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A 3.5x5.5" vintage RPPC photo postcard from an enormous collection of over 300 antique British theater performer autographed photos that we acquired from an estate in Spain.
We are confident in this autograph's authenticity and are happy to offer a warranty on your purchase to that effect. Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.
Photo Overview
Early real photo postcard of Broadway and silent film star Billie Burke, showing the young American actress in Edwardian dress and elaborate hairstyle, posed three-quarter length in a chair and holding a bouquet, boldly inscribed in ink across the image “Yours very cordial Billie Burke.” Issued in London by J. Beagles & Co. and postmarked November 1908, the card was mailed within London to Miss Dorothy Slowburn at Clapham, placing Burke in her early UK stage career period before her later Hollywood fame.
Billie Burke became internationally famous on stage in London and New York before moving into silent films and then talking pictures, where she is best remembered for playing Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. Authentic early Edwardian Billie Burke autographs on Beagles theatrical RPPCs are actively collected by film and theater enthusiasts and are much scarcer than later studio-signed pieces, making this a prime, investment-grade example that is unlikely to surface again soon—secure it now while it is available.
Text Present
Front lower center: "1025. MISS BILLIE BURKE."
Front lower right (small type): "J. BEAGLES & CO."
Front autograph text across image: "Yours very cordial Billie Burke"
Back top center: "POST CARD"
Back beneath heading: "THE ADDRESS TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE."
Back mid left (vertical): "J. BEAGLES & CO., LONDON, E.C."
Back upper center (faint postmark, partial): "NOV 9 08"
Back upper right on stamp postmark (partial): "LONDON"
Back upper right on green halfpenny stamp: "POSTAGE REVENUE HALF PENNY"
Back upper center in pencil: "Billie Burke"
Back address in ink:
"Miss Dorothy Slowburn
England
Ladas Rd,
Clapham Pk
S.W."
Print analysis: This is a real photo postcard (RPPC) produced by J. Beagles & Co., a well-known London publisher of photographic celebrity cards in the early 1900s. The continuous-tone photographic surface without halftone dots confirms a true photographic print rather than a lithographic reproduction. The November 1908 postmark shows it was mailed within a year or so of the photograph being taken during Burke's Edwardian stage career, making this an original Type 1 RPPC, printed and signed contemporaneously, c1908.
Condition: Photo is in good to excellent condition. Autograph is hand signed.
