[Les deux gosses] (verso)
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- Title:
- [Les deux gosses] (verso)
- Collection:
- Postcards of female and male impersonators and cross-dressing in Europe and the United States, 1900-1930
- Date:
- 1910
- Country:
- France
- ID Number:
- RMM07778_B1_F17_171_02
- Collection Number:
- 7778
- Card Number:
- 7778_171
- File Name:
- RMM07778_b1_f17_171_02.jpg
- Work Type:
- Gelatin silver
- Materials/Techniques:
- Applied color
- Subject:
- Male impersonators
- Measurement:
- 14.1 x 9 (centimeters)
- Description:
- Inscription: "Addressed to Paul Rabeau; messages with three different largely illegible signatures." Three postcards (nos. 2, 3 and 4) from a series of unknown length recounting episodes adapted from the melodramatic novel Les Deux gosses (Jules Rouff & Cie., 1880) by the popular author and playwright Pierre Decourcelle (1856– 1926). The “two kids” of the title are Fanfan, the son of a diplomat carted off and raised by a married pair of petty criminals, and Claudinet, the ragged natural son of the couple. Decourcelle subsequently adapted the novel as a drama; in an 1896 production at the Théâtre de l’Ambigu in Paris, the characters of the two boys were cast as trouser roles for young actresses, with Fanfan played by Mlle. Mélo and Claudinet by Mlle. Reyé. In the postcard series, the models for the two boys likewise are cross-dressed young women dressed. The images may therefore represent an actual stage production—or at least an expectation established by stage productions that Fanfan and Claudinet would be trouser roles. Stamps and postmarks on recto of each card. Lower corners of one card creased. SOURCE: “A l’Ambigu. Les deux gosses, drame de M. Pierre Decourcelle; Aux bouffes. Ninette. Opéra-comique de Ch. Lecoq et de Ch. Clairville” (page from the Journal Amusant, undated issue from 1896); posted on Europeana; consulted Oct. 31, 2014: www.europeana.eu/portal/record/9200365/ BibliographicResource_1000055735940.html.
- Cite As:
- Postcards of female and male impersonators and cross-dressing, #7778. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- Postcards of female and male impersonators and cross-dressing
- Series:
- France: Humor
- Box:
- 1
- Folder:
- 17
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The copyright status and copyright owners of this image cannot be determined. While it appears here without formalities, it may be protected based on the laws of its country of origin. Without additional information on the image’s provenance, a determination cannot be made. This collection was digitized by Cornell University Library in 2019 from materials held in the Rare and Manuscript Collections, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Professor Durba Ghosh and Brenda Marston, Curator of the Human Sexuality Collection. Cornell is providing access to the materials under an assertion of fair use for non-commercial educational use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Cornell would like to learn more about this item and to hear from individuals or institutions that have any additional information as to rights holders. Please contact the Rare and Manuscript Collections at rareref@cornell.edu.