[Dreyfus Affair] [Zola, Emile] J'accuse...!

(Paris: Ernest Vaughan), January 13, 1898. Bifolium, 23 1/2 x 17 in. (597 x 432mm) (sight). Printed newspaper. Creasing from old folds; scattered light soiling. In mat and in double-pane gilt frame, 30 x 23 1/2 in. (762 x 597 mm).

Very well-preserved issue of the L'Aurore newspaper featuring Emile Zola's famous open letter J'Accuse...!, calling for action in the ongoing Dreyfus Affair.

In December of 1894, French Army captain Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason by his superiors for allegedly supplying state secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. Dreyfus, an artillery officer of Jewish descent, was sentenced to life-imprisonment at a penal colony in French Guiana, where he would spend the next five years. In 1896, through the efforts of French counter-intelligence officer Georges Piquart, new evidence identified Major Ferdinand Esterhazy as the true culprit of the crimes. However, high-ranking French military officials quickly suppressed the evidence, acquitted Esterhazy, and laid additional charges on Dreyfus.

As the events developed and the public became more aware, novelist Emile Zola risked his reputation and career by publishing J'Accuse...! in January 1898. The essay is an open letter to French President Felix Faure, accusing the highest levels of the military of wrongful conviction, obstruction of justice, and antisemitism. Zola's letter instantly caused an uproar, and he was convicted of libel, and forced to flee to England while the affair divided France between its Catholic and liberal factions. It continued for another six years until the French Supreme Court exonerated Dreyfus in 1906, and issued general amnesty for all those involved.

Provenance

From the Collection of Jay R. Butterman. New York, New York

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Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Books and Manuscripts

[Dreyfus Affair] [Zola, Emile] J'accuse...!

Books and Manuscripts

[Dreyfus Affair] [Zola, Emile] J'accuse...!

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