VICTOR HUGO. Lot n° 41

Hernani, drama in five acts, in verse. New edition. Paris, Calmann Lévy, 1878. Large in-8: flesh-coloured morocco, ribbed spine decorated with gilt filleting, double gilt filleting framing the boards with the initials SB gilt in the centre of the first, gilt filleted edges, inner lace, gilt edges (Gruel). New edition published nearly fifty years after the first one on the occasion of the revival of Hernani at the Théâtre-Français in 1877. Engraved frontispiece, here in triplicate. Deluxe edition of 100 copies: one of 14 on Whatman, the second large paper after 15 japon, this one not justified. Exceptional autograph letter signed on the false title (folded to avoid cropping the signature): Hommage à mademoiselle Sarah Bernhardt Victor Hugo For this revival of Hernani, which premiered on November 21, 1877, Sarah Bernhardt played Doña Sol: it was a triumph. The tragedienne reported in her Memoirs, entitled My Double Life (1907): "In our performance in 1877, it was Mounet-Sully, in all his beauty, in all the splendour of his talent, who played Hernani. And it was Worms, the admirable artist, who played Charles V. With what breadth! what virtuosity of verse! what impeccable diction! This performance of November 21, 1877 was a triumph. The public gave me a nice share in the general success. I was playing Doña Sol, and Victor Hugo sent me this letter: Madame, You were great and charming; you moved me, the old fighter, and at a certain moment, while the audience, touched and enchanted by you, was applauding, I cried. This tear that you shed is yours and I place myself at your feet. Victor Hugo There was enclosed a small box containing a chain bracelet, from which hung a diamond drop. I lost this bracelet to the richest of the moguls: Alfred Sassoon. He wanted to replace it, but I refused. He could not give me back Victor Hugo's tear." A fine copy in flesh-coloured morocco with the tragedienne's initials in large gilt letters on the first cover. Small spalls and slightly damaged top cover. (Carteret, Le Trésor du bibliophile I, p. 400: the only copy cited from the 1923 sale of Sarah Bernhardt)