Émile Zola - The Masterpiece

For over 100 years Oxford Worlds Classics have brought readers closer to the worlds great literature. Now with over 700 titlesfrom the 4,000-year-old myths of Mesopotamia to the twentieth centurys greatest novelsthe series makes available lesser-known as well as celebrated writing.

The pocket-sized hardbacks of the early years contained introductions by Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, and other literary figures which enriched the experience of reading.

Today the series is recognized for its fine scholarship and reliability in texts that span world literature, drama and poetry, religion, philosophy and politics. Each edition includes perceptive commentary and essential background information to meet the changing needs of readers.

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox 2 6 dp

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the Universitys objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in

Oxford New York

Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto

With offices in

Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam

Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries

Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York

This revised translation, and editorial material Roger Pearson 1993

Original translation by Thomas Watson Grafton Books

The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker)

First published as a Worlds Classics paperback 1993

Reissued as an Oxford Worlds Classics paperback 1999

Revised 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above

You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Zola, mile, 18401920.

[Oeuvre, English]

The masterpiece / mile Zola : translated by Thomas Walton: translation revised and introduced by Roger Pearson.

p.cm.(Oxford worlds classics)

Translation of: LOeuvre.

Includes bibliographical references.

I. Pearson, Roger.II. Title.III. Series.

PQ2511.0451993843.8dc20925293

ISBN 0192839632

ebook ISBN 9780192593177

Typeset in Ehrhardt by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk

Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd., St Ives plc.