1905-1907 Two Copies of Hotel Cecil Ephemera: Cobden Club Dinner Speeches and Playgoers’ Club Ladies’ Dinner Menu

Description

Illustrated, Original Binding, Publishers' Original Binding, Very Scarce

In the publisher's original paper wraps. 

A pair of early-20th-century items of Hotel Cecil ephemera, reflecting both the political and theatrical elite of Edwardian London, comprising:

A printed transcript of the speeches delivered at the annual Cobden Club Dinner, held at the Hotel Cecil on 22 February 1907 under the chairmanship of Lord Welby.

Founded in honour of Richard Cobden, leader of the Anti–Corn-Law League, the Club served as a major forum for Liberal statesmen; the speeches here centre on the campaign against Joseph Chamberlain’s tariff reform movement and the defence of Free Trade.

Together with an illustrated printed dinner menu for the Playgoers’ Club Ladies’ Dinner, held at the Hotel Cecil on 17 December 1906. The front features an ornate vignette portrait of Marie Tempest, the celebrated Edwardian stage actress who chaired the event, photographed by Lallie Charles, with the reverse listing the full multi-course French menu.

The Playgoers’ Club was a prominent theatrical society with strong links to the West End stage, with dinners frequently chaired by leading actresses of the period.