Science fiction author Ray Bradbury was quite the collector of science fiction art and memorabilia. Now, his fans can bid on much of that collection via an online auction through Nate D. Sanders.
Bradbury is most known for writing Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian sci-fi novel about a futuristic American society where books are illegal and burned. He also wrote The Martian Chronicles, a collection of short stories about humans colonizing the red planet.
Bradbury died at the age of 91 in 2012, leaving behind his massive collection, including original art and illustrations that ended up as covers for many of his books, as well as items he collected on his own.
One of the pieces up for bid is a preliminary cover art painting by Joseph Mugnaini for Fahrenheit 451. The watercolor and sketch shows figures that readers will recognize that ended up as the final artwork for the first edition of that book.
There is also Bradbury's personally owned Fahrenheit 451 print of the "Burning Man" by Mugnaini. This image eventually became the cover for the 1953 Ballantine printing of the hardcover of the novel.
Mugnaini collaborated with Bradbury often and much of his art ended up representing Bradbury's books. The collection also includes six black and white prints of the artist's work for The Martian Chronicles.
For those looking for something a bit more personal from Bradbury's collection, there is a painting titled "Crazy Ray," which was given to Bradbury as a gift. It incorporates themes Bradbury liked, such as Mars, carnivals, haunted houses and a black cat.
The author loved comics and often collected artwork from strips he liked dating back to the 1940s, including "Steve Canyon," "Andy Cap," and "L'il Abner."
Animation cels collected by Bradbury are also up for auction, including cels from the Warner Brothers' Bugs Bunny cartoon and from the 1973 film version of Charlotte's Webb. Most impressively, though, is the cel from Disney's 1937 film Snow White, which shows perhaps the most famous scene in the movie where the evil queen is handing a poisonous apple to Snow White. There are also other prints from Disney films available.
Anyone interested in bidding on items from the collection has until Sept. 25 at 5 p.m. EDT to do so. A full list of items up for auction is on the Nate D. Sanders website.
