[6] Among his works, which in the first instance generally appeared as _feuilletons_ in Paris newspapers, were "Eugénie Lamour," "Francis et Mariette," "Les Mariages Jaunes," and "Evariste Planchu, Mœurs vraies du Quartier Latin," the last named being perhaps his best book. [7] "Palmarès du Collège d'Aix," 1853 _et seq._ [8] P. Alexis, _l. c._, p. 21. [9] An _accessit_ is a distinction conferred, in French colleges, on the three pupils who come nearest to a prize winner. [10] Zola's "L'Œuvre," Chap. II. [11] "If it is good King René whom you seek, you will find him at this time walking in his chimney ... the narrow parapet yonder; it extends between these two towers, has an exposure to the south, and is sheltered in every other direction. Yonder it is his pleasure to walk and enjoy the beams of the sun on such cool mornings as the present. It nurses, he says, his poetical vein."--Scott's "Anne of Geierstein," Chap. XXIX. [12] Zola's "Le Docteur Pascal." [13] "Le Docteur Pascal." [14] _Ibid._ [15] "The Athenæum," No. 3686, June 18, 1898, p. 785. [16] "Le Docteur Pascal." [17] Zola's "Documents Littéraires," p. 88 (abbreviated). [18] Zola's "L'Aérienne" (1860) in Alexis, _l. c._, p. 265 _et seq._ [19] Zola's "Nos Auteurs Dramatiques," p. 42. [20] "Documents Littéraires," p. 90. [21] "L'Œuvre," Chap. II. [22] Zola's Verses, "À mes Amis" (Lycée St. Louis, 1858). [23] Zola's first book, inspired largely by memories of Provence, and issued in Paris in 1864. [24] Zola's "Nina," 1859. Readers of "La Fortune des Rougon" (which Zola wrote some ten years later) will remember that the old tombstone figures also in that work, in which the inscription is given as "Here lieth ... Marie ... died ...," the finger of time having effaced the rest. There is, however, an evident connection between the names Nina and Ninon, and perhaps they suggested Nana. [25] From the mediæval Latin, _barrium_ (Ducange). [26] See _ante_, p. 27. [27] Alexis, _l. c._, pp. 40, 41. [28] It seems probable that he had already spent his Easter holidays there that year; for some of his verses, "Ce que je veux," are dated Aix, May, 1859. See Alexis, _l. c._, p. 297. III BOHEMIA--DRUDGERY--FIRST BOOKS 1860-1866