DUMAS fils (Alexandre).

Lot 51
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Estimation :
5000 - 8000 EUR
DUMAS fils (Alexandre).
The Lady of the Camellias. Second edition. Paris, D. Giraud and J. Dagneau, s.d. [1852]. In-12, aubergine chagrin, bold cold fillet and frame drawn by a quintuple gilt fillet, initials O.B. gilt in the centre of the first plate, spine decorated with gilt fillets, inner frame decorated with gilt fillets, lining and endpapers of ivory moire, gilt edges (Period binding) Second edition, published the same year as the original and increased with a preface by the author (4 pages). After the resounding success of his novel, published in 1848, Dumas fils decided to adapt the story of the Lady of the Camellias to the stage. The play was thus premiered on February 2, 1852 at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris: it in turn had a brilliant career and inspired Verdi for his opera La Traviata, premiered the following year at the Fenice. A very rare copy printed on pink paper, offered by Eugénie Doche, creator of the role of Marguerite Gautier, to Octave de Béhague, to whose figure it is bound. The signed consignment is dated 1852 Count Octave de Béhague (1826-1879), a member of the Société des bibliophiles françois and a great collector of his time, was also apparently a passing lover of the actress, as evidenced by this note on a blank sheet placed before the false title, written by the actress and referring to a famous line from the play: Alors, je t'ai rencontré, toi, jeune, ardent, heureux... (act II, scene XI). It also contains several handwritten corrections giving text variants and stage directions, probably by Eugénie Doche herself. There are also, mounted at the head, 3 manuscript pages, copies of articles and praises on the play and Mademoiselle Doche's interpretation, according to Jules Janin, Théophile Gautier and F. Ponsard. Eugénie Doche, born Plunkett in Brussels in 1821 and died in Paris in 1900, was one of the great actresses of the Second Empire. She had sparkling blonde hair and played the character of the Lady of the Camellias on stage more than 500 times, which was the "role" of her career. She lacked nothing, neither youth, nor radiance, nor beauty, nor talent... So much so that in playing the role, she looked as if she had written it, Dumas fils said later. The copy does not appear in the catalogue of the sale of the Octave de Béhague library. Vicaire does not mention it but points out another one on pink paper, with the figure of Jules Janin (III, col. 454).
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