Copistes et secrétaires‐souffleurs à la Comédie‐Française au dix‐huitième siècle, de Saint‐Georges à Delaporte

The numerous eighteenth‐century promptbooks conserved in the Bibliothèque‐Musée de la Comédie‐Française are for the most part in the hand of copyists attached to the company, people whose duties, often closely associated with those of prompters, gradually evolved over the course of the century. Traces of these people, who were as vital to the company as a whole as they were to individual actors who came to place great trust in them, may be discovered, scattered, not only throughout the minutes of company meetings and registers, but also in bills for copying work and other minor expenses incurred by the secretariat of the troupe. By collating these various sources it is possible to put a face to several of these figures, to identify the manuscripts and documents they copied out, the payment they received, and to understand exactly what their duties entailed over the course of the century. In addition, we shall consider the ‘outside’ copyists who were occasionally called upon, and those of the company's music copyists of whom we have evidence. After all, music in one form or another was an essential element of all eighteenth‐century performances.