Its collection of photos and archives devoted to the Dreyfus affair is already substantial. But the Musée de Bretagne in Rennes is still trying to enrich it. The establishment is eyeing this time on two series of completely unpublished photos related to the review trial of the captain which was held in Rennes in the summer of 1899 under the eyes of 300 journalists from all over the world. Found guilty of treason, Alfred Dreyfus was sentenced to ten years in prison before being pardoned a few weeks later.
The Museum of Brittany wishes in particular to acquire a series of six photos showing Captain Dreyfus on board the Sfax, a ship picked him up on Devil’s Island, off Kourou in Guyana, where he had just spent four years in detention. We see in particular on one of the photos Alfred Dreyfus performing a military salute on his arrival in Brittany, on the eve of the opening of his review trial.
A sum of 10,000 euros to be collected
The Rennes establishment also covets the album of a collector comprising 78 photographs, all taken during the revision trial in Rennes. “The written mentions are meticulous and provide essential documentary information which makes it possible to identify a large number of people”, underlines the museum.
To help it acquire these unpublished photos, the establishment has just launched a crowdfunding campaign with the objective of raising 10,000 euros by the end of October. Once the photos have been digitized, the museum undertakes to publish them on its online portal. “As part of the public domain, they will be available to all,” says the cultural establishment. Just over 1,900 euros have so far been collected on the Kisskissbankbank platform.