello Bookstore'... "Plan to Support Research Related to Dylan"

A love letter written by Bob Dylan (81) to his high school sweetheart. It ends with the words "Love you." Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Sung-wook] A love letter written by Bob Dylan (81) to his high school sweetheart was sold at auction for $670,000 (about 900 million KRW). The legendary American folk rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was the first singer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

According to the Associated Press on the 20th (local time), the famous bookstore 'Livraria Lello' in Porto, Portugal, purchased Bob Dylan's love letter at PR Auction on the 18th for the stated amount. The letter consists of 150 pages and 42 letters, sent by Dylan to his then-girlfriend Barbara Ann Hewitt from 1957 to 1959.

At that time, Dylan was performing music under the nickname 'Bob Zimmerman,' his real name Robert Allen Zimmerman, in his first band called 'The Jokers.' Through the letters, Dylan expressed his affection for Hewitt and invited her to attend a Buddy Holly concert together. The letters also contained discussions about interests such as cars, clothes, and music, and he even wrote poems for Hewitt. Notably, the letters revealed Dylan's desire to change his stage name as a singer and his ambition to sell millions of records.

The letters became known to the public after Hewitt's death in 2020, when her daughter discovered them. They were auctioned through PR Auction on the 17th, with a starting bid of $250,000 (about 335 million KRW). Livraria Lello, the winning bidder, announced in a statement, "We plan to preserve the letters and assist fans and scholars of Bob Dylan in their research."

Items related to Bob Dylan, regarded as a bard of the era, have previously been sold at high prices in auctions. In July, a newly recorded album disc of Dylan's iconic 1962 work 'Blowin' in the Wind' was sold for $1.76 million (about 2.3 billion KRW) to an anonymous bidder.

In 2018, an electric guitar used by Dylan was sold at auction for $495,000 (about 535 million KRW). This guitar was used during the period when Dylan transitioned from folk music to rock music and was played on the accompaniment of his representative song 'Like a Rolling Stone.' The handwritten draft lyrics of this song were auctioned in 2014 for $2 million (about 2.035 billion KRW), setting a record for the highest price ever paid for a pop song draft at that time.

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