NEW YORK, NY.- What do B.B. King, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Mickey Mantle, Jimi Hendrix and Franklin D. Roosevelt have in common? Treasured objects from these, and other legendary figures and events will all be up for auction through Guernsey’s on Wednesday, September 21.

This online event gets even better when one considers that also included will be objects relating to John F. Kennedy, Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, NYC’s fabled Apollo Theater, and the legendary 16th century shipwreck, the Atocha.

The renowned New York auction house will offer over 100 lots, many with no reserve, with bidding online at liveauctioneers.com and invaluable.com. Some of the highlights from the upcoming Guernsey’s auction include:

B.B. King’s first-ever acoustic guitar gifted to him as a child, along with handwritten music by the artist, several dazzling performance jackets including the one he wore appearing before the Pope, and other personal items;

In support of NYC’s 9/11 Tribute Museum, the auction will offer will include the American flags that flew over the 10th Anniversary ceremonies at the World Trade Center site, tools used in the recovery effort and a stunning, detailed architectural model of the Trade Center. All proceeds from the sale of these objects will benefit the Museum;

The John Lennon Last Recording Session unpublished photographic prints. Taken by noted photographer David Spindel at John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s request just weeks before the musician’s tragic death, this is an important, and previously unseen archive;

Mickey Mantle’s 1955 American League Championship ring and the bat that he and the other members of the “500 Home Run Club” - Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Harmon Killebrew, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, Eddie Matthews - all signed;

From the World War II era: Franklin D. Roosevelt’s diamond American Flag lapel pin and the Engine Telegraph from the U.S.S. St Louis that fought off attacking planes at Pearl Harbor;




A pair of massive Jimi Hendrix’s speakers originally installed in the musician’s famed Electric Lady West 8th St. studio in New York City;

Sports photographer Neil Leifer’s images of legends Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Tom Seaver and Joe Namath taken during crowning moments in their respective careers along with his official press passes that gave him access to these respective sports events decades ago;

Billie Holiday’s fox fur stole and passport, both featured in The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and The Grammy Museum;

The Apollo Theater’s remarkable one and only 460-page ledger documenting the performers that appeared on the stage from the 1930s through the 1970s, including James Brown, Duke Ellington, Martha & the Vandellas, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and many, many more;

A collection of Winsor McCay’s never previously seen original works by the man considered to be the “father of comic art,” including Little Nemo, Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend, and Sammy Sneeze;

The guitar owned and played by Don McLean, the musician who first topped the charts with American Pie. He recorded his second greatest hit Vincent - conjuring up images of Vincent Van Gogh and his famed painting Starry Night - playing this guitar.

The “Jazz Baroness’” beautiful Grand Steinway Piano. A member of European nobility, Pannonica de Koenigswarter came to America and immersed herself in the world of Jazz. Living with Thelonious Monk, legendary musicians gathered around her Pannonica Piano, which is still owned by the family;

Marilyn Monroe photographs taken of the then-undiscovered star at the age of 19 by army lensman David Conover, who was assigned by Captain Ronald Reagan to find “Rosie, the Riveter-type" pretty girls helping the war effort;

Some of the other important and historic items being offered include Alex Haley’s notes from the famed original TV series, Roots, actual bricks from Rosa Parks’ first home in the north, and the sword that stood by John F. Kennedy’s casket in the White House. Add to this a wonderful carousel horse that traveled from Coney Island to Bogota (Colombia) and back, and some of the rarest circus posters known, and it becomes clear that this is an auction like no other.

To learn more about the event, please visit www.guernseys.com.