Yvette Guilbert Signed Contract for Jeanne Dulac, Paris 1901 – Montmartre en Ballade European Tour Engagement Agreement

A highly important Belle Époque theatrical manuscript: an original three-page engagement contract signed by celebrated French cabaret star Yvette Guilbert, dated Paris, 21 December 1901, engaging actress Jeanne Dulac for Guilbert’s documented European touring production, Montmartre en Ballade. 

Research confirms that Jeanne Dulac appears as a named member of the dramatic company on the celebrated 1901 Charles Léandre poster produced for the tour. 

The agreement engages Dulac:

“pour jouer la comédie et la pantomime”

and carefully sets out performance obligations, salary, travel arrangements, rehearsal requirements, costume responsibilities, exclusivity provisions and cancellation penalties.

Of particular interest, the manuscript contains contemporary alterations and amendments. The principal text appears to be written in a clerical or administrative hand, while performer-specific insertions, amendments and the concluding signature appear to be in a darker second hand. The document is therefore best described as:

Clerically drafted but personally completed and signed by Yvette Guilbert.

The manuscript includes the important amendment:

“Départ le 1er Janvier”

which corresponds with independent documentation recording the departure of Guilbert’s touring company on 1 January 1902 for Germany, Austria and Hungary. 

Research identifies Jeanne Dulac as an established actress associated with the Odéon and contemporary French theatre, rather than a chorus performer. The engagement therefore documents a professional agreement between two notable figures of the French stage. 

The wider tour featured an extraordinary company of performers including [Marcel Legay], Gabriel Montoya, Mévisto, Séverin-Mars, Irma Perrot and others drawn from the leading artistic circles of Montmartre. 

Contemporary reports suggest substantial interest during the tour, with successful appearances in Cologne, Vienna, Prague and Berlin. A later memoir by Guilbert described the venture as financially unsuccessful despite its cultural impact and considerable publicity. 

An exceptional surviving document illustrating the business organisation of an international theatrical company led by one of the most famous performers of the Belle Époque.

A scarce and historically important survival from the golden age of French cabaret and international touring theatre.

Provenance: 

One of c.2,500+ items once from the collection or dealer stock of Winifred A Myers (Autographs) Ltd, St Martins Lane, London, evidenced by the quantity of Myers pre-printed envelopes and paper folders and the general ‘presentation’ of the items, many having Myers identification notes in pencil. 

Winifred Alice Myers (1909 – 1985) served as ABA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc) president, 1950-1952. See the ABA website for an extended article on Myers. Myers left her business, in 1985, to Ruth Shepherd, who traded from home until 2004. 

Emma Laure Esther Guilbert, known as Yvette Guilbert (Jan 1865 – Feb 1944) is a French café -concert singer , lyricist , actress , author and director .