Fonds consists of documents relating to the Zola Research Program and the publication of the 10 volume “Émile Zola Correspondance” series, including project files, inventories, reference materials, photocopies of Émile Zola’s correspondence and other documents related to the project. The project files contained in this fonds document the development and activities of the Zola Research Program. Project files records include inventories of various letters, funding information, budgetary forms, donor agreements, publicity documents and summaries of the project written both by external entities (newspapers) and internal figures (members of the Program staff). Also included are supplementary documents that were collected to create a broader contextual framework. Each letter is be supported with annotations and background information on the correspondents, events or people discussed in the letters as well as the social and political state of France during the 19th century. While the collection of letters by Zola was the primary mandate of the project, along the way the Program collected a vast number of reference materials to broaden the perspective. This fonds contains the off-prints, various documents (both collected by Zola and collected by the Zola Research Program about various 19th century figures) and bibliographies. Books collected by the Program are now the basis of the Émile Zola Collection in the Rare Book Collection of Kelly Library.
This collection remains the largest repository of Émile Zola’s letters available in North America and the largest single collection of Zola’s letters accessible and open to the public. Additionally, this fonds contains a fountain of information on key figures in the Naturalist Movement of the 19th century, as well as other well-known artists, scholars, intellectuals and political and social figures, including J.K. Huysmans, Edmond de Goncourt, Gustave Flaubert, Édouard Manet, Alfred Bruneau, Paul Alexis, Henry Céard, Léon Hennique, and Guy de Maupassant – all of which can be found either through personal discussions in the letters or supplementary documentation. The hidden value in this fonds lies in the plethora of reference resources that are available. The fonds also houses a vast number of off-prints that explore various aspects of Zola’s life as well as the broader Naturalist community of the 19th century. Some other significant pieces include original 19th century illustrated theatrical pamphlets from the Théâtre Libre, various original newspaper clippings and original letters by Émile Zola, Alexandrine Zola, Paul Alexis and Jules Claretie.