A major auction of the possessions of Colonel Harland Sanders may include one of the most famous trade secrets in history.

Sanders, whose former home is also for sale, created Kentucky Fried Chicken in the 1930s.

Coming from serious poverty, Sanders lived an extraordinary and very American life: he worked in everything form manual labour to the law, served in the military in Cuba, and  had a gun fight with a competitor.

Perhaps his greatest innovations were in his patented pressure cooking method, and in realising the potential of franchising in restaurants.  

The success of the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe he created, and famously kept secret, brought him considerable wealth, and on Tuesday, July 28 his mansion in Shelbyville, Kentucky, Blackwood Hall will be sold by auction along with a large collection of personal memorabilia and Kentucky Fried Chicken ephemera. 

Harlan Sanders was a public figure who fully inhabited his image. This record is among his personal effects up for sale. Image courtesy of Claudia Sanders Auction. 

Attracting the most interest is a working planner used by Sanders (who was himself the chef behind the original recipe) and containing a list in his handwriting of 11 ingredients. 

The sellers say they cannot confirm that this is the famous "11 secret herbs and spices" that were such a key marketing tool for Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

Also selling on Tuesday is kitchen equipment, a Patent awarded for his pressure cooking process, and letters from President Nixon, of whom Sanders was a supporter. 

Sanders left a huge business and cultural legacy that can genuinely claim to be global - though he was often savagely critical of the food sold in his name. But he is in a category of his own - local celebrity, businessman, brand mascot - that make his collection hard to value. 

The recipe collection currently carries a bid of $400. Will it go higher?