DREYFUS ALFRED: (1859-1935) French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarising political dramas in modern French history. Known as the Dreyfus Affair, it ultimately ended with Dreyfus's complete exoneration. A.L.S., with his initials A D, to one side of his personal printed oblong 12mo Visiting Card, featuring his printed name, as Chef d'Escadron d'Artillerie, at the centre and address at Boulevard Malesherbes to the lower right corner, n.p. (Paris), n.d. (post July 1906), to [Alexandrine Zola], in French. Dreyfus writes, in full, 'Merci vivement, chere Madame et amie, de votre aimable envoi. En lisant la correspondance de notre regrette Zola, je vais de nouveau vivre avec lui, avec sa pensee' (Translation: 'Thank you very much, dear Madam and friend, for your kind communication. Reading the correspondence of our late Zola, I will once again live with him, with his thought'). An attractive piece with good association. About EX

 

Eleonore Alexandrine Meley (1839-1925) French seamstress, wife of Emile Zola from 1870.

 

Emile Zola (1840-1902) French novelist, a major figure in the political liberalisation of France and in the exoneration of Alfred Dreyfus, encapsulated in Zola's renowned newspaper opinion headlined J'Accuse...!

 

Dreyfus had been reinstated in the army with the rank of Chef d'Escadron on 13^th July 1906.