Morrissey Teenage Letters Expected to Fetch £22,000 at London Auction

Before The Smiths: Inside the £22,000 London Auction Archive

Long before he defined British indie rock with The Smiths, a young Steven Morrissey was busy plotting his ascent from his teenage bedroom. A rare collection of correspondence penned by the singer between 1974 and 1979 is set to go under the hammer in London. The archive is expected to fetch a combined estimate of £22,000 when it hits the auction block in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, scheduled at Dawsons Auctioneers on August 26.

The collection spans letters written to Simon Pitt, a Birmingham pen friend who later became the city’s poet laureate. Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, noted the distinct personality emerging from the pages. Peter Mason observed that what struck him most was just how funny Morrissey is, pointing out the singer’s early blend of literary ambition and unvarnished candor.

Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, stated that running through almost every letter is a wonderful sense of humour and genuine warmth that makes him an incredibly endearing character, adding that alongside the wit and unmistakable literary voice that would later become synonymous with Morrissey, the correspondence also captures Britain at a fascinating moment in its cultural history.

Teenage Ambitions and Sharp Critiques of the 1970s Music Scene

The letters chart a critical transitional phase in British music, offering commentary on the 1970s political and cultural landscape as a young creative finds his footing. In one early letter from his teens, Morrissey laid out his ultimate career goals with absolute clarity, writing that his ambition is to be a rock ‘n’ roll star or an actor, or a writer.

A few weeks later, that early self-belief hardened into trademark bravado. He noted in subsequent correspondence that he always said he was a genius, but nobody listened. That same self-assured streak colored his encounters with the era’s emerging punk icons. Following a June 1976 appearance by The Sex Pistols at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall, Morrissey offered a blistering take on the band that initially fueled his disillusionment.

Morrissey, via Dawsons Auctioneers archive, remarked regarding the Pistols that they were pathetic, adding that he took back all that he had said about the Pistols and that they were just plain bad, period.

Despite his harsh critique of the Pistols, Morrissey was deeply immersed in the transatlantic punk ecosystem. The letters document his interactions with Patti Smith, Johnny Thunders, and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls—the very band whose UK fan club he once presided over as president. He also recounted visits to New York’s legendary CBGB club, attempts to join The Clash, and his stint as frontman for Manchester punk outfit The Nosebleeds, which marked his first experience fronting a group.

Morrissey, via Dawsons Auctioneers archive, declared that he was in showbusiness and would spring on that unsuspecting world yet, noting that one thing he would not do was record for the sake of it, and affirming that he was all set for superstardom while adding that he had always been a star, hadn’t he?

Political Anxieties and the Road to The Smiths

Beyond music and aspirations of superstardom, the correspondence captures the political anxieties of a working-class teenager observing shifting tides in Britain. Following Margaret Thatcher’s election victory as prime minister in 1979, Morrissey shared his apprehensions about the future in a letter to his pen friend, asking whether he had voted, expressing hope for Labour, and noting that God knew what tortures that miserable Thatcher had prepared for us working-class folk while adding that he dreaded to think.

The period covered in the archive was previously explored on film in the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which detailed the singer’s early struggles before he crossed paths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982. Together with bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, Morrissey and Marr went on to form The Smiths, cementing their legacy as pioneers of 1980s British indie rock with landmark singles such as This Charming Man, Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, and How Soon Is Now?

The auction lots trace that trajectory right up to the precipice of his commercial breakthrough. In the final letter of the collection, Morrissey reveals that he has joined a London-based band equipped with a recording contract and all that rubbish, setting the stage for one of alternative music’s most defining careers.