ZOLA (EMILE) Mes haines: causeries littéraires et artistiques, FIRST EDITION, AUTHOR'S PRESENTATION COPY TO EDOUARD MANET, inscribed 'A Edouard Manet, témoignage de sympathie, Emile Zola' on half-title, spotting, contemporary quarter calf, extremities lightly rubbed, 12mo, Paris, Achille Faure, 1866 Footnotes: IMPORTANT AND TOUCHING PRESENTATION COPY, UNITING TWO TITANS OF REALISM. In May 1866, Zola published several articles in L'Evénement including 'Le moment artistique' which culminated in a clarion-call against mediocrity in painting: 'Our fathers laughed at Courbet, and now we are in awe of him; we laugh at Manet, and it will be our sons who will be ecstatic in front of his paintings.' Three days later, the artist began a correspondence with Zola by thanking him for his words and requesting a meeting. This led to a long-lasting, rich friendship between the artist and the novelist. Zola would later publish an article on Manet in Revue du XX Siecle, and sit for the famous portrait by him which is now in the Musée d'Orsay. Mes haines gathers together Zola's critiques of writers and artists such as the Goncourt brothers, Victor Hugo, Gustave Doré and Gustave Courbet. In it can be found the seeds of all of Zola's later concepts on art, literature, criticism, aesthetics, and history, which came to be known as his 'Naturalism'—a quality he observed in Manet's 'Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe', which 'achieved the dream of all painters: to place life-size figures in a landscape.' Published in June 1866, Mes haines is the first book that Zola presented to Manet, just a month into a friendship which would last for almost two decades until the artist's death. Provenance: Edouard Manet, inscription from Zola; Julien Bogousslavsky, bookplate at end. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: • • Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com