Lot 174
CHAPLIN (CHARLIE) Archive of upwards of 1,700 photographs of Chaplin, his life, work and circle (quantity)
7 – 20 June 2024, 12:00 BST
Online, London, KnightsbridgeSold for £3,328 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
CHAPLIN (CHARLIE)
Archive of upwards of 1,700 photographs of Chaplin, his life, work and circle, assembled by managing director of Bodley Head, Max Reinhardt, in preparation for the book My Life in Pictures by Charles Chaplin (1974), gelatin silver prints, the majority printed later, many duplicates and copy prints, many annotated and with various stamps on verso, generally 200 x 250mm., together with around 100 film and glass plate copy negatives (quantity)
Footnotes
My Life in Pictures was the brainchild of Bodley Head's Max Reinhardt, to supplement My Autobiography. "This sumptuous collection of private and studio photographs, many never reproduced before, seemed a happy solution. Chaplin obviously enjoyed revisiting the past again, though [his secretary] Rachel Ford was often justifiably nervous for the safety of the precious archives as she watched Chaplin and Reinhardt on their knees in a sea of fragile photographs that washed about the floor" (Robinson, Chaplin: His Life and Art, 1985, p.626).
The archive ranges from film stills to press photographs and family snaps, encompassing Chaplin's life from the earliest films to his later life in Switzerland.
Provenance: Max Reinhardt (1915-2002); his daughter and god-daughter of Charles Chaplin, Veronica Reinhardt (b.1964), the present owner. Proceeds from the sale will benefit MaxLiteracy (www.maxliteracy.org), a charity and educational initiative set up in memory of Max Reinhardt and his authors to stimulate literacy through the visual arts in partnership with museums, galleries, schools and writers.