Scarce commemorative supplement from the French newspaper L’Aurore, 18.5 x 25.5, published on September 24, 1904, containing an exact printing of Emile Zola's famous article from January 13, 1898, featuring the famous headline “J'Accuse…! Lettre au President de la Republique Par Emile Zola.” The most popular issue of L’Aurore’s entire publication run, the newspaper contained an open letter from Zola in response to the Dreyfus affair. In the letter, Zola addressed President of France Felix Faure and accused 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 pointed out judicial errors and lack of serious evidence. The newspaper caused a stir in France and abroad, and Zola was prosecuted for libel and found guilty on 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. In very good to fine condition, with small areas of paper loss, and tape reinforcements, along the fragile intersecting folds.
