Autograph letter signed by Emil Zola. [France?], September 15, 1898. French.
Zola thanks his friend for a copy of a newspaper which he sent to him and comments that in his opinion "news are definitive - a revision". Zola says that "we can only wait with patience, maybe much patience…" (it is possible that he refers to the Dreyfus affair).
The French author and publicist Émile Zola (1840-1902) was one of the principal supporters of Alfred Dreyfus when the latter was accused, in 1895, of treason and espionage for Germany. In 1897 Zola published a series of essays in Dreyfus's defense, and in 1898 the newspaper "L'aurore" published his essay "J'accuse" - an open letter to the French president, in which Zola accused the leaders of the military, the War Ministry and the military tribunal of a miscarriage of justice. The letter's publication aroused controversy in France. Zola was sued for libel, sentenced to a year in prison and forced to flee to England. He stayed in London for about a year, until allowed to return to France.
[1] foldled leaf (two written pages), 18 cm. Good condition. Horizontal folding line. Minor defects.