Eugène SILVAIN (1851-1930). 5 L.A.S., 1880-1904; 12pages in-8. October 14, 1880, to Philoclès Regnier, recommending to him the young Bürgkly who wants to apply to the Conservatoire, and wishing to go and see his old master to tell him about his role of Ulysse in Iphigénie. - November 8, 1889, to Gustave Larroumet, who gave him his office chair to study the role of Auguste in Cinna: "A study of tragedy made in the same chair where you yourself have so wonderfully analyzed, over so many years, so many classical masterpieces cannot fail to bear fruit. It's a good omen, and I'm counting on success. May this seat give way for you in the near future to one of the forty"... - February 1896], long letter to Prudhon, on the subject of a meeting of the Comédie-Française committee; he sharply criticizes Prudhon's attitude: "What! we are throwing ourselves into the water, Coquelin Cadet, Baillet and I, to rescue the old Committee, to keep your place and stand up to a real coalition. Our plan is well thought out between us, by you, for you. You beg us, with tears in our eyes and tremors in our voices, to follow it bravely to the end and, above all, not to let you down. We take an oath. The session arrives: I have the sacrilegious nerve to touch the modern actor who wears his toilet best. Our comrades hold out, Le Bargy loses his footing. That's when you offer him a generous hand. What a gesture, my dear! I can still see you, and I'll be seeing you for a long time to come. In short, you save him, you drown us and you give me an oar on the head for my trouble"... Etc. The letter is recopied here to be sent to Georges Baillet, denouncing Prudhon's conduct in voting for Le Bargy and Féraudy, which prevented Silvain's raise... - January 28 [1903], long letter to Fernand Nozière, thanking him for his article on his interpretation of Alceste in The Misanthrope. Then he talks about the Comédie-Française, the departure of Marthe Brandès, the legal structure of the Comédie-Française, the abolition of the reading committee, etc. - September 28, 1904 (headed Représentations de M. Silvain), to the same address: he and his small troupe give a performance of Victor Hugo's Le Roi s'amuse in Versailles, where he plays the role of Triboulet...