The Real Valentino by George S. Ullman

This is a rare and fairly difficult book to find, especially with the dust cover.  This is "The Real Valentino," by George S. Ullman from 1927.  I posted this book a long time ago; however, that post did not have a photo of the dust cover, this one does.  I went to post this book, did a Google search to find an image and found one for sale with the dust cover.  So, now of course that book is on it's way to me.  Another one for the collection! 

Signed Copy of Monsieur Beaucaire Book

This is a rare example of a movie tie-in book signed by Valentino.  The book is Monsieur Beaucaire, which was made into a film Valentino made in 1924.  The inscription reads: Cordially Yours, Rudolph Valentino, Strand Theatre, August 16, 1924.  I assume this was obtained by a fan or possibly the theater owner.  Valentino may have been there promoting the film.  This is a fantastic example of Valentino's signature along with an inscription.  This would be a fairly valuable piece.

Book Personally Owned by Rudolph Valentino

This is my 600th post and for the milestone posts I like to feature a special item. This is book that was personally owned by Valentino. The book is titled "The Flame of Life," by D'Annunzio. A few amazing things about the book. The book was most likely owned by Valentino before he became a big star. The year 1918 is wrote inside the book, which is most likely around the time he owned the book. On the inside cover of the book, Valentino signed his name, with the spelling Rodolph in a red pen of some sorts. Since he owned this before he amassed his fortune there is no Valentino bookplate in this book, instead it contains the book plate of Erich Von Stroheim! Stroheim, the silent movie director and later actor in various films including one of my favorite films of all time, Sunset Boulevard where he played Max the butler. I am unsure if he owned the book before Valentino or after, my best guess is after. There are also a couple of phone numbers wrote on the first page, one name is Priscilla, the other is Holly. Could this be silent movie actress Priscilla Dean, who knows?

If that is not enough,the book has a few pages where Valentino doodled and drew pictures. He practiced his monogram with RV and RG on one page, on another he drew a car, an engine, and what appears to be a hood of a car or a shield. Even though the condition of this book is on the rough side, it is truly a one of a kind item that not only features his autograph, but his drawings and his monograms and Erich Von Stroheim's bookplate. This is a truly fantastic piece any collector would love to own!