NEW YORK, NY.- Lion Heart Autographs, among the worlds most respected and leading dealers in historical autographs and manuscripts has announced an extraordinary opportunity to own items from one of the most famous movies in Hollywood history MGMs The Wizard of Oz. So extraordinary are the items being offered including two original studio printed music scores used in the films production that one could find ones self magically transported back to the Yellow Brick Road, holding the memorable lyrics and music of Ray Bolgers personally-owned copies of If I Only Had a Brain, (Estimate: $7,000-$8,000) and Over the Rainbow, (Estimate: $12,000 - $15,000) often cited as the Number One Song of the 20th Century. Ray Bolgers portrayal of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz remains one of the most memorable film characters of all time.
Millions of people instantly recognize the melody of these famous songs, Over the Rainbow and If I Only Had a Brain, and The Wizard of Oz, a timeless classic for generations, has delighted audiences worldwide.
The publics sentimental attachment to Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion has never vanished from the American psyche. The movie is a cinematic touchstone of classic storytelling.
Now, Lion Heart Autographs will offer a collection of extraordinary, never previously offered Ray Bolger items from the collection of the performers niece. Making the printed musical scores especially valuable is the fact that in 1969, MGMs enormous music library was dumped and used as landfill in LAs Sepulveda Pass, making the opportunity to find original material from the The Wizard of Oz nearly impossible. Similar items to the scores being offered at auction can only be found in a handful of libraries and institutions, notably the US Library of Congress (which does not own copies of these versions of the songs), Yale, and the Warner Bros. Corporate Archives. Copies in private collections are unknown.
In addition to the two printed musical scores are a pair of Ray Bolgers personally used blue tap shoes (Estimate: $500 - $1000); a 14K white gold and diamond Gruen wristwatch inscribed to Ray Bolger on the back of the watch case from the Las Vegas Sahara Hotel on its opening day in 1952 when Bolger headlined the opening act (Estimate: $3,000 - $4,000) and two neckties worn by the fashion-conscious Bolger (Estimate: $250 - $350).
To our knowledge, and after consulting libraries, scholars and dealers, we have not discovered any printed musical scores in private collections like these that were created during the films production. The fact that the scores and personally worn items were once owned by Ray Bolger makes them even more compelling. After all, Bolger starred in one of the worlds most memorable motion pictures whose story and music have had an enormous cultural influence from Judy Garlands innumerable performances of Over the Rainbow and Elton Johns Pop hit Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, to the Broadway shows The Wiz and Wicked. This is, quite literally, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire objects that magically resonate with the spirit of Hollywoods Golden Age. We are honored to have been selected to represent Ray Bolgers niece in the auction of these precious relics from the past. David Lowenherz, Founder & Owner, Lion Heart Autographs.
Ray Bolger, a vaudevillian, actor and comedian, sang and danced his way into the hearts of film lovers with his memorable performance of the song If I Only Had a Brain in The Wizard of Oz. Nothing else influenced his reputation as much as his role as the Scarecrow, and his remarkable ability to dance and create comedic gestures were talents he became recognized for. Bolger went on to star in other films including Disneys Babes in Toyland, as well as The Great Ziegfeld, and enjoyed a successful career on Broadway. However, he is best remembered as the Scarecrow who captured the hearts of everyone who ever fell in love with The Wizard of Oz.
Lion Heart Autographs Fall 2023 auction is packed with other unusual manuscripts and autographs including a three-language ships paper with a near perfect signature of George Washington (Estimate: $12,000-$15,000); a document signed by Castro following his arrest and imprisonment after leading the Cuban Revolution of 1953 (Estimate: $11,000 - $12,000) ; a series of letters from the inventor of the Pap smear (Estimate: $10,000 - $11,000); an oversize architectural rendering signed by Frank Lloyd Wright (Estimate: $4,800 - $5,000); a Maria von Trapp letter to her Jewish publicist expressing her disdain towards a conspicuous and vulgar Jewish girl at her summer camp in Stowe, VT (Estimate: $350-$400); excerpts of Americas most famous songs and hymns including Home Sweet Home (Estimate: $5,000 - $6,000) and God Bless America (Estimate: $2,000 - $2,500) and a handwritten letter signed Father from Charles Lindbergh to his son about his Swiss boarding schools girl supply, (Estimate: $1,100 - $1,300), plus much more.