Photographs

the first containing 149 vintage silver prints (130 x 185mm. and smaller), including studio portraits of Vivien as a baby and young child, photos of Vivien as a child in Calcutta, Ernest Hartley's racehorses (some with studio stamps in blind) and school photos from Roehampton, laid in to the album with Vivien's autograph captions, landscape format album (257 x 390mm.), flexible leather covers, marbled endpapers, with 3 similar photos and a negative loosely inserted, some photos removed leaving some residue, small section cut out of two school photos, some wear to album covers;

the second containing 14 vintage silver prints (231 x 281mm. and similar) of horse racing in Calcutta, 11 laid in on stiff card sheets, 3 loosely inserted, landscape format album (296 x 372mm.), half black morocco over black boards, loss to the upper right corner of upper board (2)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, 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."

‘I was born in one of the most romantic places in the world – Darjeeling’, wrote Vivien, (Hugo Vickers, Vivien Leigh, London, 1988, p. 4). Her father Ernest Hartley had set off in 1905 to India, where he settled as a junior exchange broker in the firm of Pigott, Chapman & Co. and there met his wife, Gertrude Yackjee who was born in Darjeeling. Despite preliminary reservations about their liaison, they soon became a popular couple in the best circles of European society in Calclutta. (Vickers, op. cit., p. 9). For all its romance, India left little mark on Vivien herself, but as Hugo Vickers says: ‘there was an imperious, commanding side to her nature which often came to those brought up in a household of Indian servants. She heard her mother giving commands that she expected to be obeyed.’ (ibid., p. 12). She was taken back to England at the age of six in 1920 and joined the Convent of the Sacred Heart at Roehampton, where Mrs Hartley visited her as often as possible before returning to India. Though she longed to rejoin her parents, Vivien did not return to India until 1964.

Vivien adored her parents and their life in India, and wrote often to them from school. In the autumn of 1925, she requested "lots of photos of your house and yourself and Dad..." (quoted in Dent, Vivien Leigh: A Bouquet (1969), p.44), some of which may have ended up in these albums.