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[Illustration: SARAH BERNHARDT, AT THE AGE OF TWELVE, AND HER MOTHER.

_From an Unpublished Photograph by C. Robert, Paris._]




THE STRAND MAGAZINE.

Vol. xxvii.      APRIL, 1904.       No. 160.




_The Memoirs of Sarah Bernhardt._

Copyright, 1904, by George Newnes, Limited.

     [These Memoirs, written by the greatest actress of our
     time, will give not only the story of her career in the
     theatrical world, but also in social life, in which she
     has, of course, met nearly all the celebrated people of
     the day, from Royalties downwards, and will be found
     throughout of the most striking interest to all classes
     of readers.]


CHAPTER I.--CHILDHOOD.

My mother was fond of travelling: she would go from Spain to England, from
London to Paris, from Paris to Berlin, and from there to Christiania; then
she would come back, embrace me, and set out again for Holland, her native
country. She used to send my nurse clothing for herself and cakes for me.
To one of my aunts she would write: "Look after little Sarah; I shall
return in a month's time." A month later she would write to another of her
sisters: "Go and see the child at her nurse's; I shall be back in a couple
of weeks."

[Illustration: MME. SARAH BERNHARDT'S DEDICATORY LETTER.

SPECIALLY WRITT