French actor and playwright (1802-1860). 6 autograph letters signed. Paris, Valenciennes, and n. p. 8vo. Together 8½ pp.
600 €
(90206/BN59657)
Charming correspondence, including three intimate letters to the actor's wife and three missives to the playwright Thomas Sauvage (1794-1877). - The earliest dated letter from 19 July 1839 was to introduce to Sauvage a friend and potential collaborator named Prosper. On 16 December 1839, Saint-Ernest cancelled a meeting due to his workload, and in a letter from 1848 (postmark), he encourages Sauvage to seize the opportunity and talk to a M. Péaut in an unspecified matter. - The intimate letters to his wife were written from Saint-Ernest's tours to the countryside that he does not appear to have enjoyed, but on which he depended financially.
An undated letter from Valenciennes begins: "Je suis en retard avec toi, mais je viens de voyager c'est ce qui est cause de cette fâcheuse négligence. Je voulais t'envoyer de l'argent de suite ; mais je suis obligé de remettre cela à lundi 28 - je suis bien ennuyé de ne pas être à Paris, mais enfin les quelques sols que je gagne nous sont indispensables et je me résigne. Je te couvre de baisers comme je t'aime et cela n'est pas pour dire - aime moi bien, je te le rends au centuple. Charles est bien enrhumé et il n'est pas très docile c'est le diable pour le faire conchier [?] - à lundi je t'écrirai plus longuement [...]". - In a postscript, Saint-Ernest adds "two kisses" for his "two angels", a son named Eugène and a daughter named Marie, that should be "like the ones their father always gives them - very firm [...]", also adding greetings to a woman named Hortense. - Louis-Nicolas Brette Saint-Ernest had his stage debut in 1829, and his first engagement followed in 1832 at the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin. From 1837 to 1852 he was engaged at the Ambigu, where several of his own plays premiered. From 1852 until his death in 1860 he worked as a stage director at the Théâtre du Cirque. - Minor stains and browning. The letter from 16 December 1839 on stationery of the Théâtre de l'Ambigu..