[V]
THE FIRST "ROUGON-MACQUARTS"
1868-1872
The Goncourts, Zola, and his proposed "family history"—Origin of this idea—Degeneration and heredity—Zola's agreement with M. Lacroix—He begins "La Fortune des Rougon"—His intercourse with Meurice, Coppée, etc.—His work on "Le Rappel," "La Tribune," "Le Gaulois"—Sincerity of his democratic views—Goncourt's allegation that he would have sold his pen to the Empire—Some venal French journalists—Zola's marriage and opinion of the married state—His home in the Rue de La Condamine—"Le Siècle" and "La Fortune des Rougon"—"La Curée" begun—Zola takes his ailing wife to Provence—Outbreak of war with Germany—Zola and military service—He conducts a newspaper at Marseilles, becomes Secretary to Glais-Bizoin at Bordeaux, and is offered a Sub-Prefecture—His chances as a state functionary—He reverts to journalism and literature—His work on "La Cloche" and "Le Corsaire"—Publication of "La Fortune des Rougon"—The public prosecutor and "La Curée"—Its issue in book form—Failure of Zola's publisher, Lacroix—The novelist's dire distress—The wool of his mattresses sold to buy bread—He is recommended by Théophile Gautier to M. Charpentier—His "slop" clothes and his new publishing contract—M. Charpentier's generous honesty—How Zola passed from penury to affluence.
It has been mentioned already that when the Goncourts' novel, "Germinie Lacerteux," was published in 1865, some little correspondence took place between Zola and the authors, they being really grateful to him for the favourable review of their work which he had contributed to "Le Salut Public," of Lyons. They told him that he alone had understood the book, that his frankness consoled them for much of the literary hypocrisy of the times, and that they admired his courage in daring to confess his likings.[1] Subsequently, wishing to become personally acquainted with Zola, they called on him, but found him absent. In February, 1868, however, still remembering his article on their book, they wrote to him in praise of "Thérèse Raquin," in which they detected the hand of an artist, one who had probed human truth and crime to the core.[2]
From Alexis's account it has been inferred by several writers that Zola and the Goncourts became intimate in 1865; but the latter's "Journal" shows, peremptorily, that they did not actually meet till December 14, 1868,[3] when Zola lunched with the brothers at their house on the Boulevard Montmorency, at Auteuil. This time the approaches probably came from Zola.[4] The Goncourts were preparing their novel "Madame Gervaisais," and he, with the idea of writing an anticipatory article on it, seems to have applied for information, whereupon he was invited to the Goncourts' house. They had pictured him as somewhat of a Normalien, a pedagogue, and they found him sickly, nervous, anxious, deep, intricate, in fact almost a riddle! He told them of the difficulties of his position, admitted that his novel, "Madeleine Férat," ran off the rails and ought to have been limited to three characters; complained of having to conform to idiotic editorial opinions in some articles he was then contributing to "La Tribune," a weekly opposition journal, and expressed a keen desire to find a publisher who, over a term of six years, would pay him a sum of thirty thousand francs for eight novels, in which the history of a family would be recounted.[5] This history, of course, was that of the Rougon-Macquarts, which finally expanded into a series of twenty volumes.
