[Dreyfus Affair] Zola, Emile, and Alfred Dreyfus, et al. Group of 5 Signed and Inscribed Items

Paris, ca. 1898 and after. Comprising five items, signed or inscribed by the major figures of the Dreyfus Affair: Alfred Dreyfus, Emile Zola, Georges Picquart, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, and Hubert Joseph Henry. Includes three cabinet cards: Emile Zola, published by P. Nadar ("24 fevrier 1898 Emile Zola"); Alfred Dreyfus, published by Gerschel ("A. Dreyfus"); Georges Picquart, published by A. Gerschel ("a Mll. Ginette Risler 28 Janvier 1900 G. Picquart"). Two autograph letters, signed: Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, no place, no date ("Sir, I requested you to provide to me at the castle of Dommartin near Saint Mennehould, Marne, the journal that you had read to me in Rouen. With thanks Commandant Estherazy"); Hubert Joseph Henry ("Thursday night My dear friend, I had told Reinhart (sp?) that I would be at his house on Friday at 9:30 in the morning and I had kindly asked him to let you know. He is writing to me that he is forced to leave the house at 9:00 in the morning and is asking me to come at 11:00 instead would you be so kind to also find me at his place at this time. Kindly yours Henry"). Together in double-pane glass frame, 19 1/2 x 18 1/4 in. (495 x 463 mm).

In 1895 Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason and imprisoned for purportedly selling French military secrets to the Germans. In 1896, through the investigative work of Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of the French Army's counterintelligence unit, evidence came to light that implicated French Army Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy as the actual culprit. A coverup followed, with the French Army suppressing new evidence of Esterhazy's guilt, acquitting him during a military trial, and levying new charges against Dreyfus.

To protest against the verdict and the grave injustice against Dreyfus, on January 13, 1898 French writer Emile Zola published his famous letter in the L'Aurore newspaper, J'Accuse! Addressed to the President of France, Felix Faure, Zola accused him and his government of a coverup and of antisemitism. Zola was then charged and found guilty of libel, and sentenced to three years in prison. Later that year, in August 1898, a document that had implicated Dreyfus was found to be a forgery created by French Army Major Major Hubert Joseph Henry. By this time the public had become intensely divided over the case, between those who supported Dreyfus, the liberal "Dreyfusards" and those who thought him guilty, the conservative "anti-Dreyfusards". The political scandal and social unrest surrounding the matter threatened to topple the French government, and a retrial of Dreyfus was held. Although he was again found guilty, he was subsequently pardoned, and in 1906 he was exonerated in court of any wrongdoing.

A fine and rare display representing the major figures of the infamous Dreyfus Affair.

Provenance

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

[Dreyfus Affair] Zola, Emile, and Alfred Dreyfus, et al. Group of 5 Signed and Inscribed Items

[Dreyfus Affair] Zola, Emile, and Alfred Dreyfus, et al. Group of 5 Signed and Inscribed Items