La Libre Parole – The newspaper of the French antisemitic propagandist Édouard Drumont – Three early antisemitic issues.
Issue from May 19, 1894. The front page features a large cartoon presenting various “proposals” for the new French postage stamp. The four proposals depict antisemitic caricatures illustrating the Rothschild family’s control over the French economy. In one of the “proposals, ” a Jew is shown being swept out of France with a broom. Another stamp depicts Rothschild as a bizarre creature possessing billions. At the bottom appears the antisemitic caption: “The competition for the new postage stamp. We sent the four examples above, they were ruthlessly rejected… because these proposals are simply excellent… we appeal this decision to those who truly wish to be free.” The interior pages include an illustrated story (comic strip) about a deceitful Jewish banker attempting to swindle the French, who is ultimately kicked out.
Issue from February 16, 1895. The front page alludes to the Rothschild family’s control over France.
Issue from November 30, 1895. Members of the French government are shown standing on platforms made up of stereotypical Jewish faces, implying who is really in control of France.
The magazine La Libre Parole (“The Free Word”) was published as a weekly by the antisemitic journalist Édouard Drumont (1844–1917). Each issue’s front page featured a large antisemitic cartoon printed in color. In the upper right corner of the front page of every issue appeared the slogan: “La France aux Français!” – “France for the French.” The interior pages included antisemitic articles denouncing the Jews and the danger their presence posed to France. Drumont prided himself on the contribution of his articles and his newspaper in preventing what he called “the fall of France into Jewish hands.” The obsessive venom of Drumont’s articles during the Dreyfus Affair led to a significant rise in the newspaper’s circulation, reaching one hundred thousand copies. Drumont became popular in his time for his inciting messages against Jews and capitalism, as well as for his combative, rousing rhetoric that inflamed the masses. He boasted of becoming a kind of “Pope of Antisemitism.” His views echoed even beyond the borders of France and, decades later, influenced the policies of the Vichy regime and those who collaborated with the Nazis in France during World War II.
Three issues, complete. Very good condition.
