Sarah BERNHARDT (1844-1923). L.A.S., [summer 1885], to Raoul Ponchon; 9 pages in-12 with her numeral and motto. Attached is a L.A.S. to the same author (1885; 1 page and a quarter in-12) after her break with Jean Richepin. Beautiful, witty letter from a tour of Belgium. She begins by telling him of the pleasure she takes in reading his letters first thing in the morning, after which she gets up in a cheerful mood... "Tonight is the 1st performance of Théodora [by Sardou] at your good neighbors'. I'm already very tired, as we rehearsed until two in the morning, with rehearsals of foaming rage. [...] This evening I'll have supper with Frédérix and Madame Marie Laurent, whom I'm trying to bring to my hotel, because since Marie Julien left [...] I've been eating alone, and that makes me sad sad. I think of you, I adore Jean [Richepin, her lover at the time] and I dream of happiness while waiting for it to come. To dream it is already to have it a little"... She's thinking of going to the Wirtz museum, and says she has so many "funny ideas in her head for short stories" that she can't formulate a single one. Then she talks about her troupe: Léon Marais, who "leans his voice against his throat and lets out new phrases for posterity and Bruxelles l'inspire"; Paul Reney, "more stupid, more talkative and more of a liar"; Philippe Garnier, "very bad under his round hat"; Marie Laurent, who is 15 and has "little hats like an eight-year-old"; Marie Jolliet, who has bought a costume that is too tight "and her fat posterior stretches her skirt to bursting"; finally, Léon Jolliet, who was absent from the first rehearsal: "I soaped his head in such a way as to leave him in no doubt as to my love of cleanliness"... Attached is a L.A.S. to the same author (1885; 1 page and a quarter in-12) after his break with Jean Richepin: "You know my affection for you. I know your affection for him. He surely forbade you to see me so that you would give me the grief of not coming"...