63 - BERNHARDT (Sarah). Signed autograph letter [TO ALEXANDRE DUMAS, SON]. No place, [1882]. 8 pp., in-16 format, with a letterhead bearing her monogram illustrated with the motto “Quand même,” bordered with a mourning border.

BERNHARDT (Sarah). Signed autograph letter [TO ALEXANDRE DUMAS, SON]. No place, [1882]. 8 pp., in-16 format, with a letterhead bearing her monogram illustrated with the motto “Quand même,” bordered with a mourning border. “My dear Master, I will perform *La Dame aux camélias* for the next twelve months. I ASSURE YOU OF THIS. IT IS MY DESIRE, MY WILL, AND IF YOU DO NOT STAND IN MY WAY, IT SHALL BE SO. I am absolutely determined to do so. Mr. Deslandes [Raymond Deslandes, playwright and director of the Théâtre du Vaudeville] did not tell the truth, or at the very least, he embellished it somewhat. In any case, if I do not have the Vaudeville for this play, I will find another theater. I’ll rent one if necessary, but that won’t be necessary. YOU WILL CHOOSE YOUR CAST, AND WE WILL HAVE A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS—I am certain of it, convinced of it, and I give you my word. Victorien Sardou’s play is scheduled to open in early November [Sarah Bernhardt was set to premiere Victorien Sardou’s *Fédora* at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in December 1882]. There will be 130 performances over 20 months. I’ll be performing *La Dame* from the 20th to the 25th, and we’ll have a run of one hundred consecutive performances, followed by a revival at the start of the winter season. If that doesn’t suit you… well, we’ll begin in November 1883, and I’ll open my winter season with *La Dame*. Finally, whatever your wishes or preferences may be, I will perform *La Dame aux camélias* as my second play in Paris. I am telling you this, and I will arrange it for Brussels according to your wishes, if that is of no concern to you. I will telegraph you the definite date as soon as it is set. These are the two places closest to Paris, my dear Master. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TRULY MOVED I AM BY THE THOUGHT OF PERFORMING THIS PLAY BEFORE YOU. In any case, it will be a great pleasure for me. When I’m in Paris, I’ll tell you about *La Princesse Georges*, which I’m performing to great acclaim [a play by Alexandre Dumas, Jr.]. My travels will soon be over; I’ll be in Paris for a few days in May, and then I’ll be in London, where I did everything I could to stage *La Princesse Georges*, but they’re refusing to put it on this year—they’ll give in next year. I’ll be back in Paris for good in July. AH! IF ONLY YOU HAD, TUCKED AWAY IN THE BACK OF ONE OF YOUR DRAWERS SOMEWHERE IN A CORNER, A DRAFT OF A PLAY—BUT NO; IT’S JUST A DREAM! WHAT CAN I SAY, IT’S SO NICE TO DREAM!... Goodbye, my dear grand master, see you soon, I hope, and my telegram right away—isn’t that right?—because for my plans this is of great importance; and as for the sorrow this is bound to cause me, I prefer to know it right away, preferring blows that kill, not those that merely wound. Yours a thousand times... ” Sarah Bernhardt played the role of Marguerite Gautier many times, on stage in France and abroad, beginning in 1880, and in a film in 1912.