Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841 - 1909) was a celebrated French actor who, among his different achievements, counted that of having toured in America with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the age. In this letter dated 20 February 1903, Coquelin writes to Marchesa de Viti de Marco from the French Embassy in Constantinople; as specified on the page on display, the actor’s Roman performances, which he believes will be postponed by 48 hours, are Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) and Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670). Regarding the former, it is to be noted that in the year 1900 Coquelin had also played the role of the duelist in Clément Maurice’s eponymous short movie, which is nowadays considered to be the first film to have employed both colour and sound. A Keats-related curiosity: in the letter displayed here Coquelin wonders how many hours it will take to get from Naples to Rome. When Keats and Severn had to undertake the same trip in, 1820, it was not a matter of mere hours, but of seven days.Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841 – 1909) was a celebrated French actor who, among his different achievements, counted that of having toured in America with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the age. In this letter dated 20 February 1903, Coquelin writes to Marchesa de Viti de Marco from the French Embassy in Constantinople; as specified on the page on display, the actor’s Roman performances, which he believes will be postponed by 48 hours, are Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) and Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670). Regarding the former, it is to be noted that in the year 1900 Coquelin had also played the role of the duelist in Clément Maurice’s eponymous short movie, which is nowadays considered to be the first film to have employed both colour and sound. A Keats-related curiosity: in the letter displayed here Coquelin wonders how many hours it will take to get from Naples to Rome. When Keats and Severn had to undertake the same trip in 1820, it was not a matter of mere hours, but of seven days.
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