Paul ADAM (1862-1920). Autograph manuscript signed, [1902]; 1page in-4 with erasures and corrections. Homage to Émile Zola. "Along with Flaubert, Balzac and Taine, Zola seems to me to have fully interpreted the French soul in the nineteenth century. As far as morality is concerned, he has almost destroyed the principle of hypocrisy, forced minds to be frank, thrown off the sentimental masks of instinct, and restored the terrible nakedness of our truthful thoughts. From a literary point of view, he alone inaugurated the study of crowds, and objectified what sociologists call interpsychology [...] Finally, he was a great citizen who sacrificed his interests and his glory to the cult of justice. His original poverty, his artistic probity, his intransigence in battle, his firmness of soul are eternally to be held up as an example. This name is worthy of our devotion".