see you before the theatre so will try to contain myself till 11.30, love Dan.'

In the age of SMS messaging and e-mails, love affairs can end with the pressing of a send button. So it is no surprise that in the viewing room of Sotheby's New York, a collection of telegrams has caused a stir. The contents may not be as lurid as the exchanges between footballer David Beckham and his former personal assistant Rebecca Loos, but the 12 telegrams have sparked worldwide interest because they are testimony to one of Hollywood's most legendary romances - the affair between actress Katharine Hepburn and millionaire aviator Howard Hughes.

It turns out that Dan (short for dynamite), was Hughes' nickname and the evening of January 19, 1937, when the telegram was sent, was the same day Hughes had broken the aviation record for a transcontinental US flight from Burbank, California, to Newark, New Jersey (taking a little more than seven hours). Hughes was on his way to meet Hepburn, who was staying at the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago. Rumours were circulating that the two were due to marry in the windy city and the couple were so hounded by paparazzi Hepburn had to issue a press statement that a wedding was not on the cards.

'It was one of the biggest stories around. Hepburn was like the Greta Garbo of her time, an all-encom-passing star,' says Leila Dunbar, director of Sotheby's collectibles department in New York.

One year after Hepburn's death in Connecticut, the telegrams and more than 800 of her personal items will go to the auction block on June 10 and 11. Although it's too early to tell if the bidding frenzy will surpass that of other memorable celebrity-estate sales such as those of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1996 or the Duke and Duchess of Windsor in 1998, the auctioneers at Sotheby's are confident.

'With celebrity sales it's often highly unpredictable because there's no way of estimating the amount of money people are willing to pay for a piece of memory,' Dunbar says. 'But this has been a trailblazer for us because Miss Hepburn is such an American icon, and this is a sale that has something for everyone because of the sheer volume of personal things from every facet of her life.'

Whether the items are to be kept as mementos of a romantic and elegant bygone era or as a piece of cinematic history, the sale is attracting a new audience of bidders for Sotheby's, which is using auctions such as this to expand its market. 'Seventy-five per cent of the bidders [from around the world] are new to us. We will have a special preview session for Bryn Mawr alumni [the leading women's college near Philadelphia from which Hepburn graduated], and our exhibition is open to the public, so anyone who wants to know more about Miss Hepburn is welcome to see it.'

Before her death in June last year at 96, the seemingly irrepressible Hepburn had already gone beyond celebrity status to become an institution. Her seven decades of cinematic work embody the best of Hollywood in the 20th century. According to Dunbar, the auction is unique because it opens up Hepburn's entire life to the public. The items to be sold were selected by Sotheby's and the executor of Hepburn's estate, American news anchorwoman Cynthia McFadden, a friend for many years, from her three homes in Connecticut, New York and Los Angeles. The large collection includes so many personal and professional items - from diaries to manuscripts to furniture to clothing to photographs - it leaves no doubt about how Hepburn lived: she was a strong-minded, independent woman on and off the screen.

'She was very much in control and she knew her life,' says Dunbar, who began assessing Hepburn's belongings with the auctioners' archive team for insurance purposes in 1996. 'It was stipulated in her will that all her belongings be sold. I guess she didn't want to burden her family [Hepburn had no children, only two nephews]. It was her wish, so this is very much a lifestyle sale.'

Born in Connecticut in 1907, Hepburn had a privileged upbringing (her father was a doctor and her mother was a universal-suffrage advocate). She graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1928 and sought a career in the theatre. Her first Oscar was awarded in 1933 for her performance in Morning Glory. She went on to be nominated 12 more times for films such as The Philadelphia Story, Woman Of The Year and The African Queen and took three more statuettes for her supporting roles in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?, The Lion In Winter and On Golden Pond. During her long career Hepburn starred opposite the most dashing men in the business, including Cary Grant, James Stewart and Humphrey Bogart. A marriage to stockbroker Ludlow Ogden Smith in 1928 (her wedding dress is lot 14) lasted seven years, but it was her two subsequent romances, with Hughes and later Spencer Tracy, that intrigued the press.

Hepburn met Hughes in 1936 when, determined to impress her, he landed his plane on a Californian golf course while she was playing. They had a two-year affair that caused a frenzy of media attention and the only piece of jewellery in the auction, a platinum, diamond and sapphire brooch (lot 56), is a token of Hughes' affection. 'Hepburn was never interested in jewellery, and this piece has a great art-deco flair,' Dunbar says. 'Hughes bought it at his favourite jeweller, Trabert & Hoeffer, in New York.'

Hepburn's romance with Tracy was one of Hollywood's most enduring, spanning 25 years. It is in a tattered leather-bound address book marked with the initials 'K.H' (lot 254) that Tracy's address and phone number can be found, written in Hepburn's handwriting. But flip through the pages and the buyer will end up with a directory of Hollywood's biggest stars: there are contact details for Kirk Douglas, Lawrence Olivier, Tony Curtis, Vivien Leigh and Peter O'Toole. There is also the famous 'Spencer Tracy Chair' (lot 453), which Hepburn wrote about in her autobiography, Me: Stories Of My Life, a shabby easy-chair with a slightly scooped back.

Hepburn had discerning taste and despite the fact her home was furnished with simple, American colonial-style furniture such as oak tables and walnut chests, many of which are included in the sale, her accessories were remarkably elegant. 'She started to travel very young and when I say travel I mean it in the grand, traditional way,' Dunbar says. A highlight of the auction is her vintage Louis Vuitton luggage (lots 32-36). 'It was suggested she buy Vuitton [cases] by her good friend Laura Harding, the American Express heiress, and Hepburn really used them,' she says. 'You can still read her writing on the Cunard [luxury cruise liner] tags.' All monogrammed with 'KHH', for Katharine Houghton Hepburn, the collection includes four hard suitcases, a soft suitcase, a carry-on bag and a classic steamer trunk, with notes written by Hepburn still in its drawers. There is also a wallet by Hermes and her address books were from top stationer Smythson.

Dunbar is expecting much interest from film institutions in Hepburn's Hollywood memorabilia, such as her movie press kits, contracts, membership cards to various actors' guilds, and pictures by renowned photographers, including several by Ernest Bachrach of her in Mary Of Scotland (lots 66-69). 'There is a lot of interest in her handwritten journal [from] when she was making The African Queen,' Dunbar says. 'She wrote a lot, sometimes in ink, then her secretary would transcribe it with a typewriter.' The manuscript, a staggering 4,000 pages long, of her 1991 autobiography is expected to fetch way above its estimate of US$5,000 to $7,000. 'We always set estimates conservatively,' Dunbar says. 'But with these auctions it's not about what price you start at.'

This sale may not have controversial or 'star' lots that fetch enormous sums, such as the abdication desk used by Britain's King Edward VIII that sold for $415,000 at the sale of his effects, or Jackie O's faux-pearl strands that fetched $211,500, but more unusual collectibles include Hepburn's Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque and her paintings. Completely self-taught, Hepburn painted in oils and watercolours in a style best described as American modernism. 'There's a particular collection of paintings she made when she was travelling to Australia,' Dunbar says.

Perhaps most surprising about this celebrity sale is the modest collection from Hepburn's wardrobe. One would expect a Hollywood icon to own dozens of haute couture garments, but the auction reveals her to have been more down to Earth. There is no vintage Christian Dior, but simple ensembles such as a black, buttoned, cotton jacket from Field & Cinatt Beverly Hills, low-heeled suede boots from Bruno Magli, straw sun hats and a fiery red mandarin-style jacket in silk.

Meanwhile, McFadden, who knew Hepburn for 30 years, has mixed feelings about the auction. 'She was involved with her things, she didn't like to throw them away, she said she wanted her belongings to 'have lived life' as well,' she says. 'It was really bitter-sweet organising this sale; and there are still hundreds of boxes of manuscripts, movie notes and diaries, which we didn't include, that we will donate to libraries.'

Hepburn's family and McFadden hope that when her belongings go to their new owners they will be inspired by the actress. 'There was no grey area for Katharine, she was persistent and principled but a joy to be with,' she says. As for McFadden, who named her son Spencer, after Tracy, there are things she will treasure: 'Katherine was very proud of her paintings and I have several. They will always be with me.'