DREYFUS AFFAIR--ESTERHAZY | autograph letter signed ("Comandant Esterhazy"), about his handwriting, 1899

DREYFUS AFFAIR--ESTERHAZY, FERDINAND WALSIN

AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("COMANDANT ESTERHAZY"), TO THE TIMES IN LONDON, ABOUT HIS HANDWRITING,

in French, demanding that The Times return the expert report on his handwriting, [which proved crucial to establishing his guilt and the innocence of Dreyfus], which had been passed to the paper by M. Lauzanne, correspondent of Le Matin, complaining that the horrible situation in which he cannot defend himself enables people to feel they can treat him with disdain, and pointing out that the document is his property and that he needs it immediately ("...La document en question est le rapport des experts en écriture dans mon procès..."), 3 pages, 8vo, autograph envelope, postmarked, London, 12 July [1899]; [with:] C. Moberley Bell, General Manager of The Times, autograph letter signed, to "dear Stephan", forwarding the letter and asking his correspondent to return the document if he has it and knows Esterhazy's address (which Esterhazy neglected to provide), 2 pages, 8vo, The Times headed stationery, 14 July 1899

in 1894 Captain Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935), a Jew, was accused of passing secrets to the Germans, in the form of a handwritten memorandum (the bordereau) found in the German Embassy. Dreyfus was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island in 1895. Despite wilful obstruction by the Army, an examination of the handwriting in the bordereau in question exonerated Dreyfus, and indicated that the real culprit was Esterhazy (although the Army acquitted him). The attempted cover-up led to Emile Zola's famous article "J'accuse" (1898) in support of Dreyfus, who was eventually granted a pardon by the President of France.  

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