Émile ZOLA. 23 L.A.S., 1879-1893, to Henri Baboneau, glass p - Lot 239

Émile ZOLA. 23 L.A.S., 1879-1893, to Henri Baboneau, glass painter; approx. 28pages mostly in-8, some envelopes. Correspondence to the master glass painter who made the stained glass windows for the Médan house. Baboneau had his studio in Montmartre, 13 rue des Abbesses. 1879. Médan May 8. Zola is annoyed: "In these winds, it's impossible for me to stay with the windows wide open. Take on another worker, if you have to, and don't keep me waiting, because if you delay, I'd rather have your stained-glass windows installed by the glaziers here. The position is untenable and you gave me your formal word"... - July 23. He gives the dimensions of the front door. - September 25, seats at the Ambigu (for L'Assommoir). Paris June 10, 1880: "I'm sending you the stained-glass window in the front door, which I ended up breaking completely. Please be kind enough to repair it as soon as possible"... 1881. Paris February 14. He has an order to give him: "Bring me some models of lead setting. It's for a chalet"... - Médan June 11. He asks her to come and install the stained-glass windows; he will have the boxes of windows picked up at the Villennes station. 1886. Paris March 26: "I absolutely insist that everything - animals, trees, foliage, flowers, right down to the little birds and butterflies - be cut out with lead pellets. That's the only way to give the whole thing character. What you can paint on the background, on the rectangular glasses, are insects, flies, bees, damselflies, four or five per window. In addition, I'd like you to put a new peacock in the large bay, for which you're going to submit a sketch, but a peacock with its tail straightened and spread out. And don't be afraid to widen this tail, to make it the main motif of your composition. It can be spread over three or four windows"... - April 26. "Do you have anything to show us, either the drawing of a new window, or a beginning of execution of the first one?"... - Médan August 29, about sending the crates to Triel station. Médan June 11, 1888. He sends her stained-glass windows in a crate "for you to arrange for me"... - October 6. "I'm sending you the caliber of the bottle butts, taken flush with the lead. There is one completely broken and two cracked". He expects it on Tuesday. "A carriage will wait for the case of stained-glass windows in Villennes"... 1889. Paris February 16th. "I would like to see the stained-glass windows again with you, so that we can agree on the inscriptions to be restored and on several small details"... - February 23. "It's agreed: all the panels will be 1.07 high by 0.66 wide. I'll give these measurements to my carpenter, who will draw up a plan of the door. Only, on your side, make sure that all the panels have the same dimensions"... - March 5. "I bought the ten small panels from Flers, what was left of the window"... - Médan May 5. "The carpenter will do his work, and from the 15th, the large bay will be waiting for you, all ready for the installation of the stained-glass windows. [December 31: "Don't work on anything until you see me again, neither on the stained-glass windows in the antechamber nor those in the linen room. I bought the two stained glass windows on the 14th floor, plus the two panels composed of twenty-four small subjects. [...] We'll have to come to an agreement to fit all this in".... Paris February 21, 1890: "Don't forget to clean the large saints from the 14th as much as possible, so as to brighten them up, as I want to have daylight in the antechamber, where they will occupy the window"... Médan December 29, 1893. Zola deplores the delay in the windows...