Paris, June 26.—The sale of the Sarah Bernhardt library which is now taking place at the Alotel Drouot is attracting a good many well-known people, chiefly of the artistic world, to the famous sale-rooms. Among others who have gone to bid have been M. Sacha Guitry and his wife, Madame Yvonna_ Prin-temps, Maurice Rostand, and tha venerable Arthur Meyur. Most of the lots,' it must be confessed, have no great value from the purely commercial point of view, but the fact that nearly every book bears an autograph inscription by its author, or possesses some other unique characteristic, imparts far more than its intrinsic value to each specimen.
It was doubtless for this reason that an 1820 edition of Racine's complete works, which belonged successively to Samson, Rachel, and Sarah, fetched no less than 5,100 francs, while a copy of Gabriele d'Annunzio's 'Martyre de Saint Sebastien," with an autograph inscription by the author, sold for 1.160 francs. The manuscript of Dumas Fils' "Une visite de Noces" reached 2,200 francs, while a unique copy of Rostand's ''Chantecler" Japanese paper, with a dedication by the author, made 3,700 francs. A copy of Portraits des Grands Hommes et Femmes Iiustres et Sujets Memorables de France," published in 1786, which was presented to Sarah by the artists and personnel of her theatre, was sold for 5,600 francs.
Other books sold included Charles Knight's edition of Shakespeare, 1,350 francs; "Ceremonies et Coutumes Religieuses'' 1733-1743, which fetched 2,600 francs; a Cervantes by Pierre de Hondt, 4,620 franes; Ovid's Metamorphoses, 2,800 francs; Abbé Richard de St. Non's "Lo Voyage Pittoresque," 4,000 francs; and a copy of Sargent's Portraits of Great Men, 5,600 francs.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.