Recently published, Marilyn Monroe: A Photographic Life is a reissue of Jenna Glatzer’s 2008 book, The Marilyn Monroe Treasures. The contents are the same, down to Gene Kornman’s cover photo of Marilyn in her gold lamé dress, and the facsimile inserts. Not to be mistaken for Cindy de la Hoz’s Marilyn Monroe: The Personal Archive – which, rather confusingly, was renamed as The Marilyn Monroe Treasures in some later editions – Jenna Glatzer’s book is fully illustrated and an enjoyable, informative read.
The documents and photos featured in this book include:
- Birth and marriage certificates
- Handwritten letters
- Certificate of conversion to Judaism before her marriage to Arthur Miller
- Screen Actors Guild membership card
- Picture of Marilyn sketched by Jane Russell
- Childhood photos
- Shots and ads from her earliest modeling days
- Wedding photos
- Images of those who knew her, including Groucho Marx, Ella Fitzgerald, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and so many more
- Marilyn’s favorite image of herself, taken in 1956
As with so many books on Monroe, though, the final chapters are slightly marred by a couple of dubious sources regarding her alleged affair with John F. Kennedy; and the inclusion of the so-called ‘rose painting’, supposedly painted and inscribed by Marilyn to the President but never sent, and with a 1999 label from Christie’s on the verso (though it wasn’t listed in the original sale of Marilyn’s personal property.)
The painting’s traditional style bears little resemblance to her usual, more abstract watercolours, and the inscription to JFK is written below a previous dedication to Marilyn – which suggests the picture was merely a gift to her that was subsequently altered. Nonetheless, the rose painting was sold for $78,000 at Julien’s Auctions in 2005.
To learn more about this book, read my 2009 review of the original edition here.
The Marilyn Report 
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