It is the only novel of which he himself wrote the theatrical version.
Germinal
, thirteenth panel of Rougon-Macquart published in March 1885, is an independent work unlike the other titles which have been adapted by the playwright and librettist William Busnach: a drama in five acts and twelve tableaux that Émile Zola composed between the spring and the summer of that year.
Only a handful of experts were aware of it.
But the autograph manuscript of more than 485 pages comes to light, thanks to an auction at Sotheby's, on its site from November 30 to December 8.
See also
Tatiana de Rosnay in the footsteps of Zola
“In 1989, James B. Sanders studied this previously unknown manuscript
,
”
says Patricia de Fougerolle, specialist in books and manuscripts at Sotheby's Paris.
"But he had given an incomplete publication without the multiple variations and corrections, capital witnesses of its genesis, and without any reproduction"
, she continues.
For a long time Zola left in doubt as to the authorship of the play.
"In
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