Beschreibung:

LANGTRY, LILLIE] Presentation album of photographs from Lillie (Lily) Langtry to Frederic Gebhard , inscribed on the verso of the front endpaper in red ink "Lillie Langtry/to/Fred. Gebhard/Liverpool Oct. 1885." Brown calf. 15 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches (40 x 33 cm); 36 ff. of heavy card, on which are mounted 82 photographs on cards of Langtry by various photographers, including Notman, Downey, Mora, Window & Grove etc., with 19 in large format (cards 13 x 7 1/2 inches, photographs 12 1/4 x 7 inches), the balance of the collection cabinet cards, most about 6 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches (16.5 x 11 cm). All are signed by Langtry, with annotations by her about each image in red ink on the album page. Binding worn, joints separated, some pages chipped or torn, though generally not affecting Langtry's annotations. There is evidence of removal of three cards. Langtry (born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton in 1853), was a great beauty and an actress of considerable talent. She was the subject of a major painting by Millais (A Jersey Lily), later a close friend of Oscar Wilde, and was the mistress of (among others) Albert Edward ("Bertie"), Prince of Wales. From 1882 to 1891 she was close to Frederic Gebhard, a wealthy New York businessman, and it was during this period that she became an enthusiastic thoroughbred racer. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1897, though she died in Monte Carlo in 1929. Among her many claims to fame is that she is rumored to have been the basis for Irene Adler in Arthur Conan-Doyle's A Scandal in Bohemia. This is one of the largest collections of inscribed Langtry photographs ever to be sold at auction, especially interesting in that she herself compiled it. C