The tail of the pages have been miscut by the printer and there are minute foxing spots interspersed throughout the book, else a very nice, solid copy. "Jean-Gaspard Deburau, in full Jean-baptiste-gaspard Deburau, Deburau also spelled Debureau, original name Jan Kaspar Dvorák (born July 31, 1796, Kolín, Bohemia [now in Czech Republic]-died June 17, 1846, Paris, France), Bohemian-born French pantomime actor, who transformed the character of Pierrot in the traditional harlequinade.Born into a family of acrobats, Deburau from an early age performed with them on European tour and at age 15 joined the Théâtre des Funambules, a company of tightrope walkers, jugglers, and other circuslike performers in Paris. He performed with the Funambules for the rest of his life.Gradually Deburau changed the robust simpleton of the commedia dell'arte figure Pierrot to the poignant character, dressed in baggy white costume, whose childlike manner, often as the optimistic but disappointed lover, charmed audiences and critics alike. The character influenced the Co-optimist concert party revue popular in Great Britain during the 1920s, as well as Marcel Marceau's Bip. In his biographical play Deburau (1918), the French actor-dramatist Sacha Guitry dwelt on Deburau's offstage relationship with Marie Duplessis, herself the model for Alexandre Dumas's tragic heroine in The Lady of the Camellias (1848). After Deburau's death his son Charles continued the Pierrot character at the Funambules." (Britannica) Sacha Guitry French dramatist Also known as Alexandre-Georges GuitryBorn February 21, 1885 St. Petersburg, Russia Died July 24, 1957 Paris, France. Sacha Guitry, original name Alexandre-Georges Guitry (born February 21, 1885, St. Petersburg, Russia-died July 24, 1957, Paris, France), prodigious French playwright, director, and screenwriter who often acted in his own productions.Sacha, the son of the actor Lucien Guitry, achieved his first theatrical success with Nono (1905). This was followed by Chez les Zoaques (1906), Petite Hollande (1908), Le Scandale de Monte Carlo (1908), Le Veilleur de nuit (1911)-one of his best plays-and Un Beau Mariage (1911). It is difficult to draw an absolute distinction between his work as an actor and as a playwright, for his art was always to some extent in the nature of brilliant improvisation. His output was enormous: he had over 90 plays produced out of 130 that he wrote. He wrote a number of serious plays for his father to act in, including Debureau (1918), Pasteur (1919), and Béranger (1920). He wrote, directed, and acted in many motion pictures, of which the best known was perhaps Roman d'un tricheur (1936; "The Cheat"). His autobiography, Mémoires d'un tricheur (translated into English as If I Remember Right), appeared in 1935." (Britannica)