A full catalogue of more than 450 lots in the upcoming auction from the estate of late Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim has been revealed by Doyle Auctions, offering a much better look at what will be up for bidding come June 18.
The vast majority of the collection is household items once owned by the Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd composer-lyricist, including a large collection of antique games he had collected. But there are several mementos from his incredible career, including several collections of show posters (including one with a rare window card from a Parisian production of West Side Story), a mirror gifted to Sondheim to commemorate the London premiere of Follies, two caricatures of the Broadway writer from the pen of Clive Francis (one featuring Elaine Stritch), Sondheim's collection of books on Sunday in the Park With George subject Georges Seurat, his personal score to Gypsy (plus a copy of the published edition inscribed by composer Jule Styne), a group of rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses (notably and sadly sans Clement Wood's The Complete Rhyming Dictionary, reportedly his favorite), figurines of the logo caricatures used for the original production of Sweeney Todd, a Sondheim-created bespoke game in which players produce Broadway shows, and lots, lots more.
Find the full collection here. Much of the show-related memorabilia seems to be in the "Books and Manuscripts" category.
The live auction is set for June 18 at 10 AM ET. The collection will be on display at Doyle's Manhattan showroom on East 87th Street June 14–17.
Sondheim, who passed away in 2021, was a true Broadway legend, credited by many with changing the face of musical theatre. He started his career penning lyrics to West Side Story and Gypsy, next moving on to a string of scores as a composer and lyricist, including Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park With George, Into the Woods, Passion, and Assassins. Over his career, he won seven Tony Awards and received an eighth for lifetime achievement; eight Grammys; an Academy Award; and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
