Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Winter 2020
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/26/2020
Captaining the mighty Montreal Canadiens throughout the close of the Roaring ‘20s and again for a trio of seasons in the mid-1930s, Sylvio Mantha was a three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Habs, with just four games played in a Boston Bruins jersey at the close of his HOF career. Originating from the incomparable autograph collection of E. Robert Hamlyn, we have a vintage photo signed by the Montreal legend. At 8” x 10”, the wonderful glossy Rice image picture’s Mantha in his Canadiens uniform, with a gorgeous bold ballpoint signature placed over the bottom left, with “avec mes compliments" (with my compliments) added. Enshrined in 1960, Mantha would pass at age 72, in 1974. THIS IS THE FIRST SYLVIO MANTHA SIGNED PHOTO WE HAVE EVER OFFERED OR SEEN.
Just light wear is present on the photo including some corner wear. A few stamps and notations have been added to the reverse including the date Hamlyn received this photo back signed, Dec 13, 1951.
The E. Robert Hamlyn Hockey HOFers Signed Photo and Letter Collection
Beginning life as the passion of one youth growing up in Newfounland during the late-1930s, E. R. Hamlyn was bitten by the collecting bug as a teenager, and began to seek out the signatures of both contemporary and past hockey stars, with his efforts culminating in the world class collection of signed photos and letters that encompass his incomparable autograph collection, with many unique items and extremely rare signatures making up the vast collection.
Through effective letter writing, first to teams, and then when information was received, directly to the players themselves, Hamlyn would request the addressed parties sign a photo he himself would provide, with the overwhelming majority honouring the enthusiastic collector’s wishes. And enamored with the uniforms of both the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans – despite never seeing these teams play in person, Hamlyn had the foresight to seek out the signatures of past retired stars from long forgotten and defunct franchises. The insightful collector also recorded information now invaluable to his collection, with most of the signed letters and photos having dates listed when they were received back signed.
Numerous early Hall of Fame legends make up the one-of-a-kind gathering including signed photos from Sylvio Mantha, George Hainsworth, King Clancy, Cecil "Babe" Dye, George "Buck" Boucher, Jack Ruttan, Barney Stanley, "Bullet" Joe Simpson and others, along with signed letters from Ernie "Moose" Johnson, Ernie Russell, George McNamara, Jack Marshall, Dickie Boon and others. Impossible to duplicate, this is unequivocally the greatest autograph collection that we have handled in our 25 years of service to the collecting community.
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