The Dreyfus Affair 1898
Source: Philip Kolb, Editor, Correspondance de Marcel Proust, Vol II. Paris, Plon, 1976;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor.
In this letter to the editor written either to Ernest Vaughan, the editor of L'Aurore (which published Zola’s “J'Accuse”) or Yves Guyot, editor of Le Siècle, Proust protests that his name was left off a petition published in those papers in defense of Colonel Picquart, jailed for his role in demonstrating that the case against Dreyfus was fraudulent. The protest read: “The undersigned protest in the name of justice the prosecution of Colonel Picquart, the heroic artisan of the revision, at the very moment when this is occurring.”
To Ernest Vaughan (?)
November 26 or 27, 1898
Dear Editor:
I sent my signature for the Picquart protest. I see it wasn’t published. I would very much like it to be so. I know that my name will add nothing to the list. But the fact of having figured on the list will add to my name: one doesn’t allow to pass an opportunity to inscribe one’s name on a pedestal