Entertainment

Buyer makes an offer auction house can’t refuse for ‘Godfather’ author’s papers

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Mario Puzo's 1965 Olympia typewriter with manuscripts and versions of both "The Godfather" and "The Godfather II" screenplays.AP
Mario Puzo in 1996.AP
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An outline of chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Puzo's "The Godfather."AP
Francis Ford Coppola's three-ring binder covering the filming of Puzo's novel. AP
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BOSTON — An archive of author Mario Puzo’s papers that includes multiple drafts of “The Godfather” novel and movie screenplay has sold at auction for $625,000.

RR Auction of Boston announced that the 45-box archive was sold Thursday to a bidder from the US who wishes to remain anonymous.

“The Godfather” material included thousands of pages, notes and drafts from multiple versions of both the novel manuscript and the screenplay. The papers shed light on Puzo’s character, scene and dialogue development, as well as his collaboration with director Francis Ford Coppola, who brought the fictional Italian-American mob family’s story to the screen.

Many of the drafts are marked with Puzo’s own handwriting.

Puzo’s children put the collection up for auction.