Leaves from the Autobiography of Tommaso Salvini

This is the autobiography of one of the great actors of the 19th Century. Stanislavsky referred to Salvini as one of his great inspirations, along with Duse. This book is honest and amazing, he talks about his tragic life, about giving it all to his work, which he discusses openly. He was using technique that later came to be associated with Stanislavski, but Salvini was using it in the 1850s. He was celebrated by royalty as he traveled the world. He has a sense of humour about it all and an earnestness which is infectious. Before TV and before film, there were actors who were not onlt great technicians but also international stars, and Salvini was one of them.