Zola in 1888
Autograph Letter, signed (“Emile Zola”), Medan 22 aout 88, sending payment for the casting of a bronze bust.
Medan: 22 August 1888.
Price: $2,250.00
About the item
One page, black ink on laid paper, 10 lines, approx. 50 words, with integral blank. 1 vols. 8vo. Zola in 1888. Old folds. Fine. Tipped into a copy of L’Attaque du moulin (1901).
Item #265761
Excellent autograph letter, signed, from the great French novelist Emile Zola (1840-1902) to an unnamed recipient, sending a cheque (not present) for 400 francs “en paiement du buste en bronze que vous avez fondu pour moi et je vous prie de vouloir bien m’envoyer une facture acquittée”.
For Zola, 1888 was an eventful year. On 14 July, the Legion d’honneur was conferred upon Zola (he had previously refused in 1884 and 1886). Two days before the present letter was composed, he finished writing La Rêve. “En 1888, Zola a deux révélations: l’amour et la photographie” (Massin). He took up photography and met Jeanne Rozerot, who became his mistress toward the end of the autumn. Zola’s engagement with the arts was significant and of long standing, and in 1891 when elected president of the Société des gens de lettres, he lobbied for Rodin to be chosen for the planned monument to Balzac.
A choice letter from an eventful year.
In a copy of L’Attaque du moulin (1901), one of 300 copies, with plates handcolored (wrappers bound in). Half morocco, spine gilt with red lozenge onlays by P. Affolter, front board detached.
