Émile ZOLA - Signed autograph letter on the humanism of Zola

Contractual commitment to public assistance to pay an annuity to Mrs. Laborde, widow of Mr. Laborde, protegé of the printing press of the "Galignani's Messenger": "I the undersigned, Emile Zola, residing in Paris (...) commits towards the administration of public assistance, in Paris, to pay to the receiver, half-yearly and in advance, the sum of two hundred and fifty francs, for the pension of Madame Laborde, widow of M. Laborde, protegé of the Galignani's Messenger printing house, admitted to the Galignani retirement home, for as long as she remains in charge of the administration. The first half of this pension, which I am going to pay today, will start running on the 12th of June; but, as the regular opening of the semesters is fixed, according to the rules of the accounting of the administration, with the first of January, April, July and October of each year, I will pay, at the end of June, at the latest, the sum necessary for there to be, then, a semester paid in advance. In addition, in the event of the death of Mrs. Laborde in the course of a semester whose price would not be paid again, I formally undertake to pay this semester in full, in accordance with the order of the General Council of Hospices ... "