WILLIAM HEINEMANN
1907
Copyright London 1907 by William Heinemann, and Washington, U.S.A., D. Appleton and Company
CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | Childhood | [1] |
| II. | At Boarding School | [6] |
| III. | Convent Life | [16] |
| IV. | My Début | [27] |
| V. | The Soldier’s Shako | [38] |
| VI. | The Family Council and my First Visit to a Theatre | [46] |
| VII. | My Career—First Lessons | [59] |
| VIII. | The Conservatoire | [64] |
| IX. | A Marriage Proposal and Examinations—The Conservatoire | [73] |
| X. | My First Engagement | [88] |
| XI. | My Début at the House of Molière, and my First Departure therefrom | [98] |
| XII. | At the Gymnase Theatre—A Trip to Spain | [107] |
| XIII. | From the Porte St. Martin Theatre to the Odéon | [118] |
| XIV. | “Le Passant”—At the Tuileries—Fire in my Flat | [135] |
| XV. | The Franco-Prussian War | [151] |
| XVI. | Sarah Bernhardt’s Ambulance at the Odéon Theatre | [160] |
| XVII. | Paris Bombarded | [172] |
| XVIII. | A Bold Journey through the German Lines | [189] |
| XIX. | My Return to Paris—The Commune—At St. Germain-en-Laye | [216] |
| XX. | Victor Hugo | [226] |
| XXI. | A Memorable Supper | [231] |
| XXII. | At the Comédie Française again—Sculpture | [244] |
| XXIII. | A Descent into the Enfer du Plogoff—My First Appearance as Phèdre—The Decoration of my New Mansion | [259] |
| XXIV. | Alexandre Dumas—“L’Etrangère”—My Sculpture at the Salon | [272] |
| XXV. | “Hernani”—A Trip in a Balloon | [280] |
| XXVI. | The Comédie goes to London | [291] |
| XXVII. | London Life—My First Performance at the Gaiety Theatre | [303] |
| XXVIII. | My Performance in London—My Exhibition—My Wild Animals—Trouble with the Comédie Française | [309] |
| XXIX. | The Comédie Française returns to Paris—Sarah Bernhardt’s Comments on Actors and Actresses of the Day | [326] |
| XXX. | My Departure from the Comédie Française—Preparations for my first American Tour—Another Visit to London | [331] |
| XXXI. | A Tour in Denmark—Royal Families—The “Twenty-Eight Days” of Sarah Bernhardt | [342] |
| XXXII. | Experiences and Reflections on Board Ship from Hâvre to New York | [352] |
| XXXIII. | Arrival in New York—American Reporters—The Custom House—Performances in New York—A Visit to Edison at Menlo Park | [361] |
| XXXIV. | At Boston—Story of the Whale | [380] |
| XXXV. | Montreal’s Grand Reception—The Poet Fréchette—An Escapade on the St. Lawrence River | [388] |
| XXXVI. | Springfield—Baltimore—Philadelphia—Chicago—Adventures between St. Louis and Cincinnati—Capital Punishment | [398] |
| XXXVII. | New Orleans and other American Cities—A Visit to the Falls of Niagara | [414] |
| XXXVIII. | The Return to France—The Welcome at Hâvre | [433] |
| INDEX | [443] |
LIST OF PLATES
| To face page | |
|---|---|
| Sarah Bernhardt as Adrienne Lecouvreur | [Frontispiece] |
| Sarah Bernhardt and her Mother | [4] |
| The Grand Champ Convent, from the Garden | [18] |
| Le Conservatoire National de Musique et de Déclamation, Paris | [66] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in the Hands of her Coiffeur, before going to the Conservatoire Examination | [82] |
| Sarah Bernhardt on Leaving the Conservatoire | [90] |
| An Early Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt; Sarah Bernhardt in Les Femmes Savantes; Sarah Bernhardt as the Duc de Richelieu | [100] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in François le Champi | [128] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in a Fancy Costume | [136] |
| Sarah Bernhardt. From the Portrait in the Théâtre Français | [176] |
| Skull in Sarah Bernhardt’s Library, with Autograph Verses by Victor Hugo | [232] |
| Sarah Bernhardt at a Fancy-dress Ball | [240] |
| Sarah Bernhardt at Work on her Médée | [244] |
| Sarah Bernhardt Painting (1878–9) | [252] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in her Coffin | [256] |
| A Corner of the Library | [264] |
| Library in Sarah Bernhardt’s House | [268] |
| Sarah Bernhardt at Home. From the Painting by Walter Spindler | [276] |
| Sarah Bernhardt as Dona Sol in Hernani | [282] |
| A Corner of the Hall, with a Painting by Chartran of Sarah Bernhardt as Gismonda | [288] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in Riding Costume | [304] |
| “Ophelia.” Sculpture by Sarah Bernhardt | [314] |
| Sarah Bernhardt. From the Portrait by Mlle. Louis Abbema | [318] |
| Sarah Bernhardt. From the Portrait by Jules Bastien-Lepage | [324] |
| Sarah Bernhardt (1879) | [334] |
| Sarah Bernhardt as Andromaque | [338] |
| Sarah Bernhardt in Travelling Costume (1880) | [342] |
| Sarah Bernhardt and Members of her Company out Shooting | [400] |
| Bust of Victorien Sardou, by Sarah Bernhardt | [440] |
| Facsimile of Sarah Bernhardt’s Handwriting | [442] |
I
CHILDHOOD
My mother was fond of travelling: she would go from Spain to England, from London to Paris, from Paris to Berlin, and from there to Christiania; then she would come back, embrace me, and set out again for Holland, her native country. She used to send my nurse clothing for herself and cakes for me. To one of my aunts she would write: “Look after little Sarah; I shall return in a month’s time.” A month later she would write to another of her sisters: “Go and see the child at her nurse’s; I shall be back in a couple of weeks.”
My mother’s age was nineteen; I was three years old, and my two aunts were seventeen and twenty years of age; another aunt was fifteen, and the eldest was twenty-eight; but the last one lived at Martinique, and was the mother of six children. My grandmother was blind, my grandfather dead, and my father had been in China for the last two years. I have no idea why he had gone there.