Author Gore Vidal's Hollywood Estate Sale Announced on ReadABook Day,

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The Abel Gallery announced Tuesday, on national #ReadaBook day, that famed author Gore Vidal's personal effects and memorabilia will be available for auction Sept. 14-17.

Hundreds of items from the estate of Gore Vidal, including selections from the late author's personal library and art and antiques from his homes, will be auctioned on Sept. 18 in Los Angeles, it was announced Tuesday.

Vidal died in 2012 at age 86. Among his most famous works are "Lincoln," "Myra Breckinridge" and "The City and the Pillar." A member of an illustrious political family, he was the grandson of a U.S. senator and twice ran unsuccessfully for public office.

The sale will feature items ranging in value from about $400 to $10,000 from the former residences of Vidal and his partner Howard Austen -- a villa called "La Rondinaia" in the resort town of Ravello, Italy, and a Mediterranean style estate in the Hollywood Hills, according to Abell Auction Co.

Both properties were featured in design magazines such as Architectural Digest and also frequented by Broadway and Hollywood writers and actors, literary figures and politicians.

Featured items include an Italian Baroque giltwood and marble console; a porphyry marble table top; a Flemish Verdure tapestry; a pair of Italian Baroque painted and parcel gilt torchieres; an Italian walnut commode and secretaire; a Victorian walnut partner's desk; a set of four Italian painted overdoors; a collection of Old Master paintings and drawings; a Roman marble funerary urn; and Asian artifacts.

For those interested in Vidal's personal effects and memorabilia, items include his personal library of first edition works under his name and pseudonyms; awards and recognitions, including his "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" medallion for contributions to the arts in France; and a typed note from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams.

An auction preview will be held Sept. 14-17 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Abell gallery, 2613 Yates Ave., Los Angeles. The sale begins the following day at 10 a.m. PST.

Visit www.abell.com to view a complete catalogue of the auction items.

--City News Service, WikiCommons, Photograph by David Shankbone