Audrey Hepburn letter collection beats estimate

A collection of 10 letters from Audrey Hepburn has sold for �11,250 ($15,148) at Bonhams.

The lot had originally been valued at just �4,000 ($5,386), resulting in an increase of 181.2%.

Audrey Hepburn letters
The letters date to early in Audrey Hepburn's career

All date to the period between 1951 and 1960 and are addressed to her mentor and acting coach Sir Felix Alymer.

Hepburn started out as a chorus girl in London's West End in the late 1940s and gradually took on some small film roles.

She got her big break while filming Monte Carlo Baby in 1951. While there, she was spotted by French novelist Colette, who cast her as the lead in the stage adaption of her novel Gigi.

Hepburn was a huge hit and soon the movie offers were rolling in.  

A letter she wrote at the time reads: "Would you believe it, I'm in Monte Carlo working on a French Picture, this place is heavenly."

There are also revealing references to her personal life.  

In one poignant letter she explains her sadness at the breakup of her engagement to fiance James Hanson: "It is with a heavy heart I am writing to tell you James Hanson and I are no longer engaged, I know there is little I need explain to you, a gentleman of this profession.

"For a year I thought it possible to make our combined lives and careers work out...It is all very unhappy making but I am sure it is the only sensible dicision [sic]."

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