Psst...! (Paris, France) [Magazine]

Bound volume of the collected issues of "Psst..." an antisemitic, anti-Dreyfus satirical illustrated journal founded in 1898 by Caran d'Ache, at the height of the Dreyfus Affair. Caran D'ache was the pen name of Emanuel Poire, a Russian born cartoonist who achieved renown in France with his antisemitic, anti-Dreyfus "Lundi' [Monday] cartoons in the newspaper Le Figaro. Psst!, published from 1898-1899, also featured the work of Jean Louis Forain. Dreyfus was a French Army officer falsely accused and convicted of treason for selling military secrets in 1894. Antisemitic politicians and publications used Dreyfus as a symbol of the disloyalty and treachery of all French Jews. Zola wrote a public letter to protest the verdict, titled "J'Accuse," in which he accused the French Army of covering up its unjust conviction of Dreyfus. Zola was charged with libel and the Dreyfus Affair grew into a national political crisis. An Army intelligence officer was found to have forged the document proving Dreyfus's guilt. But in a second trial, despite the confession of the traitor, the Army again convicted Dreyfus. The verdict was met with outrage around the world. Dreyfus was pardoned by the president to end the crisis. The magazine is one of the more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.