A letter handwritten by Steve Jobs when he was 19 is up for auction at Bonhams and could sell for up to $300,000 USD.
The single-page letter, described as “Steve Jobs reveals his spiritual side” by Bonhams, was written on February 23, 1974, and sent to his childhood best friend Tim Brown. According to the auction, Jobs has dropped out of college at the time and was living in a cabin in the Santa Cruz mountains and had just returned from working on an Apple farm.
“Jobs was renowned for his relentless pursuit of innovation and perfection, and as a teenager was on a quest in search of the meaning of life,” Bonhams said. In the note, the Apple co-founder discusses Zen Buddhism and his desire to travel to India for the Kumba Mela, a major Hindu festival.
“Tim I have read your letter many times / I do not know what to say,” the letter reads. “Many mornings have come and gone / people have came and went / I have loved and I have cried many times. / somehow, though, beneath it all it doesn’t change — do you understand?”
“I will end by saying I do not even know where to begin,” he concludes, before signing off “Shanti / Steve Jobs.”
The letter is part of Bonhams’ History of Science and Technology sale on November 3 in Los Angeles and will also include an Apple Macintosh prototype, a First generation iPad prototype and other tech-related items.
In other news, an Apple II manual signed by Steve Jobs was auctioned for nearly $800,000 USD.
