Previously unseen letters written by Morrissey as a teenager are set to be sold at auction, according to NME. The archive includes hundreds of handwritten pages sent to his Birmingham pen pal Simon Pitt between 1974 and 1979, when Morrissey was between 14 and 20 years old.
The collection, titled Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, will be offered in 65 lots by Dawsons Auctioneers on August 26. The combined estimate for the archive is more than £22,000.
Among the earliest letters is one from March 1974, written when Morrissey was 14, in which he said his ambition was to become a rock ’n’ roll star, an actor or a writer. Other letters include his claim that he was a genius, as well as details of an unsuccessful job application to Disc magazine.
The correspondence also charts his early music interests and experiences in Manchester’s punk scene. In the archive, Morrissey wrote about attending the Sex Pistols’ 1976 shows at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, meeting figures including Patti Smith and members of the Sex Pistols, and trying unsuccessfully to join The Clash before they found fame.
Peter Mason, an auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, described the archive as an exceptionally rare record of Morrissey’s early years. The online sale is set for August 26.
