New Images of JFK's Fairy-Tale Wedding Surface

13 'unpublished' photos, negatives sell for $34K at auction
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2014 6:27 AM CDT
New Images of JFK's Fairy-Tale Wedding Surface
In this Sept. 12, 1953, photo released by RR Auction, John F. Kennedy and his new bride, Jacqueline, leave St. Mary's Church after their wedding in Newport, RI.   (AP Photo/RR Auction, Frank Ataman)

Thirteen photographs from John F. Kennedy's wedding to Jacqueline Bouvier have been printed for what may be the first time since the images were taken 60 years ago. An unnamed Las Vegas doctor bought the negatives, each paired with a print, at a Boston auction yesterday for $34,073. Snapped by a "back-up" photographer on Sept. 12, 1953, the photos were likely never published, the AP reports. The negatives remain in their original folder, labeled "Pres. Kennedy 1953," the Boston Globe previously reported. What they depict: the smiling couple leaving St. Mary's Church in Newport, RI; the wedding party; the family dog hiding behind Jackie's dress; and the newlyweds cutting their cake.

"These photos really capture the beginning of Camelot, and that resonates" more than half a century later, RR Auction's Bobby Livingston says. The photos are "magnificent, unpublished," showing "a young senator, already a known figure, and his beautiful bride." Indeed, JFK had been a Massachusetts senator for less than a year before some 1,200 guests attended his grand wedding and reception, which was covered by Life magazine. A 1963 holiday card signed by John and Jackie days before Kennedy's assassination in Dallas also sold yesterday for $19,500. "They signed their Christmas cards, basically wishing people a happy new year in 1964," Livingston says. "What we have is really rare, and kind of tragic." (More John F. Kennedy stories.)

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