[Illustration]


MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF

(From Childhood to Girlhood)


TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH
BY MARY J. SAFFORD




PREFACE

THE SOUL OF A LITTLE GIRL


Marie Bashkirtseff, beginning at twelve years old, wrote her journal
ingenuously, sincerely, amusing us by her whims, thrilling us by her
enthusiasms, touching us by her sufferings.

We have gone through these note-books bound in white parchment,
slightly discoloured, like the winding sheet in which sleeps a
memory, and have already gathered a volume, precious, not because it
describes such an entertainment or such an event, but because it
reveals the mentality of a young girl.

This time we have been especially interested by the first books,