Memorabilia auctions rarely feature as exciting a spread of inventory as the one that will be hosted by Cotton Auctions and Appraisals in Burnaby, British Columbia, and online at iCollector.com, on Oct. 19. All of the 575 items come from the former estate of Ed Diamond, a Palm Springs, Calif., collector, and they include pieces from many of the most famous names in mid-20th century American and world culture.

Autographs galore
Collectors of star signatures are sure to be ecstatic over the lots that will be available on the 19th. Steve Allen (lot #2), Claude Akins (lot #3), Paul Anka (lot #4), George Burns and Grace Allen (lot #5) and a copy of the Gene Autry biography, "Back in the Saddle Again," signed by its subject (lot #9), are just a few of the American entertainment icons whose personal scrawls will be up for bid.

Many of the autographs, like Autry's, come on either framed pictures or other piece of memorabilia. Woody Allen, who has been nominated for an astonishing 26 Oscars, winning four of them, with three of those honors coming for Best Original Screenplay, is represented with an autographed, framed photo (lot #8).

There are three items signed by the "Greatest of All-time," Muhammed Ali, including an Institute of Islamic Information and Education pamphlet bearing his autograph (lot #29), and two framed pictures, one of which has the inscription, "To Thelma, love Muhammad Ali. Love is the net, where hearts are caught like fish," (lots #30 and 31).

The Nixon administration
Richard Nixon's five years in the Oval Office were some of the most tumultuous in this country's history, with the backdrop of the Vietnam War and his eventual resignation under the threat of impeachment being two of the most important events in 20th century American history.

But that controversy has made items from his time in office some of the most coveted political collectibles. And in this collection of memorabilia, you will be able to add two historic pieces from the administration, including a program from Nixon's 1973 inauguration signed by his Vice President at the time, Spiro Agnew (lot #14), as well as a novelty watch featuring Agnew's likeness that was produced by the Dirty Time company.

Trinkets for Trekkies
Don't worry Star Trek fans, if there is TV and movie memorabilia for sale, you are sure to have options from which to choose. At the Oct. 19 auction, three different versions of the handheld phasers from different Trek movies will be offered (lots #302, 303 and 303a), along with slides of stars and opening shots from The Original Series (lot #304) and an autographed photo of Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, from the set of the "Final Frontier" movie (lot #301).

While these represent a cross section of the nearly 600 lots that will be available, they only begin to scratch the surface of this Hollywood memorabilia auction. So if you want to sink your teeth into some astounding memorabilia, antiques and collectibles from Hollywood history, be sure to head over to iCollector.com now and start picking out your favorites.