Marilyn Monroe Collection

"A Pictorial History of The Movies"

A Book from Marilyn Monroe's Childhood

Published in 1943 when Marilyn was 17 years old, "A Pictorial History of The Movies" comprises 350 pages, including photographs and comprehensive text related to filmmaking up to that point in history. Chapter subjects are:

   1. Birth and Infancy (1893-1914)
   2. Griffith Turns A Page (1915-1919)
   3. The Twenties (1920-1927)
   4. Comes The Revolution (1927-1928)
   5. The Talking Picture (1929-1941)

This book, coupled with Marilyn's "Album of Film Stars," provides insight into Marilyn's interest in films and celebrities from a very young age.

Of course, Marilyn's idols, Clarke Gable and Jean Harlow, are featured prominently throughout this book.

The caption for the photo of Gable above reads, "A study of our hero when he was just another dress extra."

Marilyn herself owned and packed this book into a trunk along with many other personal items as she was moving out of her Roxbury, Connecticut home when she and Arthur Miller were breaking up in 1961. Ralph Roberts, Marilyn's masseur took Marilyn and her half sister Berniece Miracle to what had been the Miller-Monroe country home in Roxbury to retrieve these items. Additional items in the trunk that Marilyn retrieved that day which are part of this collection include:

-Marilyn's personal film and gossip magazine collection

-Many newspaper clippings with stories featuring Marilyn

-A vintage transmittal envelope from the Arthur P. Jacobs Company to Marilyn

-Marilyn's childhood Album of Film Stars

-Marilyn's first Kodak Brownie camera

Marilyn's trunk and her personal belongings are prominently featured on page 188 of The Marilyn Encyclopedia.

Note that Marilyn's trunk is also part of The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

Provenance: Christie's East: Film and Television Memorabilia Auction, December 18, 1995