Life and art of Richard Mansfield, with selections from his letters . sfieldsproduction of Cyrano conferred the luxury ofwoe on thousands of such persons as are inter-ested in the troubles of true love. Its course, asusual, did not run smooth. In January, 1899, Mans-field, when acting in Chicago, was sued, conjointlywith Edmond Rostand, for royalties on Cyranode Bergerac, and was enjoined from furtherpresentment of the play, but later the restriction wasremoved. The plaintiff in the suit was Mr. SamuelEberly Gross, who charged that Rostands playwas a plagiarism of a drama by him, called TheMer
Life and art of Richard Mansfield, with selections from his letters . sfieldsproduction of Cyrano conferred the luxury ofwoe on thousands of such persons as are inter-ested in the troubles of true love. Its course, asusual, did not run smooth. In January, 1899, Mans-field, when acting in Chicago, was sued, conjointlywith Edmond Rostand, for royalties on Cyranode Bergerac, and was enjoined from furtherpresentment of the play, but later the restriction wasremoved. The plaintiff in the suit was Mr. SamuelEberly Gross, who charged that Rostands playwas a plagiarism of a drama by him, called TheMerchant Prince of Cornville, which, he declared,had been acted at the Novelty Theatre, London,as long ago as November 11, 1896, when Rostandmight have seen it or heard of it. The decision inthe case, ratified, by Judge C. C. Kohlsaat, in theUnited States Circuit Court for the NorthernDistrict of Illinois, was favorable to Mr. study of Mr. Grosss play and comparisonof it with that of M. Rostand, did not then,and does not now, discover any adequate reason. Photograph by E. \V. Uistcd, Acr- York RICHARD MANSFIELD IN 1898 ROSTAND 255 for supposing that M. Rostand had an acquaintancewith Mr. Grosss drama, when he wrote Cyrano deBergerac. The protagonist of the play was oneof his countrymen, recorded and described in Frenchbiography, and the learning of M. Rostand had soimpressed Coquelin as to cause that actor to sayHe knows everything. There can be no doubtthat he possessed ample knowledge of the historyof his native land and was under no necessity ofseeking inspiration or information about Cyranofrom a writer in Chicago. The probable indebted-ness of M. Rostand to Balzac has already beenintimated. The author to whom, obviously, he isindebted is Shakespeare. Mansfield, however, wasobliged to pay royalties to Mr. Gross, for the useof M. Rostands drama, and that payment hemade, as long as he continued to act in it. IX. 1899 TO 1906. With the production of Cyrano de Berger
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