22 x 20 on page 31 x 23 (centimeters, height x width)
Notes:
This anti-semitic caricature shows French Baron Edmond James de Rothschild grasping the globe possessively with inhuman hands. He is wearing a crown topped with a golden calf and seated in front of a large golden disc with the legend "God Protect Israel." It was published on the cover of the Parisian humor magazine Le Rire as part of a series entitled "Le Gotha" (The Elite).
This illustration appeared on April 15, 1898, at a time when the Dreyfus Affair was continuing to command the news. Emile Zola's famous "J'Accuse!" had been published in January, and his subsequent conviction for libel was overturned by the courts on April 2. In the meantime, the author of the famous, forged "Faux Henry" letter was found hanging in his hotel bedroom. Although the magazine is generally considered to have treated the Dreyfus Affair moderately, "It was easy for such anti-Semitic and anti-Dreyfusard newspapers as . . . Le Rire to apply and extend the familiar imagery of the Jew to the affair and its new Jewish villain, the traitorous army officer." Hyman 1989, 91. Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University.
