Au Bonheur des Dames is the eleventh novel in the Rougon-Macquart series by Émile Zola. It was first serialized in the periodical Gil Blas from December 17, 1882 to March 1, 1883; and published in novel form by Charpentier in 1883.
Au Bonheur des Dames manuscript
Les Rougon-Macquart is the collective title given to a cycle of twenty novels by French writer Émile Zola. Subtitled Histoire naturelle et sociale d'une famille sous le Second Empire, it follows the lives of the members of the two titular branches of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire (1852–1870) and is one of the most prominent works of the French naturalism literary movement.
First page of La Fortune des Rougon, the first book of the series
Zola, with the book of the Rougon-Macquart under his arm, salutes the statue of Balzac.
Letter by Zola to his publisher
The 1878 tree, published in a note included in Une Page d'amour