Three handwritten letters by Al Capone and a gun he is believed to have used are coming up for auction next month, offering the winning bidders a glimpse into the notorious gangster’s life during Prohibition and his time in the Chicago Outfit.
Capone’s letters to his devoted friends, William and Lowrene Sells, who owned his favorite Wisconsin resort, mark some of the most pivotal moments in his time with the Chicago Outfit, said Gretchen Hause, vice president and senior specialist for books and manuscripts at Hindman Auctions, which will host the auction Nov. 9.
One letter for auction next month was written two days after a North Side gang tried to assassinate Capone at a South Side restaurant in January 1925.
“Well Pal things have been so darn exciting that I haven’t had the time to change clothes,” Capone wrote in the letter, which has an estimated bid of between $10,000 and $15,000.
The letters discuss “the 1925 attempt on Capone’s life, bootlegging, and the establishment of Cicero as the gang’s new headquarters just outside of Chicago in 1929,” Hause said. “We know of no examples of Capone letters to come to market from this prime period of his life, when his influence on organized crime in Chicago was at its apex.”
Four letters penned by Capone have been auctioned in the past 50 years, Hause noted.
Another letter composed in 1924 from Cicero implored William Sells to help him with a job. It’s also the most expensive letter, with an estimated bid of $12,000 to $18,000.
“Well, Bill, I want you to find that bootlegger that sold me the wine and whiskey when I was there and tell him I want him to come right away to Chicago because I have a big order for him,” Capone wrote.
The third letter for auction contains Capone’s inquiry to the Sellses in 1929 about real estate in Wisconsin, where he and his brother each later owned homes. Its value is estimated at $3,000 to $4,000.
An 1896 model of a Colt New Army and Navy Revolver handgun “believed to have been used by Capone” also will be auctioned, with starting bids estimated at $5,000 to $7,000.
Modern reprints of photographs showing Capone, his associates and a female companion, as well as other photographs, negatives and matchbooks also will be available for auction.
Bidding begins at 9 a.m. Nov. 9. Bids can be made at Hindman Auctions, 1338 W. Lake St., through an absentee bid, telephone, or at Hindman’s digital bid room.
