By Rosie Murray-west For The Mail On Sunday
Letters from a young Audrey Hepburn to her mentor Sir Felix Aylmer fetched £11,250 this month at auction thanks to the enthusiasm of collectors for the handwritten word.
Matthew Haley, head of books and manuscripts at auction house Bonhams, says that authentic letters by famous or noted people have appreciated in value in recent years.
He cites the example of a letter by artist and poet William Blake, which sold for £35,000 in 2015, having previously made £15,000 in 1992.
The Hepburn letters were particularly interesting because they documented the early part of her career
The Hepburn letters, which were auctioned by Bonhams, were particularly interesting because they documented the early part of her career.
They include a postcard from 1951 when Hepburn was filming Monte Carlo Baby. 'This place is heavenly the best thing that's happened to me,' Hepburn writes, while another letter announces the breaking off of her engagement to British industrialist James Hanson, which she describes as 'unhappy making'.
'The letters are candid,' Haley says. 'Context is everything with letters, and this is a young Audrey Hepburn near the beginning of her career, with enthusiasm bubbling out of her.'
Hepburn's letters are not the only ones to have fetched a high price at auction in recent years. A letter from author Virginia Woolf to a sick friend, urging him to 'go on living', fetched £1,150 last December. The letter was written the year before Woolf committed suicide.
Chris Albury, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dominic Winter auctioneers, where the letter was sold, says that the subject matter, as well as the fact that Woolf died relatively young, helped to push up the price.