A Zola Dictionary; the Characters of the Rougon-Ma

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Produced by Dagny; John Bickers

A ZOLA DICTIONARY

The Characters Of The Rougon-Macquart Novels Of Emile Zola

By J. G. Patterson

With a Biographical and Critical Introduction, Synopses of the Plots, Bibliographical Note, Map, Genealogy, etc.

PREFATORY NOTE

In the preparation of my Introduction I have, of course, relied for information on the recognized Biographies of Zola, namely _Notes d'un Ami_, by Paul Alexis (Paris, Charpentier); _Emile Zola, A biographical and Critical Study_, by R. H. Sherrard (London, Chatto & Windus, 1893); _Emile Zola, Novelist and Reformer_: An account of his Life and Work, by Ernest Alfred Vizetelly (London, John Lane, 1904). Reference has also been made to Mr. Arthur Symons' _Studies in Prose and Verse_, and to articles in the _Fortnightly Review_ by Mr. Andrew Lang, in the _Atlantic Monthly_ by Mr. Henry James, and in the _Contemporary Review_ by M. Edouard Rod, as well as to articles in the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ and in the _Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains_.

By kind permission of Messrs. Chatto & Windus it has been possible to include the diagram of the Rougon-Macquart Genealogical Tree, which appears in the Preface to their edition of _Doctor Pascal_, and to make use of their translations in the preparation of the Dictionary. In compiling the latter, Zola's own words have been adopted so far as possible, though usually they have required such condensation as to make direct quotation difficult. This difficulty was increased by the fact that occasional use was made of different translations of the same book, and that frequent references to the original were found necessary.

The Synopses of the Plots of the novels are arranged in the order in which the books should be read, as indicated by their Author in _Le Docteur Pascal_, and confirmed by his biographer, Mr. E. A. Vizetelly.

EDINBURGH, May, 1912. J. G. P.

INTRODUCTION

Emile Zola was born at Paris on 2nd April, 1840. His father, Francois Zola, was a man whose career up to that time had not been a success, though this was not due to any lack of energy or ability. Zola _pere_ was of mixed nationality, his father being an Italian and his mother a Greek, and it is not unlikely that his unrest and want of concentration were due to the accident of his parentage. When quite a young man, Francois fought under the great Napoleon, after whose fall he became a civil engineer. He spent some time in Germany, where he was engaged in the construction of the first tramway line in Europe, afterwards visiting Holland and possibly England. Failure seems to have accompanied him, for in 1831 he applied for and obtained an appointment, as lieutenant in the Foreign Legion in Algeria. His career in Africa was, however, of short duration; some irregularities were discovered, and he disappeared for a time, though ultimately he came forward and made up his accounts, paying the balance that was due. No prosecution took place, and resignation

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