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ANNOUNCEMENTS•
42 Bob Dylan love letters sold at auction in Boston. A Portuguese bookstore in Porto paid the equivalent of €650,000 for letters Dylan wrote from the age of sixteen to eighteen to his childhood sweetheart Barbara Ann Hewitt.
At that time, from 1957 to 1959, Dylan was still called Robert Zimmerman. It was years before his big breakthrough as an artist. Little is known about that period, but the letters provide unique insight.
Robert was in love with Hewitt at the time and you can read in the letters that he asks her out for a performance of Buddy Holly. And he writes poems for her.
Transformation
According to the auctioneer, the transformation from Robert Zimmerman to Bob Dylan can be seen in the letters. He writes that he is thinking of changing his name. In fact, his letters invariably end with the words “Love, Bob.”
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She also fantasizes about selling millions of records. Since 1962 that dream has come true; in total, the singer has sold 125 million records.
Hewitt always kept the 42 handwritten letters, totaling 150 pages. He found her daughter after her death in 2020.
The Portuguese library will keep the letters in the archive. The store has promised that the letters will remain available to Dylan fans.
