Paris exhibition to tell story of eccentric acting pioneer Sarah Bernhardt

Petit Palais show celebrates breadth of belle epoque theatre star’s creative talents with 400 exhibits

On page 158 of a heavy, leather-bound Paris police register from the 19th century, a handwritten page headed with a photograph details the activities of a young “courtesan” called Sarah Bernhardt.

The Book of Courtesans, as it was known by the then equivalent of the vice squad, was a detailed record of high-class sex workers, often actors and dancers, who were the mistresses of princes, aristocrats and the wealthy.