Leonard's letters to Marianne for sale

[Geoffrey]

Maarten asked:
>Do you have all the images I'm refering to (that is, 165 images from the Christie's website)?
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yes indeed, plus a couple of extra text files, one of them the complete collection kindly transcribed into a searchable 'word' document. it's my birthday, christmas and father's day all rolled into one
let's hope all copyright restrictions are eventually removed so that sharing this treasure chest will not be punished by a trip to the tower

warm regards -
geoffrey

[LisaLCFan]

...Here's the promised link to all 165 images plus one docx file which includes all the lot descriptions taken from Christie's.
...

All the best
Maarten

Thank you Maarten, this is rather amazing.

However (and this is no reflection on you, Maarten), I have to say that I feel like I am an intruder, reading these letters (I have only glanced at some of them -- I can't quite bring myself to read them). They are so personal and heartfelt -- "private" in every sense of the word. I wonder if Leonard had any idea, when he wrote these words to his Marianne, that 50 or 60 years later, they would be so publicly available for the world to see? Perhaps if 50 more years had elapsed, it might not seem so intrusive, but at this point in time, these two people have so recently left us, that it seems almost inappropriate to be reading this very private correspondence between them.

(I won't even get into the whole issue of making money from them -- that has been the way it is with famous artists, forever, with people trying to cash in on their fame posthumously).

Regardless of my ethical dilemma, it was generous of you to share this with us.

[B4real]

Firstly, thank you Maarten for your generosity and the ease of access to these letters.

Secondly, I struggled for a long while with wanting to download them and knowing they were not meant for me to see. I haven't read any yet and will just keep them tucked away to be read maybe at another time.
My sentiments are also reflected in Lisa's words.

[Geoffrey]

LisaLCFan wrote:
>I wonder if Leonard had any idea, when he wrote these words to his Marianne, that 50 or 60 years later, they would be so publicly available for the world to see? Perhaps if 50 more years had elapsed, it might not seem so intrusive, but at this point in time, these two people have so recently left us, that it seems almost inappropriate to be reading this very private correspondence between them.
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totally agree. leonard was always discreet concerning his private relationships, except for when he said it was janis joplin who gave him 'head'.

[HugoD]

Wow, ithe the auction raises in the region of 800.000 USD !

[jongrep]

Reuters: Leonard Cohen's love letters to Marianne fetch $876,000 at auction

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-peop ... SKCN1TE3DL

[e rennie]

Dear Maarten,

I just wanted to thank you for the link to the letters. I have downloaded them and will keep them in my archive. I share doubts about whether one should read them. We have met a couple of times - on Hydra and in Paris - I doubt you will remember me, but thank you again.

Best wishes,

Elizabeth