Partly-printed document in French, one page both sides, 7.75 x 12, April 1881. Royalty statement on the letterhead of A. Roger, "Agent General de al Societe des Auteurs & Compositeus Dramatiques," prepared for the legendary French writer Victor Hugo, documenting payments due from theatrical productions between October 1880 and April 1881. In February 1881, Hugo entered his eightieth year, and France devoted to her greatest living author one of the most extravagant tributes ever given to a literary figure. The festivities included the largest parade ever held in France, as half a million people gathered to march past Hugo’s house on the Avenue d’Eylau (newly renamed Avenue Victor Hugo in his honor) down the Champs Élysées all the way to the center of Paris. They marched past Hugo’s window for six hours, the guides to the event wearing cornflowers as an allusion to Fantine in Les Misérables.
On February 26th, a triumphant revival of Hugo's historical play Lucrèce Borgia opened in Paris, sparking performances of Hugo's stage works all across France. The present royalty statement lists 31 Parisian performances of "Lucrèce B." in April 1881 including matinées, with a monumental total take of FF 5134.15. It further documents no fewer than 68 other performances are listed here (under columns for Banlieue, Départements, and Étranger), with Lucrèce alone playing in Angoulême, St Germain, Bordeaux, Dijon, Dunkirk, Limoges, Montpellier, Perpignan, Toulouse, etc. Les Misérables held the stage in Lille, Notre Dame de Paris in Brussels and Belleville, and Rigoletto from Avignon to Douai. In all the royalties amounted to FF 6599.65, summed up at the head. In fine condition, with a small tear to the top edge.
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