A number of first editions formed part of the lot, though these did not include the earlier works (Obscure Destinies of 1932 being the earliest cited item) and none of them retained their jackets. There were also various books inscribed to Yehudi as birthday presents. Goethe, described as “a little book you can even carry in your pocket to read on a train”; Heine; Prosper Merimée’s Carmen and Sir James Jeans on the Mysterious Universe followed as teenage gifts, and his 21st was marked by a copy of Franz Schubert’s Letters... that was inscribed “For Yehudi Menuhin, on his twenty-first birthday-anniversary of a day that was to bring such noble pleasure to… of us who are in bitter need of such release” and accompanied by a three-page letter in which she discusses the book. The lot sold at £5000.
From Willa to Yehudi
A MAY 11 sale held by Sotheby’s Olympia to dispose of property from the collections of the late Lord and Lady Menuhin included a collection of material by and about the American writer Willa Cather, who was a great friend of Marutha Menuhin, Yehudi’s mother, and a close friend to all the Menuhin children. She also wrote many letters to Marutha, but all of these were burned after her death, in accordance with the writer’s will.
