Greta Garbo Letters: Rare Book of the Week
Greta Garbo's letters
Ten handwritten letters by Swedish Hollywood star Greta Garbo, written in Swedish during the 1940s and 1950s, go under the hammer at Stockholms Auktionsverk on June 10.
These intimate letters, written during the twilight of Garbo’s film career, reveal a star who, despite her geographical separation, was deeply engaged in the everyday life of her family back in Sweden, particularly her brother Sven Gustafsson and his wife Peg. The actress, however, seems entirely unenthusiastic about a cinematic comeback.
"I’ve been away for so long that I just can’t imagine standing in front of a camera again,” she writes to her family (translated from the Swedish original).
When her loved ones considered moving to the United States, Garbo did little to romanticize her adopted homeland:
“I don’t know what advice to give you, as I’ve said so many times - I don’t even know what to do myself. If you want to move to New York, it’s probably best to rent an apartment first and see how you like it… As you know, it’s not so easy to live in the city, but millions do - it all works out if one is ‘zufrieden.’”
The viewing of The Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts Collection at Stockholms Auktionsverk, Nybrogatan 32, runs through the auction on June 10. Among the other highlights is a complete set of Theodor de Bry’s Voyages in Latin, the foremost collection of travel accounts in early 17th century Europe.
