Letters written by a young Morrissey before he rose to fame as the frontman of The Smiths are to go to auction where they are expected to sell for stg22,000 ($A42,041).
The archive of letters, written to a Birmingham pen friend, Simon Pitt, who would go on to become the city's poet laureate, by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20, includes one in which Morrissey says "my ambition is to be a rock 'n' roll star or an actor, or a writer".
"I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened," another letter dated a number of weeks later says.
The letters, written between 1974 and 1979, are being offered as separate lots when they go on sale in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, which will be held at Dawsons Auctioneers in London.
The period documented in the letters was featured in the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which follows the young singer, whose full name is Steven Morrissey, as he struggles to find his place before forming The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982.
In the letters, Morrissey also speaks about seeing The Sex Pistols at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, which he says changed his opinion on the band.
"As for the Pistols … they were pathetic. I take back all that I've said about the Pistols… They are just plain bad. Period," he wrote.
He also speaks about meeting Patti Smith, along with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls.
Morrissey speaks of visiting New York punk club CBGB's and attempting to join The Clash, and becoming the vocalist with Manchester punk band The Nosebleeds, his first experience fronting a band.
"I'm in showbusiness… I'll spring on this unsuspecting world yet…, he says of his experience with the band.
"One thing I won't do is record for the sake of it … I'm all set for superstardom. But then, I've always been a star, haven't I?"
One letter following Margaret Thatcher's election as prime minister in 1979 reads: "Did you vote? Labour, I hope? God knows what tortures that miserable Thatcher has prepared for us woikin' class folk. I dread to fink."
Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, said "the letters offer a vivid snapshot of the changing British music scene and political landscape during the 1970s while documenting the emergence of a remarkable young talent long before the rest of the world knew his name".
With The Smiths, who were completed by Marr, bass player Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, Morrissey was one of the pioneers of British indie rock in the 1980s.
The band released four critically acclaimed studio albums in The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986), and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), before breaking up in 1987.
They achieved three UK top 10 singles, and were best known for songs such as This Charming Man, Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, and How Soon Is Now?
Following the break-up of The Smiths, Morrissey launched a successful solo career.
Australian Associated Press
