Alan Rickman’s manuscripts and personal memorabilia are up for auction | film

Alan Rickman’s obsessive attention to detail is evident in the copious annotations he wrote on all of his scripts, with a number of film-related items from the late actor’s personal collections including the Die Hard and Harry Potter scripts being put up for auction.

Propstore, a Los Angeles and London-based auction company that specializes in entertainment industry memorabilia and recently sold a Star Wars lightsaber for £2.7 million, is organizing a three-day auction in which a number of lots originating from Alan Rickman’s archives will be available.

According to the auctions, Rickman, who died in 2016, maintained the habit of keeping scripts and other associated items in individual plastic boxes for each film. The most valuable collection (estimated at between £30,000 and £60,000) appears to be Rickman’s collection from his acting debut, the 1988 thriller Die Hard, in which he played the much-acclaimed German terrorist Hans Gruber. This includes a shooting script, containing many of Rickman’s handwritten notes and alternative dialogue suggestions, a contact sheet, press kits, and an invitation to Rickman to attend a preview party for the film in London. A $100,000 Treasury note from the same film is also being sold in a separate lot (estimate: £1,000-£2,000).

Rickman is arguably still best known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, having appeared in all eight films between 2001 and 2011, and there are a number of items from his work for sale. Among these gifts are a gold-plated pocket watch given to the cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (estimate: £2,000-£4,000), his own collection of Harry Potter novels (estimate: £1,000-£2,000), a Snape toy figure in its original packaging (estimate: £500-£1,000) and a hand-drawn Halloween letter to Rickman from Rupert Grint, who played Ron. Wesley (estimate: £2,000 – £4,000).

Rickman’s film career, of course, ranged much wider. A box of items from his acclaimed British romance Truly Madly Deeply, from 1989, contains annotated screenplay pages, notes on how to play the cello (a key element of his character), and a thank-you note from the film’s director, Anthony Minghella. The shooting script from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which Rickman was another memorable villain, is another highly valuable item, estimated at between £10,000 and £20,000. Also on offer are items from the much-loved space comedy Galaxy Quest, including hats emblazoned with the film’s logo and an invitation to a cast and crew party (est. £4,000-£8,000), as well as behind-the-scenes images from another of his iconic roles, Colonel Brandon in Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility.

Those interested in the less prominent byways of Rickman’s career may be impressed by elements of the 1999 religious comedy Dogma directed by Kevin Smith, in which Rickman played the angel Metatron; Screenplay and board from The Winter Guest, Rickman’s first film as director; and production notes, storyboards, and location scout notes from his second and final book, A Little Chaos.

Propstore’s entertainment souvenirs will be on sale at BAFTA, London, and online from 5-7 December.