Steve Jobs' 1974 letter about plans to visit Kumbh Mela may fetch up to 2.2 cr in auction

A letter written by the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has been set up for Auction. The letter which he wrote at the age of 18 to his childhood friend will be auctioned by British auction house Bonhams on November 3. The letter was penned on Jobs' 19th birthday, on February 23, in the year 1974, and was addressed to his friend Tim Brown, just two years before when Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple.  

The single-page letter states Jobs' opinions on Zen Buddhism as well as his aspirations to visit India for the Kumbh Mela, which is a Hindu pilgrimage and festival. The letter is expected to bring in an amount between $200,000 and $300,000 during the auction, as per the Bonhams website. The artefact is described by Bonhams as the very first handwritten personal letter penned by Steve Jobs to be auctioned.  

Steve Jobs' letter to his friend

Bonhams even took their official Instagram account to showcase the letter, the post reads, “Tim Brown, the recipient of the present letter, was one of Jobs' closest friends. In response to Brown's letter sharing his thoughts on Zen Buddhism, Jobs claims not to understand ("I do not know what to say"), but then expresses great depth beyond his age ("... i have loved and i have cried many times. / somehow, though, beneath it all it doesn't change....").⁠” 

Furthermore, while talking about the letter, Bonhams Director of History of Science and Technology, Adam Stackhouse stated that Steve Jobs was both a smart and complicated individual, but the true Jobs remained concealed from public plain sight. He went on to say that this letter provides a fascinating glimpse into one of the world's finest innovators and businesses' thought processes. 

“i will end by saying i do not even know where to begin,” was the last line Jobs said at the end of his letter to Brown. Before writing his signature at the bottom of the page, he wrote the phrase "Shanti," which signifies "peace" in Sanskrit. 

As per a CNBC report, Brown and Jobs both went to Cupertino, California's Homestead High School, wherein Apple company is now based. As per Brown's LinkedIn page, the two pals remained in contact throughout their lifetimes until Jobs' death in 2011. 

Previously, at the beginning of this year, a handwritten job application by Steve Jobs was put up for auction. The 1973 handwritten application is said to have been penned around the time he dropped out of Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Jobs joined Atari in 1974, where he met Steve Wozniak and founded Apple. The one-page questionnaire, according to auction house Charterfields, makes no indication of the position he was applying for or the firm he wished to work for. The questionnaire was put under virtual auction from February 24 till March 24.  

(Image: Instagram/ Bonhams1793/ AP)