Marilyn Monroe Exceptional Partial Handwritten Letter Regarding Her Past Trauma. ...

Description

Marilyn Monroe Writes of "The Pain One Cannot Explain to Another" in this Profoundly Intimate and Exceedingly Rare Handwritten Letter.

Marilyn Monroe Exceptional Partial Handwritten Letter Regarding Her Past Trauma. [Undated, ca. 1955-1962]. Vintage original intimate and personal one-page partial handwritten letter written by Marilyn Monroe, on 8.5" x 11" stationery, in which the actress discusses some of her deepest held secrets and feelings.

The partial letter begins poignantly in mid-sentence: "How or why can I act (of which I am not sure) - because no one has experienced or known how it was in even a slightest detail - the torture let alone the day to day happenings - the pain one cannot explain to another - this all was how it was. Not one experience casual or smart. I know what I mean - please God know what I see & mean. I was born too casual not of reality. I mean now [illegible] all of this and much more..."

One of the more intimate and devastating letters in this collection, this brief and hastily written one-page account is made even more powerful by what it does not contain: a recipient or date, a beginning or end, nor even an obvious subject. Beginning mid-sentence and trailing off without conclusion, in handwriting that shifts from feverish to nearly illegible, this document is an anomaly captured in time-a brief yet haunting glimpse into Marilyn's most private thoughts. The result humanizes her in a way few surviving primary documents can, or do. As her hand gives way to an illegible scrawl toward the bottom of the page, the emotion behind the words comes to the surface: the pain and suffering she endured but was unable to share. Although the subject is not explicitly stated, it is believed that Marilyn is reflecting on her fractured marriage to Joe DiMaggio, which deeply affected her.

Handwritten in black ink and unsigned, the letter exhibits signs of age and wear including foxed and brittle paper, crease lines from prior folding, tape marks to each corner, faint tears, and some areas of loss at upper left, lower left, and lower right corners. An undeniably singular document that we have the privilege of bringing to auction. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions. From the Estate of Norman and Hedda Rosten.

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