(DREYFUS AFFAIR)

AUCTION 33 | Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 1:00

Fine Judaica: Including Hebrew Printed Books, Manuscripts, & Autograph Letters

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Lot 49

(DREYFUS AFFAIR)

Dreyfus, Alfred, Cinq Années de ma Vie 1894-1899. (Paris, 1901). * Five Years of My Life. (London, 1901). * Five Years of My Life 1894-1899 (New York, 1901). * Fünf Jahre meines Lebens 1894-1899 (Berlin, 1901). * Sixteen German postcards concerning “L'Affaire.” * Single-leaf cartoon issued by Punch (London, June 7, 1899). * Five issues of L'Illustration: Journal Universel (Paris, July-September 1899). * Seven issues of Le Petit Journal (Paris, 1894-1899) See N.L. Kleeblatt, The Dreyfus Affair: Art, Truce and Justice (1987)

v.p: 1898-1906

Est: $600 - $900

Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, was accused of high treason for allegedly spying on behalf of the Germans. Dreyfus was in fact innocent, the true culprit being a Major Esterhazy. Before Dreyfus' innocence could be proven, he was forced out of the Army. In a most humiliating ceremony, his officer’s uniform was stripped of its epaulets, and his saber broken - and he was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Isle in the Guyanas. “L'Affaire Dreyfus,” as it was referred to, dragged on for years, provoking agitation against Jews throughout France. With the help of the journalist, Emile Zola - who wrote a scathing article “J'Accuse,” exposing French miscarriage of justice - and other prominent defenders, Dreyfus was eventually released from prison and restored to his rightful rank in the army. The present collection includes Dreyfus' own memoirs in French, and English and German translations, as well as coverage in the French press, and the flutter of postcards engendered by this ignoble chapter in French history.