Philippe Georges de Rothschild (1902-1988)
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Philippe de Rothschild was born on 14 April 1902, the second son of Henri de Rothschild. In the 1920s, he was one of Bugatti's leading drivers, and was also a keen yachtsman. He and Henri launched the Theatre Pigalle in Paris in 1929, directing some of the pieces, and he was the producer of one of the first French 'talkies', Lac aux Dames. See Rothschild family papers: papers of institutions: Le Théâtre Pigalle, for sundry publications relating to the theatre.
Philippe joined the Free French forces in London during the second world war, leaving his wife and daughter in Paris.
Philippe combined two Rothschild passions -wine and art - in one unique way: since 1945 the labels of his Château Mouton wine have borne the designs of artists of world renown, such as Picasso, Dali and Chagall. From 1973, the labels adorned a premier crû, Philippe having secured the only ever revision of the Bordeaux classifications made in 1855. These accomplishments are recorded in Philippe's memoires, Milady Vine. From 1957, the challenge of rebuilding Mouton was shared with his second wife, Pauline Fairfax Potter. Together the couple established the museum dedicated to the grape.
An accomplished poet, Philippe was an acclaimed translator of Elizabethan verse, encouraged in this venture by Pauline. He died in January 1988, aged 85, and was buried in the mausoleum at Mouton of his own design.
Philippe de Rothschild, private papers, commemorative volume, ''The Vintage Dinner', 1972-1973
000/1788/1, 000/1788/3, 2 volumes
Philippe de Rothschild, private papers, commemorative volumes for 'The Vintage Dinner', 1972-1973:
- copy of The Vintage Dinner held at The Mirabelle, 1972. the volume includes a guest list, menu, wines and descriptions of estates including Chateau Mouton-d'Armailhacq;
- copy of The Vintage Dinner held 29 October 1973 at Fishmongers' Hall. Guests included Philippe de Rothschild. The volume includes a guest list, seating plan, menu and wines, as well as description of wine estates including Mouton-Rothschild.
Philippe de Rothschild, private papers, commemorative volume, 'Charrington Dinner', 1973
000/1788/2, 000/2100, 2 items
Two copies of a bound red leather volume commemorating A Dinner given for Baron Philippe de Rothschild OBE in the cellars of Hedges & Butler Limited, Regent Street London by Alan Walker Esq, Chairman Bass Charrington Limited, Tuesday 24th July 1973. The volume contains a brief history of Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, poems translated by Philippe de Rothschild with illustrations a guest list, wine list, and menu. Guests at the event included Peter Quennell (1905-1993) and the NMR Partners, David Colville (1909-1986), Evelyn de Rothschild (1931-2022), Jacob Rothschild (b.1936) and Leopold de Rothschild (1927-2012). The back page of one copy is signed "to the Mouton lover Peter Quennell, Philippe". Sir Peter Courtney Quennell was an English biographer, literary historian, editor, essayist, poet, and critic]; this is his personal copy from the event.
Philippe de Rothschild, sale catalogues, 1976
000/2937/1, 1 volume
Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988): sale catalogue Objets d'art et de très bel ameublement porcelaine de la compagnie des indes biscuit bleu de la Chine provenant principalement des collections Antenor Patino et du Baron Philippe de Rothschild, 9-10 June, 1976 (Expositions publiques au Palais Galliera, 1976).
Publications of Phillippe de Rothschild
An accomplished poet, Philippe de Rothschild was an acclaimed translator of Elizabethan verse and drama, encouraged in this venture by his wife Pauline, and he published many of his translations. He and Henri de Rothschild launched the Theatre Pigalle in Paris in 1929, and he directed some of the pieces, and published his theatrical adaptions. An accomplished poet, Philippe also published volumes of his poetry as well as writing memoirs and esays.
The Archive does not hold copies of all of the published works of Philippe de Rothschild. A comprehensive list of all his published works will be found here Rothschild bibliography: Philippe de Rothschild » Copies of published works in the Archive collection are listed below.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, translations of literary works, 'Théatre pour trois Saisons' and related publications, 1960-1963
000/2966/1, 000/266/4, 000/2966/5, 1 volume, 2 items
Théatre pour trois Saisons, Christopher Fry, texte francais de Philippe de Rothschild (Calmann-Lévy, 1960). The volume contains translations of the plays The Lady's not for burning, The dark is light enough, and Venus observed.
Théatre de France, Programme for the Season 1962-1963, works by Christopher Fry, texte francais de Philippe de Rothschild (Théatre de France, October 1962).
L'avant scène, No. 301, 15 December 1963. The text of The Lady's not for burning, [La dame ne brulera pas] together with a commentary by Philippe and Pauline de Rothschild, together with photographs from a production of the play.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, translations of literary works, 'Faust, Tragique histoire de la vie et de la mort du Dr Faustus', 1962
000/2966/6, 1 volume
Faust, Tragique histoire de la vie et de la mort du Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, texte francais de Philippe de Rothschild (Seghers, Paris, 1962).
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, translations of literary works, 'Théatre hors saisons', 1964
000/2966/2, 1 volume
Théatre hors saisons, Christopher Fry, texte francais de Philippe de Rothschild (Calmann-Lévy, 1964).Translation of the plays Curtmantle, A phoenix too frequent and The boy with a cart.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, translations of literary works, 'Poèmes Elizabethains', 1969
000/2966/3, 1 volume
Poèmes Elizabethains (1525-1650), Anthologie bilingue, Philippe de Rothschild (Éditions Seghers, Paris, 1969). Translated by Philippe de Rothschild with a preface by André Pieyre de Mandiargues and an introduction by Stephen Spender. Notes by Christopher Ricks.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, translations of literary works, 'Tamerlan', 1977
000/2966/7, 1 volume
Tamerlan: édition bilingue, Philippe de Rothschild (Albin Michel, Paris, 1977). Bilingual edition of Tamburlane the Great, with the French translation presented alongside the English text.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, memoirs, 'Paris - Paris: instantanés d'Amérique', 1931
000/2564/1, 1 volume
Paris - Paris: instantanés d'Amérique, Philippe de Rothschild (Editions des Cahiers Libres Paris, 1931). Dedicated to Philippe de Rothschild's travelling companions, this personal account of a three-month tour of America in the summer of 1930 attempts to recapture the atmosphere and immediacy of his impressions in the form of verbal snap-shots.
Pauline and Philippe de Rothschild: published works, memoirs, 'The Irrational Journey', 1966
000/2564/2, 1 volume
The Irrational Journey, Pauline de Rothschild (Harcourt, Brace & World Inc, New York, 1966) An account of a journey through Russia by Baron and Baroness Phillippe de Rothschild.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, memoirs, 'Vivre La Vigne', 1981
000/2564/3, 1 volume
Vivre La Vigne, Du ghetto de Francfort a Mouton Rothschild 1744-1981, Philippe de Rothschild (Presses de la Cité, Paris, 1981). History of the Mouton vineyard and its wine, focusing chiefly on the years since Philippe de Rothschild's ownership. Presented in a familiar style and largely autobiographical.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, memoirs, 'Milady Vine', 1984
000/2564/4, 1 volume
Milady Vine - The autobiography of Philippe de Rothschild, Joan Littlewood & Philippe de Rothschild (Jonathan Cape, London 1984). Note: Phillippe de Rothschild later noted that he was unhappy with the published work, citing inaccuracies with the text.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, essay 'Le Cinema', 1938
000/2965/1, 1 volume
'Le Cinema' Philippe Georges de Rothschild in Société des anciens élèves et élèves de l'Ecole libre des sciences politiques (ed.) Les techniques au service de la pensée, (Librairie Felix Alcan, Paris, 1938. An essay on the cinema as a medium for creative art. Examines the conflict between the artistic conception of a film and the limits imposed on its realisation by the technical possibilities of the medium.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, children's stories, 'Aile D'Argent La Magique', 1947
000/2965/2, 1 volume
Aile D'Argent La Magique, Philippe de Rothschild, illustrated by Eliane Bonabel (Libraire Gallimard, 1947). Tales for children, featuring a dialogue between a little girl called Philippine and her father as he tells her bedtime stories.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, speech given at a reception for Professor Georges Portmann, 1973
000/2965/3, 1 volume
Réception de monsieur Philippe de Rothschild A L’Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-Lettres et Arts de Bordeaux par le professeur Georges Portmann [Reception hosted by Philippe de Rothschild at the National Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Bordeaux for Professor Georges Portmann, 25 October 1973. Published text of a speech given by Philppe de Rothschild. [Georges Portmann (1890-1985) was a French physician].
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, poetry, 'Poèmes: A l'aube d'une guerre' and 'Poèmes: Eclos à l'aube', 1950; 1953
000/1208/1 and 000/1208/2, 2 sets of 2 volumes each
Two sets of the two volume works of poetry of Phillppe de Rothschild, Poèmes: A l'aube d'une guerre and Poèmes: Eclos à l'aube, published as a limited edition in 1950 and 1953. One set is Exemplaire Numéro 3, the other Exemplaire Imprimé Spécialement pour Henri Javal.
- Slipcased volume, Poèmes: A l'aube d'une guerre, [Poems: At the dawn of a war] published by Henri Javal, Paris, 1950 as a limited edition, illustrated by Mario Avati. The volume contains a selection from the poetry Philippe de Rothschild wrote whilst a prisoner of war in Casablanca in 1940 and is dedicated to his daughter Phillipine and his war companions, and is inspired by the suffering of war. The volume was published as a limited edition of a total of 141 copies: 3 copies, X. Y. Z to which was added an appendix of illustrations with a commentary: one series in sepia, one in black and white; 6 copies, P.R.I.S.O.N. to which was added an appendix of illustrations with a commentary; one series in sepia, one series in black and white; 11 copies to which was added an appendix of illustrations in sepia; 121 numbered copies (without appendices) (1-121).
- Slipcased volume, Poèmes: Eclos à l'aube, [Poems: Born at dawn] published by Les Éditions Henri Javal, Paris, 1954 as a limited edition, illustrated by Georges Arnulf. The volume is a presentation edition of Philippe's love poetry and the poems included in his book of children's stories, Aile d'Argent la magique. The volume was published as a limited edition of a total of 141 copies: 3 copies, X. Y. Z to which was added an appendix of illustrations: one series in sepia, one series in black and white and one series in colour; 6 copies, P.O.É.S.I.E. to which was added an appendix of illustrations: one series in sepia, one series in black and white; 11 copies to which was added an appendix of illustrations: one series in sepia, one series in black and white; 121 numbered copies (without appendices) (1-121).
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, poetry, 'Le Pressoir Perdu, Poèmes', 1978
000/2965/4, 1 volume
Le Pressoir Perdu, Poèmes, Philippe de Rothschild (Mercure de France, 1978). Anthology of original poems, many of them inspired by the vineyard at Mouton Rothschild.
Philippe de Rothschild: published works, poetry, 'Au gré de l'incongru', 1985
000/2965/5, 1 volume
Au gré de l'incongru, Philippe de Rothschild Navarin, 1985). A modest, but representative selection from Philippe de Rothschild's poetic output since 1940, including verse translations of Donne, Blake and Savage Landor. The anthology includes commentaries from Philippe de Rothschild.