Charlie Watts book collection up for auction

Books and jazz memorabilia belonging to late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts will be auctioned in a two-part auction in September, Christie's said.

"Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone – Literature and Jazz" will feature over 500 lots, with estimated prices ranging from £800 to £300,000.

Among the highlights is a copy of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, with a dedication to screenwriter Harold Goldman inscribed on the cover for "the original Gatsby." It has an estimated price of £200,000. Also on sale are rare editions of books by George Orwell, James Joyce, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.

Christie's described the literary lots as "an unparalleled library of modern first edition books, the finest and most valuable collection of its kind to be auctioned in over twenty years".

Watts, who joined the Stones in 1963, died in 2021, aged 80.
Among his jazz memorabilia up for auction are a membership card for saxophonist Charlie Parker's Associated Musicians and an annotated printed sheet music for composer George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess."

"Charlie was the heart of the Rolling Stones for nearly 60 years, he was utterly unique and devoted to jazz and literature from childhood," Watts' bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood said in a statement.
"He was the quintessential English gentleman and his absence is a great loss to all of us. We miss him terribly."

Source: Union Leader