p III 39:  Grand Escalier at the Paris Opera

p 40 | Charles I, Emperor of Austria
       | This may be the Prince of Saxony he means; the dates work, but we're not sure what year it is in the text. "I don't know the number. My cousin told me I had only to ask for her box."
p 41 | Henri d'Orleans, duc d'Aumale|, looking like a medallion of Henri IV -->
p 45 | halcyon's (kingfisher) nest

p 52  | Whoa! Where did this recording of La Berma come from? (Hint: keep your eyes closed.)

La Berma

Bernhardt as Phèdre in Racine's Phèdre. From the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Photograph: Paul Nadar, negative about 1874, print about 1880s, albumen silver print (cabinet card), 5 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. Introduced in the 1860s, cabinet cards were studio photos mounted on card stock for public sale. Widely collected, they often featured portraits of celebrities of the day (writers, musicians, actors). This Nadar photo of The Divine Sarah is from a collector's album of cabinet cards. The New York Times reviewed this in 1905.

Within a Budding Grove (vol II): Dinner guests; Berma

Jockey-Club de Paris: The Jockey Club de Paris is best remembered as a gathering of the elite of nineteenth-century French society. The club still exists at 2 rue Rabelais, and hosts the International Federation of Racing Authorities. From Wikipedia: "Proust's Charles Swann was a member, a fact that Proust more than once noted as a signal honour, given his Jewish background."
Dr. Jules Cotard: Was he the model for Proust's character?

Comments by other Proust readers onine:  C. Matthews here and D. Abrams here

Note that Seize Mai (May 16) was the day of a constitutional crisis, MacMahon resigned, and back in the park, while two men watched Odette parading down the avenue, one made a comment about being with her on that day (1877, in real history time). The parading, since Gilberte is already 12-ish, would have to be about 14-15 years later, say 1891-ish. This part of the novel was originally part of Place Names: The Name, but Proust's publisher thought v. 1 was getting too long, and so it was cut, to begin v.2.

There is so much space given to describing the changes of Cottard and Swann, that you could even say that the doctor changed from a buffoon to a well-respected man and Swann changed in the opposite way.

La Berma = Sarah Bernhardt
Here are some photos in the Library of Congress of Bernhardt performing in the U.S.  Nice crowds. 

In this exquisite portrait by Nadar (there were many, and he was the best), La Berma was only 20 years old. BTW, born Jewish & illegitimate.

Here she is full-face.