Further, in another section of the book, I have recounted the incidents of the prosecution instituted against my father with respect to certain translations of Zola's novels. And in this connection I have had occasion to say something about certain fanatics, and also about the attitude of the majority of the British newspaper press before it realised that Zola was not so black as it had painted him. Even after the lapse of long years, such matters and their consequences cannot be recalled by one who suffered by them without some feeling of resentment. It is true that in my preface to the English version of Zola's last book I expressed my acknowledgments to the press generally for the leniency, patience, and even favour that had been shown to me from the time I began to re-introduce Zola's works to the British public. Those acknowledgments I am quite ready to reiterate, in despite of the matters with which I deal in a chapter of the present book, for those matters belong to an earlier period. But a sense of duty and justice to my father, to my brothers and other relatives, to myself as well, has made it impossible for me to overlook the period in question, and what I regard largely as its aberrations. Besides, in a book intended for English readers, it is only fit that the attitude of the English public towards Zola should be dealt with. Most of the illustrations accompanying my text are from photographs, several of them taken specially for this book; but I have to express my acknowledgments to the proprietors of the _Illustrated London News_ for their kind permission to reproduce various views of the rooms in which much of Zola's life was spent. E. A. V. MERTON, SURREY March, 1904 CONTENTS I INTRODUCTORY--THE ZOLA FAMILY--BIRTH OF ÉMILE ZOLA II EARLY YEARS: 1840-1860 III BOHEMIA--DRUDGERY--FIRST BOOKS: 1860-1866 IV IN THE FURNACE OF PARIS: 1866-1868 V THE FIRST "ROUGON-MACQUARTS": 1868-1872 VI THE PATH OF SUCCESS 1872-1877 VII THE ADVANCE OF NATURALISM: 1877-1881 VIII THE BATTLE CONTINUED: 1881-1887 IX THE BRITISH PHARISEES: 1884-1893 X THE LAST "ROUGON-MACQUARTS"--THE FRENCH ACADEMY--A VISIT TO LONDON: 1888-1893 XI A CRITICAL GLANCE: 1893 XII THE MAN--HIS LIFE DRAMA--A NEW DEPARTURE 1893-1897 XIII THE DREYFUS CASE: 1894-1900 XIV LAST YEARS--DEATH: 1901-1902 XV CONCLUSION--THE INFLUENCE AND SURVIVAL OF ZOLA'S WORKS APPENDIX A.--Declaration of Zola's birth B.--Declaration of his death C.--Note on some English translations of his novels INDEX ILLUSTRATIONS I Émile Zola in his Last Days _Frontispiece_ II The Birthplace of Émile Zola _To face page_ III Dam and Reservoir of the Zola Canal IV Zola's Home, Impasse Sylvacanne, Aix V The Boulevard Zola and the Banks of the Arc, Aix VI Émile Zola, 1876-1880 VII Zola's Home at Médan VIII Zola in his Study IX Émile Zola, 1888-1890 X Aix-in-Provence, the Plassans of his Books XI Fac-simile Letter from Zola to E. A. Vizetelly XII Denise and Jacques