Auction 32
Lot 119:
Original newspaper issue bearing the famous letter [J’Accuse…!] to the French president (Lettre au Président de la République) by the author Emile Zola following the conviction of the French-Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus. This is an original piece of history, the issue containing the long and groundbreaking piece, from 13 January, 1898. Opens into four columns. Size 62x45cm. Slight defects, overall good condition.
Background: in 1898, Zola felt compelled to write an address to the President of France, Félix Faure, and accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army General Staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for espionage. Zola pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. The letter was printed on the front page of the newspaper and caused a stir in France and abroad. Zola was prosecuted for libel and found guilty on 23 February 1898. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to England, returning home in June 1899. As a result of his involvement he lost many readers, but he did not cease to write until his death anyway.
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