Original first printing of the French newspaper L’Aurore, 16.75 x 23.5, published on January 13, 1898, containing Emile Zola's open letter on the 'Dreyfus affair,' featuring the famous headline: “J'Accuse…! Lettre au President de la Republique Par Emile Zola.” In the letter, Zola addresses President of France Felix Faure and accuses his government of antisemitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army General Staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for espionage. Zola points out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. Handsomely matted and framed to an overall size of 23.75 x 30.5. In very good condition, with small areas of paper loss along the partially separated intersecting folds (not examined out of the frame).
The newspaper caused a stir in France and abroad, and Zola was prosecuted for libel and found guilty in February 1898. To avoid imprisonment, he fled to England, returning home in June 1899. As a result of the popularity of the letter, even in the English-speaking world, J'accuse! has become a common expression of outrage and accusation against someone powerful, whatever the merits of the accusation. Zola said of the affair, ‘The truth is on the march, and nothing shall stop it.’ His 1898 article is widely marked in France as the most prominent manifestation of the new power of the intellectuals (writers, artists, academicians) in shaping public opinion, the media, and the state.
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