Dallas-based Heritage Auctions is selling nearly 100 lots from the estate of Forbes on October 19.
Among the collection are hand-written speeches, addresses and doodles by Kennedy including a 1957 set of hand-written speech notes that carry an estimate of $3000.
Also on offer is a sheet of paper with Kennedy’s doodles of a boat and references to the Berlin Wall (est: $1000) and a 1958 six-page manuscript referring to Israel’s 10th anniversary containing Kennedy’s handwritten changes mentioning “the enemy at the gate” with an estimate of $2,000.
Largest Collection In Private Hands
Forbes began collecting autographs and manuscripts at 15 when he worked in the post room at Forbes magazine, founded by his father Bertie Charles Forbes.
When he died at 70 in 1990, he owned 4000 American presidential autographs and manuscripts, which at the time was the largest and most important collection in private hands.
A large selection of this was sold at auction by Christie's in New York in a series of sales beginning in 2002.
Director of historical manuscripts at Heritage Auctions Sandra Palomino, said: “In the pantheon of skilled collectors, few stand out like Forbes. His unbound curiosity combined with his scholarly view of American history made his collection one of the most important.”
Other highlights in the Heritage auction next week include an important letter written and signed by the presidential candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840, defending his conduct at the Battle of the Thames (est: $25,000) and a signed address that Theodore Roosevelt delivered to the Illinois State Bar Association in 1916 stating his position in favour of entering the First World War (est: $5000).
There is also a signed photograph of Wilbur and Orville Wright, which is also signed by President William H Taft, 1910 (est: $7000).
