Set of 15 undivided back postcards featuring caricatures against Emile Zola by the illustrator Lebourgeois [signed in print]. Rare series published during Zola's trial for defamation in which he was found guilty, sentenced to one year in prison and a fine, expelled from the Legion of Honor and fled to England. France, c. 1900.
The caricatures appearing on the postcards make use of Zola's own books and testimonies from the Dreyfus trial. In one of them, Zola is seen fleeing France as a local soldier chases after him, in another he is shown inside a prison cell with mice at his feet. There is a caricature in which Zola is depicted as a clown playing a drum inscribed: "J'Accuse" [Zola's famous article in favor of Dreyfus which was published in January 1898], and more. The series of caricatures against Zola by illustrator Lebourgeois was published in the book "Zola 32 caricatures", which was released in Paris in 1898 [see Dynasty auction 3 item 21], and soon the caricatures appeared on postcards of the period.
15 postcards, 5 were mailed. Very good condition.
