More new, old, never-before-seen shots of Marilyn Monroe have surfaced. Taken in a New York apartment nine months before she died, the photos were were unveiled today, after being held by photographer Len Steckler for 45 years.

On a wintry afternoon in December 1961, poet Carl Sandburg and Steckler waited in Steckler’s apartment for three hours for Monroe to arrive. She was late, she said,  because she had been at the hairdresser’s trying to get her hair white to match Sandburg’s. The two spent the  afternoon bonding over conversation and cocktails, fostering a new friendship while Steckler quietly observed, his Nikon loaded with black and white film.  Sandburg was 83. Monroe was 35.

Steckler is now offering the shots for sale as a limited edition series called “Marilyn Monroe: The Visit.” – Ann Oldenburg