Zola Collection on Show to Mark French Writer's Death
Norwood is to host a major exhibition to mark the centenary of the death of the great French writer Emile Zola.
A young lady cycles along Westow Hill in 1899 with one of the Crystal Palace water towers in the distance.
On display will be a unique collection of old photographs of Norwood, Crystal Palace and the surrounding area taken by Zola during his second visit to London in 1898/99.
Zola was forced to seek exile in England at this time following his involvement in the Dreyfus affair. This arose following false charges of treason being made in 1897 against Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army officer. Dreyfus was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island, the French penal colony.
Zola was outraged by the considerable injustice surrounding the case and on January 13, 1898 he wrote a letter headed "J'accuse", which was widely published in the French press.
In his letter Zola accused the French authorities of a flagrant miscarriage of justice. The letter drew considerable criticism and to avoid the backlash which erupted in the months following its publication, Zola decided to move to England.
He arrived on July 19, 1898 and after a brief stay at Wimbledon and Weybridge, he came to Norwood where he booked into the Queen's Hotel (now known as the Quality Hotel) in Church Road, Upper Norwood, on October 15, 1898.
The area was well known to him from his previous visit to London in 1893 when he had visited the nearby Crystal Palace.
Whilst staying at the Queen's Hotel, Emile turned to his favourite hobby of photography to help pass the time.
He had became an enthusiastic amateur photographer 10 years earlier when his friend Victor Buillard introduced him to the activity in 1888 during a six week holiday in Royan.
During the eight months Zola was residing in Norwood he was often to be seen in the neighbourhood with his camera taking pictures of the local surroundings.
He took over a hundred photographs in and around Norwood and the Crystal Palace, many of which are to be featured in the exhibition.
A fascinating collection of these views have also been published by the Norwood Society in their book Emile Zola Photographer in Norwood, South London, 1898 -1899.
This will be on sale at the exhibition or can be purchased at a cost of £8.99 including postage and packing from The Norwood Society, 63 Bradley Road, London SE19 3NT.