Sarah Bernhardt: An Inventory of Her Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

Sarah Bernhardt:

An Inventory of Her Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

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	Repository:	Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center The University of Texas at Austin
	Creator:	Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923
	Title:	Sarah Bernhardt Collection
	Inclusive Dates:	ca. 1860-1977
	Bulk Dates:	bulk 1880-1920
	Extent:	8 document boxes, 1 scrapbook box, 2 oversize boxes, 3 oversize files (5.04 linear feet)
	Abstract:	The collection contains theatrical production materials, playscripts, translations, and theatrical performance photographs from over thirty of Bernhardt's productions, including l'Aiglon, Camille, and Phedre. Also present are personal photographs, postcards, clippings, a scrapbook, caricatures, advertisements, and artistic sketches of Bernhardt.
	RLIN Record #:	TXRC03-A2

Administrative Information

Acquisition:

Compiled by staff from Albert Davis, Robert Downing, and Messmore Kendall Collections

The Sarah Bernhardt Collection was compiled from materials previously organized within the Theater Biography file and is now a discrete collection. A large portion of the materials are originally from the Albert Davis and Messmore Kendall Collections.

Processed by:

Nicolette Schneider, 2003

Restrictions

Access:

Open for research

Biographical Sketch

Sarah Bernhardt, "The Divine Sarah," was born Henriette-Rosine Bernard in Paris, France, in 1844. She spent her life gracing the theatrical stages of the world with her interpretations of both classic and modern French drama. Following her education at the drama school of the Paris Conservatoire, Bernhardt made her theatrical debut on stage in an 1862 production of Racine's Iphigenie en Aulide. But it was not until her 1872 performance in Victor Hugo's Ruy Blas that she was recognized and established as a great theatrical actress of her time.

In 1880, Bernhardt began her long series of tours throughout Europe and America. She delighted audiences with her interpretations of characters in productions such as Adrienne Lecouvreur, Frou Frou, Hernani, Jeanne D'Arc, Phedre, and Theodora, to name just a few. Bernhardt also became one of the few female actors of the time to portray a lead male character. She did so in Hamlet and again as the Duc de Reichstadt in Rostand's l'Aiglon. She continued to tour America for the rest of her career, even announcing three separate "farewell" tours between the years 1905-1912. Despite all of the time she spent outside her home country, Bernhardt remained a loyal Frenchwoman. In 1914, she was presented the Legion of Honor award for her continued support of her country and its servicemen. After battling a threatening infection in 1915, Bernhardt lost a leg to amputation, but she still continued to pursue her love of acting and traveling. Her final tour through America lasted from the years 1916 to 1918 and then she returned home to France. Bernhardt continued to practice her craft until her death in 1923.

In addition to her traditional stage work, Bernhardt starred in several silent movies, including two of her better-known films, Queen Elizabeth and Camille in 1911. Aside from acting, Bernhardt was also known to be a gifted artist, sculptor, and writer. She edited and translated many of the plays in which she performed and wrote several novels. Her memoir, Ma double vie (My Double Life), originally published in 1907, is still being reprinted today.

Sources:

Gold, Arthur. Divine Sarah: A Life of Sarah Bernhardt. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991.

"Sarah Henriette Rosine Bernhardt" in The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. London: Oxford University Press, 1967.

Skinner, Cornelia Otis. Madame Sarah. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966.

Scope and Contents

The Sarah Bernhardt Collection, ca. 1860-1977 (bulk 1880-1920), contains theatrical production photographs, personal photographs, publicity stills, postcards, theater programs and playbills, clippings, and a scrapbook. Also present are several prints, caricatures, advertisements, and artistic sketches of Bernhardt. The collection is arranged in three series: I. Theater Productions, 1872-1920, II. Clippings and Scrapbook, 1879-1977, and III. Other Materials, 1860-1920. Materials in Series I are arranged alphabetically by title of production and then chronologically within each production; materials in Series II and Series III are arranged chronologically where appropriate.

The Theater Production series comprises the bulk of the collection and contains production photographs and theater playbills and programs for over thirty Bernhardt productions. Although the bulk of the production photographs are portrait styled cabinet card photographs, this series contains several photographs of Bernhardt performing on stage. Bernhardt's famous productions of l'Aiglon, Camille, and Phedre are especially well represented. Among the playbills and programs, there are several playscripts, translations, and other versions of plays which are specific to Bernhardt and carry her identification as "the only correct version of my plays translated and printed from my own promptbooks." There are also souvenir programs which contain information on multiple productions.

The Clippings series, while comprehensive during the span of Bernhardt's career with reviews, is very extensive throughout 1923, the year of her death.

The Other Materials series chiefly comprises personal photographs, some family and ceremonial photographs and various portraits, caricatures, advertisements, prints, and artistic sketches. Personalities represented with Bernhardt in the photographs include actress Lillie Langtry, playwright Victorien Sardou, theater mogul Martin Beck, escape artist Harry Houdini, and her manager William Connors. Also in this series is an Alphonse Mucha sketch of Bernhardt as Medea, a copy of a letter from Her Artistic Life, and several advertisements in which Bernhardt used her notoriety to sell various products.

Elsewhere in the Performing Arts Collection, Bernhardt materials can be found in the Poster Collection (which includes several Alphonse Mucha posters of Bernhardt), the Jed Mace Collection, and the B.J. Simmons & Co. Records. Other materials on Sarah Bernhardt can be found in the Ransom Center's Photography Collection and the Manuscripts Collection. The University of Pennsylvania Rare Book and Manuscript Library also offers a substantial collection of Sarah Bernhardt images in their Philip H. Ward Collection of Theatrical Images.


Arrangement
	The finding aid for the Sarah Bernhardt Collection is a conflation of the original inventory created in 2003, and of a small addition that was catalogued in 2006. Currently the addition is described only by a Folder List which has been appended to the original inventory, continuing the box and folder numbering sequence. The Scope and Contents note does not make reference to the addition, and the RLIN record for the collection summarizes the original inventory only.

	Sarah Bernhardt Collection--Original Inventory [This Page]
	Sarah Bernhardt Collection--Addition

Index Terms

People

Mucha, Alphonse Marie, 1860-1939.

Nadar, Paul, 1856-1939.

Sarony, Napoleon, 1821-1896.

Subjects

Actors--France.

Theater--France.

Document Types

Cabinet photographs.

Cartoons.

Photographs.

Playbills.

Portraits.

Postcards.

Prints.

Scrapbooks.

Theatre programs.

Container List


Series I. Theater Productions, ca. 1872-1920
		A. Photographic Images, ca. 1872-1920
			Adrienne Lecouvreur
Box	Folder
1	1			2 photos ca. 1880,
	2			1 photo, 1 sketch, 1 clipping ca. 1906,
	3		Agamemnon, n.d., 1 photo
			l'Aiglon, ca. 1900
Box	Folder
1	4-5			6 photos, 4 clippings

8	1			2 photos, 1 clipping

ob 10	1-2			2 photos

1	6		Athalie, 1 photo ca. 1920,
	7		La Beffa, 1 photo ca. 1910,
			Camille (La Dame aux Camelias)
Box	Folder
1	8-10			15 photos, 1 postcard ca. 1880,
	11			2 clippings ca. 1890,
	12			1 postcard ca. 1906,
	13			2 photos ca. 1910,

8	2			1 print, 1 clipping ca. 1913,
			Cleopatra, ca. 1890
Box	Folder
1	14-17			7 photos, 2 prints, 1 postcard, 1 clipping
	18			Clarin, Georges, 3 prints
			Cyrano de Bergerac, ca. 1900
Box	Folder
1	19-20			3 photos, 3 clippings

8	3			2 photos

1	21		La Dame de Challant, 1 photo ca. 1892
			l'Etrangere (The Stranger), ca. 1876
Box	Folder
1	22			2 clippings

8	4			6 prints

ob 10	3			2 matted photos

1	23		Fedora, 1 photo ca. 1882
	24		Francesca da Rimini, 1 clipping ca. 1902,
	25-28		Frou Frou, 13 photos ca. 1880,
			Gismonda, ca. 1894
Box	Folder
1	29			1 photo, 3 clippings

ob 10	4			Mucha, Alphonse,1 mini-poster
			Hamlet, ca. 1900
Box	Folder
1	30			1 photo, 2 clippings

ob 10	5			3 photos
	6			Berger, Rene,1 print
			Hernani
Box	Folder
2	1-2			6 photos ca. 1877,

8	5			2 prints, ca. 1887

2	3			n.d.,1 photo, 1 print, 1 clipping
			Izeyl, ca. 1894
Box	Folder
2	4-5			3 photos; 7 clippings

8	6			1 photo

ob 10	7			1 clipping
			Jeanne d'Arc, ca. 1890
Box	Folder
2	6-7			7 photos
FlatFile
1				1 print
			Leah, ca. 1892
Box	Folder
2	8			2 photos, 3 prints, 3 clippings

8	7			1 photo
			Macbeth, ca. 1884
Box	Folder
2	9			1 print

8	8			1 print
			Une Nuit de Noel sous la Terreur
Box	Folder
2	10-12			10 photos, 1 photo with autograph, ca. 1912

ob 10	8			1 clipping ca. 1913,

2	13		La Passant, 2 photos, 1 clipping, ca. 1868
			Phedre
Box	Folder
2	14-18			30 photos ca. 1880,
	19			ca. 1880-1906, 4 clippings

8	9			ca. 1906,2 photos, 1 negative photo

2	20			ca. 1916-1918,1 photo, 2 clippings
			La Princesse Lointaine, ca. 1895
Box	Folder
2	21			3 photos, 1 postcard, 2 clippings
FlatFile
2				Berthon, Paul,1 print
Box	Folder
2	22-23		Ruy Blas, ca. 1872,8 photos, 1 clipping
			Theodora, ca. 1884
Box	Folder
3	1-2			10 photos, 2 clippings

8	10			1 photo

3	3		Theroigne de Mericourt, ca. 1902,3 photos
	4-5		La Tosca, ca. 1887,2 photos; 2 prints, 2 clippings
	6		Varennes, ca. 1904,1 clipping
	7		Multiple productions,1 photo
FlatFile
3			Farewell American Tour, 1905-1906,1 print
Box	Folder
3	8		Miscellaneous,1 postcard, 1 clipping
		B. Playbills and Programs, ca. 1880-1918
Box	Folder
3, 8	9-10, 11		Adrienne Lecouvreur, 1880-1896

3	11-15		l'Aiglon, 1900-1901, 1910, n.d.
	16		Angelo, 1905
			Camille
Box	Folder
8	12			1880-1887

3	17-19			1881-1910
			Cleopatra
Box	Folder
3	20-21			1891, n.d.

8	13			1892

ob 10	9		Cyrano de Bergerac, 1900

3	22		La Faux Modele, n.d.
			Fedora
Box	Folder
8	14			1887, 1891

3	23			1887, 1892
	24			n.d.
			Frou Frou
Box	Folder
8	15			1880-1881

3	25			1881
	26		Gismonda, n.d.
	27		Hamlet, 1899-1900
	28-9		Hecube, 1916-1917
			Hernani
Box	Folder
8	16			1880

4	1			1887
	2		Izeyl, 1896, n.d.
	3		Jeanne d'Arc, n.d.
	4		Leah, 1892
	5		Madame X, 1910
	6		Phedre, 1918

8	17		La Princesse Georges, 1881

4	7		Du Theatre au Champ d'Honour, 1916

4, 8	8, 18		Theodora, 1887
			La Tosca
Box	Folder
8	19			1892, 1896

4	9-10			1905, n.d.

ob 10	10			n.d.
			Multiple productions
Box	Folder
8	20			1880

4	11			1881-1906
	12			1910-1911
	13			1912-1913

8	20			1916

4	14			1916-1917
	15			n.d.

ob 10	11		Miscellaneous


Series II. Clippings & Scrapbook, ca. 1879-1977, n.d.
Box	Folder
5	1	1879-1899
	2	1900-1913

8	21	1900-1915

5	3	1914-1922
		1923
Box	Folder
5, 8	4, 22		March

5	5		April
	6		May-June
	7		July-September

ob 11	1	1923-1924

5	8	1924-1929
	9	1930-1977

ob 11	2	1937

8	23	1942, n.d.

5	10	n.d.

9		scrapbook, ca. 1900-1906


Series III. Other Materials, ca. 1860-1920, n.d.
		A. Personal Photographs, ca. 1860-1920
Box	Folder
6	1		ca. 1860,1 photo
	2		ca. 1870,7 photos
	3		3 photos, 2 prints ca. 1876,
	4-10		33 photos ca. 1880,
	11		Bernhardt with Lillie Langtry, 3 photos, 1 clipping ca. 1887,
	12-13		13 photos, 1 clipping ca. 1890,

8	24		1 photo ca. 1890,

6	14		Bernhardt with Suzanne Seylor, 1 photo ca. 1896,
			ca. 1900
Box	Folder
6	15			15 items (6 images, 9 duplicates)
	16			10 items (3 images, 7 duplicates)
	17			40 items (1 image, 39 duplicates)

7	1			24 items (2 images, 22 duplicates)

8	25		Bernhardt with Victorien Sardou, 1 clipping ca. 1903,
	26		1 photo ca. 1904,

7, ob 11	2, 3		Bernhardt in front of tent, 1 photo, 1 negative photo; 1 photo ca. 1906,

7	3		Bernhardt with Harry Houdini, ca. 1910,15 items (3 images, 12 duplicates)
	4-5		6 photos, 1 postcard, 3 clippings ca. 1910-1920,

8	27		Bernhardt with manager, William Connors, 1 photo ca. 1911,
	28		Bernhardt with Martin Beck, 2 photos ca. 1913,

7	6		Bernhardt with company, 1 clipping ca. 1916,
	7		Bernhardt with family, 2 photos ca. 1918,

ob 11	4		Bernhardt on tour train, 1 photo n.d.,
		B. Family and Other, n.d.
Box	Folder
7	8		Bernard, Royal, 2 photos
	9		Bernhardt, Jeanne, 6 photos, 1 clipping
	10		Damala, Jacques, 1 photo
	11		Other people,2 clippings
	12		Bernhardt tent, 2 photos
	13		Belle Ile en Mer, 4 postcards
		C. Ceremonies, ca. 1913-1914
Box	Folder
8	29-31		Wreath presentation, 12 photos ca. 1913,
	32		Award in New York, 3 photos ca. 1913,

7	14		Legion of Honor presentation, 1 clipping ca. 1914,
		D. Miscellaneous, ca. 1903, n.d.
Box	Folder
7, ob 11	15, 5		Advertisements, 2 clippings; 3 clippings

7	16		Autograph, ca. 1903

ob 11	6-7		Bautier, Marguerite, sketch and mat
	8		Berger, Rene, print (Bernhardt as Tosca?)

7	17		Caricatures, 4 prints, 1 clipping
	18		Her Artistic Life 6 page copy of letter
			Mucha, Alphonse
Box	Folder
8	33			Sketch of Bernhardt as Medea

7	19			3 clippings of posters
			Portraits
Box	Folder
7	20			5 prints, 4 clippings

8	34			9 prints, 1 clipping

ob 11	9-10			3 prints

7	21		Sculptures, 4 photos
			Miscellaneous
Box	Folder
7	22			2 items

8	35			1 print, 3 clippings

Harry Ransom CenterThe University of Texas at Austin

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