H.G. Wells wrote that Canadian movie star Mary Pickford was "his life-long devotion," Thomas Edison dedicated his entry to "the sweetheart of the Americas" and Benito Mussolini simply signed his name and the date, May 10, 1926.
More than 120 famous names from 1926 to 1981 signed the Hollywood silent-film star's personal autograph book, which is among more than 750 lots from the Pickford estate up for auction for the first time next month.
Pickford's autograph book, which also includes dedications from playwright George Bernard Shaw, aviator Amelia Earhart, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and car-maker Henry Ford, carries a presale estimate of $6,000-8,000 (U.S.). But auctioneer Darren Julien said the book could fetch five times that at the Nov. 22-23 auction.
Pickford was born Gladys Louise Smith in Toronto in 1892.