Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images available at The Internet Archive) ADRIENNE LECOUVREUR [Illustration: ADRIENNE LE COUVREUR _Actrice du Théatre François_] Oxford French Series _By AMERICAN SCHOLARS_ GENERAL EDITOR: RAYMOND WEEKS, PH.D. PROFESSOR OF ROMANCE PHILOLOGY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ADRIENNE LECOUVREUR BY SCRIBE AND LEGOUVÉ _EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES_ BY THEODORE ELY HAMILTON, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMERICAN BRANCH: 35 WEST 32ND STREET LONDON, TORONTO, MELBOURNE & BOMBAY HUMPHREY MILFORD 1917 _All rights reserved_ _Copyright, 1917_ BY OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS AMERICAN BRANCH INTRODUCTION SCRIBE AND LEGOUVÉ Augustin Eugène Scribe was born at Paris, December 24th, 1791. He studied law but manifested early in life a strong inclination toward the drama. The first of his plays to be favored with the full approval of the public was _Une nuit de la garde nationale_, written in 1816, in collaboration with Delestre-Poirson. Thereafter, his success was great and continued. He produced plays in rapid succession for two and even three theaters at the same time. Many of them were written jointly with some collaborator. In 1816 appeared also _Le nouveau Pourceaugnac_ and _Le solliciteur_, highly praised by Schlegel. In 1820 Scribe was engaged to write exclusively for a new theater established by his friend Poison, under the patronage of the Duchesse de Berri. In less than ten years (1821-30) he produced over one hundred plays. Among the best of these are: _Le mariage enfantin_, _Le colonel_, _La loge du portier_, _Le baiser au porteur_, _La reine de seize ans_, _La marraine_, _Le diplomate_, _Le plus beau jour de la vie_, and _Le mariage de raison_. For the Théâtre-Français he supplied the following plays: _Valérie_ (1822), _Le mariage d’argent_ (1827), _Bertrand et Raton_ (1833), _Une passion secrète_ (1834), _La camaraderie_ (1837), _Le verre d’eau_ (1840), _Adrienne Lecouvreur_ (1849), _Les contes de la reine de Navarre_ and _La bataille de dames_ (1851), _Mon étoile_ (1853), _Feu Lionel_ and _Les doigts de fée_ (1858). Several of these are still widely known. _Adrienne Lecouvreur_, which is described elsewhere, was written with Ernest Legouvé (1807-1903) and is a really beautiful play.