Steve Jobs' Handwritten Letter To Tim Brown To Be Auctioned For Rp2.8 Billion

JAKARTA - British auction house Bonhams is rumored to be auctioning a letter written by Apple founder Steve Jobs to his childhood friend Tim Brown.

In the November 3 auction, the price offered is in the range of US$200 thousand or around Rp2.8 billion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp14,100 per dollar) to US$300,000 (Rp4.2 billion).

This handwritten letter from the late Steve Jobs was written when the deceased was 18 years old. The letter contains Jobs' thoughts on Zen Buddhism. He was planning to travel to India to attend the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu religious pilgrimage and festival.

The letter was written by Jobs on February 23, 1974, just a day before Jobs' 19th birthday and more than two years before he and Steve Wozniak founded Apple.

Bonhams described the collection as Steve Jobs' first handwritten letter to be sold at auction. Jobs began the letter by responding to some of Brown's earlier correspondence, writing in all lowercase.

"Tim, I have read your letter many times/I don't know what to say. Many mornings have come and gone/ People have come and gone/I have loved and I have cried many times. Somehow, though, beneath it all it doesn't change - do you understand?" Jobs wrote in his letter.

Brown and Jobs attended Homestead High School together in Cupertino, California, where Apple is now headquartered. The two friends remained in touch throughout their lives until Jobs' death in 2011, according to Brown's LinkedIn profile.

In the letter, Jobs also explained to Brown that he was saving up for a trip to India. Jobs is known to have spent seven months in India at the end of that year, seeking spiritual enlightenment before returning to Silicon Valley with his head shaved like a Buddhist monk.

Jobs ended his letter to Brown. "I'll end by saying I don't even know where to start," Jobs said.

He then signed off with the term "shanti," which means "peace" in Sanskrit, before signing his name at the bottom of the page.

"This letter provides us with a fascinating insight into the mental processes of one of the world's greatest creators and entrepreneurs," said Adam Stackhouse, Bonhams Director of Business History Science and Technology, in a statement last week.

No signature letter from Jobs has ever appeared at auction before, and certainly no such revealing and insightful material.