"Réponse à M. G. Cavaignac, ministre de la guerre" [Reply to Mr. G. Cavaignac, Minister of War]. Paris: Le Siècle, 1898. French.
Poster; a sharp condemnation of the arrest of French Major Georges Picquart, an investigator of the Dreyfus affair – after he publicized the forgery of the incriminating documents in the Dreyfus Affair (July 1898).
On the left column of the poster is a portion of a letter sent by Picquart to the Minister of War, Godefroy Cavaignac – claiming that the three primary documents used to incriminate Dreyfus were forged or falsified. Below the letter are printed two letters in which Dreyfus claims he is innocent – one shortly after the investigation, and the second after he was stripped of his rank (to counter claims that he had admitted his guilt), next to several other testimonies.
On the right side of the poster is a public appeal from the Human Rights League (Ligue des droits de l'Homme), protesting the arrest of Georges Picquart, the perversion of justice and violation of his rights: "…This officer had a duty of conscious to fulfill; he sacrificed his interest and career for it… It would be better to lend him an ear and hear his testimony, than to oppress him into silence!" (the public appeal is signed in print by members of the League – physicians, artists, statesmen and journalists, including the editor of L'Aurore – the newspaper that had published "J'Accuse" months earlier).
Approx. 80.5X61.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Some creases. Holes and tears (mostly minor, some repaired with paint). Ink stamp on margins (revenue stamp). Poster mounted on linen fabric for display and preservation.
