The Three Cities

Autographed letter signed "Emile Zola" to Fernand Desmoulin Médan, August 8, 1895, 2 pp. An affectionate letter from a solitary Zola, as always immersed in the writing of his novels - The writer reveals some intimate aspects of his monastic life and his passion for cycling.

"My dear friend, my wife [Alexandrine] was going to write to you. You may have heard that poor Charpentier. They are coming to spend a week here; and we were dreaming of having you at the same time. But, since you are coming back in September, it's just postponed.

We are absolutely counting on you. I haven't seen Charpentier again, as I am stuck here with work [Zola was then in the midst of writing Rome, the second volume of his novel cycle Les Trois Villes]. My wife saw him again, as well as Mrs. Charpentier, before they left for Houlgate. And she was saddened by the mourning of those poor friends.

As you say very well, their pain must have grown in rest and reflection. All of this is dreadful. Here, we are doing fairly well, both very solitary as always, waiting for summer to pass. The weather, by the way, is awful.

I do a lot of cycling; and, like you, I find it a great distraction. I have ended up despising the weather, going out in the rain, which means I come back soaked, covered in mud. No matter, it does me a lot of good.

I'm waiting for you to take me out. I want to try some long rides with you. And that's it, my dear friend. Don't dwell too much on the sad circumstances you're in.

Take care of yourself as best as you can, and see you soon, the household is waiting for you. Affectionately yours from both of us. 1- The Charpentier couple had just lost Paul, their third child, who passed away suddenly at the age of 20. 2- Desmoulin, who had been a widower since June 5, 1894, was vacationing in Châtillon-en-Bazois (Nièvre); he had come to Paris for Paul Charpentier's funeral. On August 3, he wrote to Zola: "The other day, at the cemetery, I looked for you in vain, [...] I couldn't say goodbye because I was leaving the next day for Châtillon where I am still, all alone, and not happy, I assure you [...] I will return in September, and you?" In fact, Zola will meet him in Paris on August 28. 3- The Fasquelle family spent August in Houlgate. 4- "I have received news from the Charpentiers several times," Desmoulin continued in the aforementioned letter. "I believe that the present moment is even more cruel for them than the hours of struggle, during which a glimmer, very faint, but still a glimmer of hope remained [...] It's a succession of sorrows that makes my holidays strange." 5- His bicycle, wrote Desmoulin, was his "dear comfort.

" 6- Zola was already taking long rides. On August 31, his wife wrote to Élina Laborde: "He treated himself to a cyclometer, and he was able to determine that from the house on rue de Bruxelles to our place, passing through Saint-Germain, it is 34 kilometers." Passionate about photography, Zola often staged himself with his bicycle in the last years of his life. He promoted Impressionist painters and, along with his wife, Marguerite, built an important art collection.

There he met Georges Charpentier, with whom he formed a friendship, and from 1887, that of Émile Zola. Henri Mitterrand, Nouveau Monde, pp. 1489 - 1490 Correspondence, t. CNRS, Les Presses de l'université de Montréal, p.

Former collection of Doctor François-Jacques Émile Zola.