A handwritten love letter to Pattie Boyd, 1971

Name: Eric Clapton
Brand: A handwritten love letter to Pattie Boyd, 1971
Price: 95000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised GBP 119,700

Estimate

GBP 10,000 - GBP 15,000

Closed: 22 Mar 2024

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Eric Clapton

A handwritten love letter to Pattie Boyd, 1971

Price Realised GBP 119,700

Closed: 22 Mar 2024

Price Realised GBP 119,700

Closed: 22 Mar 2024

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

A handwritten love letter from Eric Clapton to Pattie Boyd, n.d. but January 1971, in black ballpoint pen on the title page torn from a copy of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, addressed Dear Layla, Clapton passionately despairs for nothing more than the pleasures past i would sacrifice my family, my god, and my own existence, and still you will not move. i am at the end of my mind, i cannot go back and there is nothing in tomorrow (save you) that can attract me beyond today, and questions why do you hesitate, am i a poor lover, am i ugly, am i too weak, too strong, do you know why?, entreating her if you want me, take me, i am yours.... if you don't want me, please break the spell that binds me. to cage a wild animal is a sin, to tame him is divine, and concludes my love is yours with a love heart doodle
7¹⁄₈ x 4³⁄₈ in. (18 x 11 cm.)

Boyd, P. My Life in Pictures, London, 2022, p. 161 (illus.)
Boyd, P. Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Me, New York, 2007, pp. 171-172

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Lot Essay

In her 2007 autobiography Pattie Boyd recounted the arrival of this note:

[1971]

"dear Layla, for nothing more than the pleasures past i would sacrifice my family, my god, and my own existence, and still you will not move, i am at the end of my mind, i cannot go back and there is nothing in tomorrow (save you) that can attract me beyond today, i have listened to the wind, i have watched the dark brooding clouds, i have felt the earth beneath me for a sign, a gesture, but there is only silence, why do you hesitate, am i a poor lover, am i ugly, am i too weak, too strong, do you know why? if you want me, take me, i am yours... if you don’t want me, please break the spell that binds me. to cage a wild animal is a sin, to tame him is divine, my love is yours."

[Lord Harlech’s house]