Augustin Eugène Scribe

Background

Scribe was born on December 24, 1791 in Paris, France. His father was a silk merchant, and he was well educated, being destined for the bar.

Education

Scribe attended high school at Sainte-Barbe College

Career

His first piece, Le Pritendu sans le savoir, was produced without his name at the Varietes in 1810, and was a failure.

To the Gymnase theatre alone he is said to have furnished a hundred and fifty pieces before 1830.

This extraordinary fecundity is explained by the systematic methods of collaboration which he established.

Scribe had a number of co-workers, one of whom supplied the story, another the dialogue, a third the jokes and so on.

He is said in some cases to have sent sums of money for "copyright in ideas" to men who were unaware that he had taken suggestions from their work.

His debut in serious comedy was made at the Theatre Franfais in 1822 with Valerie, the first of many successful pieces of the same kind.

Moreover he was for fifty years the best exponent of the ideas of the French middle classes, so that he deserves respectful attention, even though his style be vulgar and his characters commonplace.

He wrote a few novels, but none of any mark.

The books of La Muette de Portici, Fra Diavolo, Robert le Diable, and of Les Huguenots are wholly or in part by him.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Le Comte Ory Opéra en deux actes (French Edition)

    (Ce livre est une oeuvre du domaine public éditée au forma...)

  • La Somnambule, Ou L Arrivee D Un Nouveau Seigneur, Ballet-Pantomime En 3 Actes (Litterature) (French Edition)

    (La somnambule, ou L'arrivee d'un nouveau seigneur, ballet...)

  • mariage de raison, Le (French Edition)

    (Ce livre est une oeuvre du domaine public éditée au forma...)

  • camaraderie, La (French Edition)
  • Believe it or Not
  • Bertrand et Raton (French Edition)

Membership

Commander of the Legion of Honor