38 - [AUTOGRAPH]. RÉGNIER, François-Joseph. Signed autograph letter to Charles Desnoyers. Enclosures: 2 engraved portraits.

[AUTOGRAPH]. RÉGNIER, François-Joseph. Signed autograph letter to Charles Desnoyers. Enclosures: 2 engraved portraits. Autograph letter, 2½ pages handwritten in black ink on a double-leaf in-8 sheet (135 x 205 mm), accompanied by 2 engraved portraits of the actor (1 full-length portrait on China paper and 1 bust portrait on heavy laid paper). The envelope is slightly worn and faded at the margins; there are fragments of adhesive tape on the third page of the letter. A beautiful autograph letter signed by François Régnier (1807–1885), a towering figure of the Comédie-Française, a doyen of the theater, a renowned director, and a distinguished professor at the Conservatoire (he was notably the teacher of Sarah Bernhardt and Coquelin). It is addressed to the playwright, critic, and great bibliophile Charles Desnoyers (1806–1858), a close confidant of men of letters and members of the Comédie-Française. The letter offers an intimate and delightful glimpse into the daily life of a great actor (his bouts of “the well-to-do’s flu” treated by Dr. Doucet, his difficulties in tackling the role of Caesar), interwoven with the affairs of the troupe and his reading of the major critical essays of the time (notably Ludovic Vitet’s study of Molière in the *Revue des Deux Mondes*). Included are: - A bust portrait of Régnier, engraved after Reutlinger on fine laid paper - a full-length portrait of Régnier in stage costume, etched by Léon Gaucherel on Chinese paper. In fine condition.