London: A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi in 1922 from Sabarmati jail to Rabindranath Tagore's eldest brother Dwijendranath on Wednesday fetched 49,250 pounds, over seven times its pre-sale estimate, at a Sotheby's auction in London.
After being lodged in the jail in Ahmedabad, Gandhi wrote the autographed letter to Dwijendranath rejoicing that his incarceration had come at a time when he felt fully prepared and expressing joy that "India's wonderful calm at this moment is significant of her strength". He asked Dwijendranath to send messages of support to Young India journal in the two-page letter, written in pencil.
The letter had an estimate of 5,000-7,000 pounds at the sale of English Literature, History, Children's Books and Illustrations. Another letter in which Gandhi sends condolences to an unknown friend in 1922 on hearing from Charlie (Andrews) of the death of his or her mother, but asking "should not birth and death be the same though" sold for 5,625 pounds. It had an estimate of 3,000-4,000 pounds.
A collection of 10 remarkable and articulate love letters written by singer Mick Jagger to the beautiful black American singer Marsha Hunt, sold for 187,250 pounds, more than double the pre-sale low estimate of 70,000-100,000 pounds.
They were purchased by a private collector, bidding over the telephone, the auction house said. In November, Gandhian author Giriraj Kishore approached UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to stop the auction of the two letters.
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