Autographs - Lot 384

  2. Result
  3. Autographs - Lot 384
  4. Lot n° 384 
Lot n° 384
Go to lot
Estimation :
600 - 800 EUR
Autographs - Lot 384
Autographs [DREYFUS CASE] - GAST (Edmond) Set of 3 autograph letters signed "Gast", Ville d'Avray and Paris July-August 1898, to his "dear great friend" [Miss Cabarrus]. Interesting correspondence commenting on the latest developments in the Dreyfus Affair. 9 pages and a half in-8. Some passages of Gast's remarks in these correspondences: (July 21) He is full of hope: "The light and the truth seem to me to arrive finally by dint of being on the march". The Versailles trial ended in a stampede: "Zola left and he did very well to leave: he will come back in his own time and will take up his case at his own discretion. This was very skillfully done and I believe that the opponents are enraged by this good trick. So much the better! In short, I am quite happy, I believe that the process will be accelerated, that the responsibilities will be established whether we like it or not, and that justice will have to do its duty. All this, by force of circumstance, because the government does not put the best will there"... He worries about the secrecy of their letters: "all the people who do not think like Esterhazy must fear for their correspondence"... (August 18). He did not share the concerns of the courageous senator Trarieux about Picquart: "He feared the supreme scoundrel of the council of war after the dismissal of the case in favor of Leblois, and very serious steps were taken with the Republican party to prevent such an abomination"... The ministry would like to avoid "putting into question the actions of those named du Paty and Esterhazy et al.", and Picquart cannot go to the council of war in camera without Leblois benefiting from a dismissal, "but then, it is difficult to accuse the colonel of having delivered documents to an accomplice, when it has been recognized that this accomplice did not receive them (...). The only worrying thing is that since it was Cavaignac who had Picquart arrested after his courageous letter to Brisson, a dismissal in his favor would be a serious slap in the face to the joy of this ministry. Edmond Gast (1857-1944) was a politician, deputy of Seine-et-Oise from 1906 to 1910 and from 1919 to 1924, member of the Gauche Démocratique group, known for his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair. He was the first cousin of Colonel Picquart (1854-1914), a French officer and politician and a central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, who discovered the evidence of Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy's treason and participated in the restoration of the truth, despite pressure from his hierarchy. Like Dreyfus, he was arrested and imprisoned, although innocent. Both soldiers were reinstated at the same time, in 1906. Picquart then resumed his military career and joined the first Clemenceau government as Minister of War.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue