Never Judged a Book by its Cover & Marilyn Monroe (New Profile Picture)

Marilyn Monroe was known for her many talents. She was an actress, singer, and model that has maintained her celebrity status through pop culture references as a sex symbol and a women ahead of her time. 

As a sex symbol of the 1950s to 1960s, Monroe was often typecast as a dumb blonde, but within her lifetime, she was able to accumulate over 430 books in her personal library. 

An actress. A sex symbol. A pop culture icon. A bibliophile.

Marilyn Monroe was often stated as being photographed reading a book more than she was pictured nude.

Her bibliophilic pursuits started as a adoring habit of buying books "on nights when [she had] nothing else to do [but to] go to the Pickwick bookstore on Hollywood Boulevard and just open books at random..." She, then, she would buy a book when she came to a page or a paragraph I like.

Monroe had over 400 books stacked on her shelves with titles covering a wide variety of interests such as poetry, American contemporary literature, politics, religion, and psychology.

Case in point, Marilyn was being photographed by Philippe Halsman in 1952 at her apartment. Pictured on the floor in a front a bookshelf filled with such books as The Story of Fabian Socialism and The Negro in American Literature and a framed photograph of 19th-century actress Eleonora Duse, Marilyn is sitting in a criss-crossed fashion in a black negligee reading for the camera.

Despite her impressive book collection, Halsman questioned her intellect.

Thinking the books and photos were a mere hobby of Monroe's, Halsman asked her about Duse and was surprised that she had a depth of knowledge about the legendary actress. 

My new profile picture 

Check out more about Marilyn Monroe and her loved of reading at @bibliophile.muse on Instagram.

OR

See how many books from Marilyn's collection you have read. BELOW IS A LINK –

The 430 Books in Marilyn Monroe's Library: How Many Have You Read?

I hope you enjoyed learning more about the woman behind the sex symbol!