AUTOGRAPH ALBUM OF BEATRICE, LADY MICHELHAM, 1895-1950S

including autograph letters by Charles Dickens (to Frederick Chapman, concerning a receipt, 1 page, 8vo, Office of All the Year Round headed stationery, 7 December 1864), John Everett Millais (autograph manuscript transcript from Pindar, 11 July 1873), King Edward VII as Prince of Wales (letter and signed card), Gabriele D'Annunzio (fragment of a letter and also an autograph manuscript poem "C'est comme si j'avais une âme...", December 1910), Charlie Chaplin, Jean Cocteau (2), Cole Porter (2 letters, 2 cards and a signed menu, to "Blanche de Castille", "It was so wonderful to see you again, to gaze at your beauty again & fall, once more, under the magic spell", 23 March 1955), Adelina Patti, Anita Loos (13), and others; signed inscriptions by Anatole France, Aubrey Beardsley, P.A. Laszlo, "John Strange Winter" (Henrietta Stannard), Raynaldo Hahn (with musical notation) and others; sketches or watercolours by artists including Edward Poynter (dated 25 August 1905), Max Beerbohm (watercolour portrait of a man with a cane entitled "Le Petit", 1901), "Sem" (Georges Goursat), Madeleine Lemaire, and Charles Conder; cut signatures by Queen Mary, Lord Kitchener, and others; photographs and printed ephemera (menus, invitations etc.) mostly relating to high society life on the French Riviera, such as invitations to the marriage of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer of Monaco, in an album, including window-mounted leaves from an older album, most items mounted but some pieces loosely inserted, with an index, c.150 pages, plus blanks, c.1895-1950s, oblong folio, tan morocco gilt by Hatchards of Piccadilly, inside dentelles, silk endpapers, rubbed, some items crudely mounted with coloured tape

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Beatrice (Berthe, or Bertie) Capel was the daughter of Arthur Capel, a wealthy shipping merchant, and the sister of Coco Chanel's lover "Boy" Capel. In 1919 she married Herman Alfred Stern, 2nd Baron Michelham of Hellingly (1900-1984), of the Stern banking dynasty. This album is richly evocative of European high society of the first half of the twentieth century. The letters - which are almost all addressed to Lady Michelham - are flirtatious or gossipy, it includes the signatures of guests dining on yachts and at hunting parties at grand European houses, and is inscribed by scions of many of Europe's wealthiest families as well as politicians, artists, and writers.