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Prophet's Mosque

The Prophet's Mosque is the second mosque built by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina, after that of Quba, as well as the second largest mosque and holiest site in Islam, after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, in the Saudi region of the Hejaz. The mosque is located at the heart of Medina, and is a major site of pilgrimage that falls under the purview of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Muhammad himself was involved in the construction of the mosque. At the time, the mosque's land belonged to two young orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, and when they learned that Muhammad wished to acquire their land to erect a mosque, they went to Muhammad and offered the land to him as a gift; Muhammad insisted on paying a price for the land because they were orphaned children. The price agreed upon was paid by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, who thus became the endower or donor (وَاقِف) of the mosque, on behalf or in favor of Muhammad. al-Ansari also accommodated Muhammad upon his arrival at Medina in 622.

Originally an open-air building, the mosque served as a community center, a court of law, and a religious school. It contained a raised platform or pulpit (minbar) for the people who taught the Quran and for Muhammad to give the Friday sermon (khutbah). Subsequent Islamic rulers greatly expanded and decorated the mosque, naming its walls, doors and minarets after themselves and their forefathers. After an expansion during the reign of the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I ((r. 705 – 715)), it now incorporates the final resting place of Muhammad and the first two Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr ((r. 632 – 634)) and Umar ((r. 634 – 644)). One of the most notable features of the site is the Green Dome in the south-east corner of the mosque, originally Aisha's house, where the tomb of Muhammad is located. Many pilgrims who perform the Hajj also go to Medina to visit the Green Dome.

In 1909, under the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, it became the first place in the Arabian Peninsula to be provided with electrical lights. From the 14th century, the mosque was guarded by eunuchs, the last remaining guardians were photographed at the request of then-Prince Faisal bin Salman Al Saud, and in 2015, only five were left. It is generally open regardless of date or time, and has only been closed to visitors once in modern times, as Ramadan approached during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Under Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660 AD)

The mosque was built by Muhammad in 622 AD after his arrival in Medina. Riding a camel called Qaswa, he arrived at the place where this mosque was built, which was being used as a burial ground. Refusing to accept the land as a gift from the two orphans, Sahl and Suhayl, who owned the land, he bought the land which was paid for by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, and it took seven months to complete the construction of the mosque. It measured 30.5 ×. The roof which was supported by palm trunks was made of beaten clay and palm leaves. It was at a height of 3.60 m. The three doors of the mosque were the Bāb ar-Raḥmah (بَاب ٱلرَّحْمَة, "Gate of the Mercy") to the south, Bāb Jibrīl (بَاب جِبْرِيْل, "Gate of Gabriel") to the west, and Bāb an-Nisāʾ (بَاب ٱلنِّسَاء, "Gate of the Women") to the east. At this time point in the history of the mosque, the wall of the qiblah was facing north to Jerusalem, and the Suffah was along the northern wall. In the year 7 AH, after the Battle of Khaybar, the mosque was expanded to 47.32 m on each side, and three rows of columns were built beside the west wall, which became the place of praying. The mosque remained unaltered during the reign of Abu Bakr.

Umar demolished all the houses around the mosque, except those of Muhammad's wives, to expand it. The new mosque's dimensions became 57.49 ×. Sun-dried mud bricks were used to construct the walls of the enclosure. Besides strewing pebbles on the floor, the roof's height was increased to 5.6 m. Umar constructed three more gates for entrance. He also added Al-Buṭayḥah (ٱلْبُطَيْحَة) for people to recite poetry.

The third Rashidun caliph Uthman demolished the mosque in 649. Ten months were spent in building the new rectangular shaped mosque whose face was turned towards the Kaaba in Mecca. The new mosque measured 81.40 ×. The number of gates as well as their names remained the same. The enclosure was made of stones laid in mortar. The palm trunk columns were replaced by stone columns which were joined by iron clamps. Teakwood was used in reconstructing the ceiling filza.

Under subsequent Islamic states (660–1517)

In 706 or 707, the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I ((r. 705 – 715)) instructed his governor of Medina, the future caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, to significantly enlarge the mosque. According to the architectural historian Robert Hillenbrand, the building of a large scale mosque in Medina, the original center of the caliphate, was an "acknowledgement" by Al-Walid of "his own roots and those of Islam itself" and possibly an attempt to appease Medinan resentment at the loss of the city's political importance to Syria under the Umayyads.

It took three years for the work to be completed. Raw materials were procured from the Byzantine Empire. Al-Walid lavished large sums for the mosque's reconstruction and supplied mosaics and Greek and Coptic craftsmen. The area of the mosque was increased from the area 5094 m2 of Uthman's time, to 8672 m2. Its redevelopment entailed the demolition of the living quarters of Muhammad's wives and the expansion of the structure to incorporate the graves of Muhammad, Abu Bakr and Umar. The vocal opposition to the demolition of Muhammad's home from local religious circles was dismissed by Al-Walid. A wall was built to segregate the mosque and the houses of the wives of Muhammad. The mosque was reconstructed in a trapezoid shape with the length of the longer side being 101.76 m. For the first time, porticoes were built in the mosque connecting the northern part of the structure to the sanctuary. Minarets were also built for the first time as Al-Walid constructed four minarets around it.

The Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi ((r. 775 – 785)) extended the mosque to the north by 50 m. His name was also inscribed on the walls of the mosque. He also planned to remove six steps to the minbar, but abandoned this idea, fearing damage to the wooden platforms on which they were built. According to an inscription of Ibn Qutaybah, the caliph Al-Ma'mun ((r. 813 – 833)) did "unspecified work" on the mosque. Al-Mutawakkil ((r. 847 – 861)) lined the enclosure of Muhammad's tomb with marble. In 1269, the Mamluk Sultan Baibars sent dozens of artisans led by the eunuch Emir Jamal al-Din Muhsin al-Salihi to rebuild the sanctuary, including enclosures around the tombs of Muhammad and of Fatima. The Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri ((r. 1501 – 1516)) built a dome of stone over his grave in 1476.

Ottoman period (1517–1805 and 1840–1919)

Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566) rebuilt the east and west walls of the mosque, and added the northeastern minaret known as Süleymaniyye. He added a new altar called Ahnaf next to Muhammad's altar, Shafi'iyya, and placed a new steel-covered dome on the tomb of Muhammad. Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent wrote the names of the Ottoman sultans from Osman Ghazi to himself (Kanuni) and revived the "Gate of Mercy" (Bab ur-Rahme) or the west gate. The pulpit that is used today was built under Sultan Murad III (r. 1574–1595).

In 1817, Sultan Mahmud II (r. 1808–1839) completed the construction of "the Purified Residence" (Ar-Rawdah Al-Muṭahharah (ٱلرَّوْضَة ٱلْمُطَهَّرَة) in Arabic, and Ravza-i Mutahhara in Turkish) on the southeast side of the mosque, and covered with a new dome. The dome was painted green in 1837, and has been known as the "Green Dome" (Kubbe-i Khadra) ever since. Sultan Mahmud II's successor, Sultan Abdulmecid I ((r. 1839 – 1861)), took thirteen years to rebuild the mosque, beginning in 1849. Red stone bricks were used as the main material in reconstruction of the mosque. The floor area of the mosque was increased by 1293 m2.

The entire mosque was reorganized except for the tomb of Muhammad, the three altars, the pulpit and the Suleymaniye minaret. On the walls, verses from the Quran were inscribed in Islamic calligraphy. On the northern side of the mosque, a madrasah was built for teaching the Qur'an. An ablution site was added to the north side. The prayer place on the south side was doubled in width, and covered with small domes. The interiors of the domes were decorated with verses from the Qur'an and couplets from the poem Kaside-i Bürde. The qibli wall was covered with polished tiles with lines inscribed from the Qur'an. The places of prayer and courtyard were paved with marble and red stone. The fifth minaret, Mecidiyye, was built to the west of the surrounded area. Following the "Desert Tiger" Fakhri Pasha's arrest by his own officers having resisted for 72 days after the end of the Siege of Medina on 10 January 1919, 550 years of Ottoman rule in the region came to an end.

Saudi insurgency (1805–1811)
When Saud bin Abdul-Aziz took Medina in 1805, his followers, the Wahhabis, demolished nearly every tomb and dome in Medina to prevent their veneration, except the Green Dome. As per the sahih hadiths, they considered the veneration of tombs and places, which were thought to possess supernatural powers, as an offence against tawhid, and an act of shirk. Muhammad's tomb was stripped of its gold and jewel ornaments, but the dome was preserved either because of an unsuccessful attempt to demolish its complex and hardened structure, or because some time ago, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi movement, wrote that he did not wish to see the dome destroyed.

Saudi rule and modern history (1925–present)

The Saudi takeover was characterized by events similar to those that took place in 1805, when the Prince Mohammed ibn Abdulaziz retook the city on 5 December 1925. After the foundation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, the mosque underwent several major modifications. In 1951, King Abdulaziz (1932–1953) ordered demolitions around the mosque to make way for new wings to the east and west of the prayer hall, which consisted of concrete columns with pointed arches. Older columns were reinforced with concrete and braced with copper rings at the top. The Suleymaniyya and Mecidiyye minarets were replaced with two minarets in Mamluk revival style. Two additional minarets were erected to the northeast and northwest of the mosque. A library was built along the western wall to house historic Qurans and other religious texts.

In 1974, King Faisal added 40,440 m2 to the mosque. The area of the mosque was also expanded during the reign of King Fahd in 1985. Bulldozers were used to demolish buildings around the mosque. In 1992, when it was completed, the mosque took over 160,000 m2 of space. Escalators and 27 courtyards were among the additions to the mosque. A$6 billion project to increase the area of the mosque was announced in September 2012. After completion, the mosque should accommodate between 1.6 million to 2 million worshippers. In March of the following year, the Saudi Gazette reported that demolition work had been mostly complete, including the demolition of ten hotels on the eastern side, in addition to houses and other utilities.

Architecture

The modern-day mosque is situated on a rectangular plot and is two stories tall. The Ottoman prayer hall, which is the oldest part of the mosque, lies towards the south. It has a flat paved roof topped with 27 sliding domes on square bases. Holes pierced into the base of each dome illuminate the interior when the domes are closed. The sliding roof is closed during the afternoon prayer (Dhuhr) to protect the visitors. When the domes slide out on metal tracks to shade areas of the roof, they create light wells for the prayer hall. At these times, the courtyard of the Ottoman mosque is also shaded with umbrellas affixed to freestanding columns. The roof is accessed by stairs and escalators. The paved area around the mosque is also used for prayer, equipped with umbrella tents. The sliding domes and retractable umbrella-like canopies were designed by the German Muslim architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch, his firm SL Rasch GmbH, and Buro Happold.

The Green Dome
The chamber adjacent to the Rawdah holds the tombs of Muhammad and two of his companions and father-in-laws, Abu Bakr and Umar. A fourth grave is reserved for ʿĪsā (Jesus), as Muslims believe that he will return and will be buried at the site. The site is covered by the Green Dome. It was constructed in 1817 CE during the reign of the Ottoman sultan Mahmud II and painted green in 1837 CE.

The Rawdah

Ar-Rawḍah ash-Sharīfah (ٱلرَّوْضَة ٱلشَّرِيْفَة) is an area between the minbar and the burial-chamber of Muhammad. It is regarded as one of the Riyāḍ al-Jannah (رِيَاض ٱلْجَنَّة). A green carpet was used to distinguish the area from the red carpet used in the rest of the mosque, though it is now also green.

Mihrabs

There are two mihrabs or niches indicating the qiblah in the mosque, one was built by Muhammad and another was built by Uthman. The one built by the latter was larger than that of Muhammad's, and it acts as the functional mihrab, whereas Muhammad's mihrab is a "commemorative" mihrab. Besides the mihrab, the mosque also has other niches which act as indicators for praying. This includes the Miḥrāb Fāṭimah (مِحْرَاب فَاطِمَة) or Miḥrāb at-Tahajjud (مِحْرَاب ٱلتَّهَجُّد), which was built by Muhammad for the late-night prayer.

Minbars
The original minbar (مِنـۢبَر) used by Muhammad was a block of date palm wood. This was replaced by him with a tamarisk one, which had dimensions of 50 x. In 629 CE, a three staired ladder was added to it. Abu Bakr and Umar did not use the third step as a sign of respect to Muhammad, but Uthman placed a fabric dome over it, and the rest of the stairs were covered with ebony. The minbar was replaced by Baybars I, by Shaykh al-Mahmudi in 1417, and by Qaitbay in 1483. In 1590 it was replaced by the Ottoman sultan Murad III with a marble minbar, while Qaytbay's minbar was moved to the Quba Mosque. As of 2013, the Ottoman minbar is still used in the mosque.

Minarets
The first minarets (four in number) of 26 ft high were constructed by Umar. In 1307, a minaret titled Bāb as-Salām (بَاب ٱلسَّلَام, "Gate of the Peace") was added by al-Nasir Muhammad which was renovated by Mehmed IV. After the renovation project of 1994, there were ten minarets which were 104 m high. The minarets' upper, middle, and bottom portions are cylindrical, octagonal, and square shaped respectively.

Imams
The following is a list of the Prophet's mosque imams as of April 2024:
 * Abdul-Rahman Al-Sudais (as President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques)
 * Ali ibn Abdur-Rahman al Hudhaify (as Chief Imam)
 * Abdullah Al Bu'ayjaan
 * Salah Al Budair
 * Ahmed Taleb Hameed
 * Ahmed Ali Al Hudhaify
 * Abdul Muhsin Al Qasim

title: Prophet's Mosque


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New Azerbaijan Party

The New Azerbaijan Party (Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası, YAP) is the ruling political party in Azerbaijan, founded on 21 November 1992 under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev. After his election as President of Azerbaijan on 3 October 1993, and the party's victory at 1995 parliamentary elections, YAP became the ruling party, a position it has held since. President Ilham Aliyev has been chairman of YAP since its 3rd congress held on 26 March 2005.

YAP is a member of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and an observer member of the Centrist Democrat International.

The party's rule over the country has been described as authoritarian.

Ideology
The party's stated ideologies are lawfulness, secularism, and Azerbaijani nationalism. It wants to build a "social-oriented" economy, and lists civil solidarity and social justice as the basis of its ideology. The founder of the party, Heydar Aliyev, was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union until July 1991.

The New Azerbaijan Party's program highlights the main tasks which it states is aimed at strengthening the state independency, building the democratic, legal and secular state and ensuring the peaceful and prosperous life of the citizens. The principles of an independent state, lawfulness, creative progress, Azerbaijanism, civil solidarity and social justice have been declared as the basis of the party's ideology.

Rights
The members of party are ensured with following rights:

 * to elect and to be elected to authorities of the party;
 * to take part freely in the determination of the party's policy and in the discussion of issues related to its activities;
 * to participate in the events organized by the party
 * to make suggestions for realizing the goals and tasks of the party;
 * to use the party's support;
 * to discuss and criticize freely all issues related to the party's policy as well as all activities of its bodies;
 * to stop membership in the party or to leave the party.

Organizational structure

 * YAP implements its activity all over the territory of Azerbaijan.
 * The initial party organization is based on the territorial principle.
 * The decision to establish the initial party organization is adopted by foundation meeting with participation at least three members of the YAP and approved by the Executive Board of the district-city organizations. A party member can be registered only in the one party organization.
 * The guiding body of the initial party organization is a general assembly. The general assembly is held at least once every three months. The assembly is available by participation of more than half of the members registered in the initial party organization. Decisions are approved by simple majority of votes.

Congresses

 * The 1st Congress of the party was held on 20–21 December 1999, with the participation of more than 2,000 members of the party from different regions of the country, as well as more than 30 foreign representatives.
 * The 2nd Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party was held in Baku on 21 November 2001. Some amendments were made to the Charter. Ilham Aliyev was elected as a deputy chairman of the party. Heydar Aliyev delivered a speech at the congress. 1952 representatives participated at the II Congress.
 * The 3rd Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party was held on 26 March 2005 in Baku with participation of more than 1800 members.
 * The 4th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party was held on 2 August 2008, in the Heydar Aliyev sports and concert complex with the participation of more than 600 members in Baku. The Congress decided to nominate Ilham Aliyev as a candidate for the presidential elections to be held on 15 October 2008.
 * The 5th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party was held at the Buta Palace in Baku on 7 June 2013. The congress decided to nominate Ilham Aliyev as a candidate for the presidential elections to be held on 9 October 2013.
 * The 6th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party was held on 8 February 2018 at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku. The congress decided to nominate Ilham Aliyev as a candidate for the presidential elections to be held on 11 April. Representatives of more than 700,000 members of the New Azerbaijan Party attended at the Congress.

Electoral history
At the elections (5 November 2000 and 7 January 2001), the party won 62.3% of the popular vote and 75 out of 125 seats. Its candidate Ilham Aliyev was reported by the government to have won 76.84% of the popular vote in the 2003 presidential elections. Ilham Aliyev also won presidential elections of 2008, 2013 and 2018. At the 2005 parliamentary elections, it won 62 out of 125 seats. At the 2010 parliamentary elections, it won 72 out of 125 seats. In the 1 November 2015 parliamentary election, the New Azerbaijan Party won 70 out of 125 seats, thus losing two seats in the National Assembly since the last election.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: New Azerbaijan Party


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Sexton Blake

Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications (in many languages) from 1893 to 1978, comprising more than 4,000 stories by some 200 different authors. Blake was also the hero of numerous silent and sound films, radio serials, and a 1960s ITV television series.

Publication history

The first Sexton Blake story was "The Missing Millionaire". Written by Harry Blyth (using the pseudonym Hal Meredeth), it was published in The Halfpenny Marvel number 6, on 20 December 1893, a story paper owned by the Amalgamated Press. Blyth wrote six more Sexton Blake tales, three for the Marvel and three for The Union Jack a story paper launched in April 1894.

The Amalgamated Press purchased the copyright to Blake along with the first story Blyth had submitted and from 1895 onwards several authors began to pen Blake tales. From August 1905 Blake became the resident character in Union Jack, appearing in every issue until its transformation into the Detective Weekly in 1933. Blake continued as the main feature until Detective Weekly ended in 1940.

Blake's popularity began to grow during the Edwardian era, and he appeared in a number of different story papers. These appearances included serials in the tabloid sized Boys' Friend (1905), complete tales in the pocket-sized Penny Pictorial (from 1907 to 1913 (when that magazine ended), and short stories in Answers, (1908-1911) one of the Amalgamated Press' most popular papers. Writers from this era include: William Murray Graydon, Maxwell Scott, Norman Goddard, Cecil Hayter, D. H. Parry, E. W. Alais, W. J Lomax, and Michael Storm.

In the second decade of the 20th century, new writers joined the ranks and created the formidable master criminals that matched wits with Blake. These include Andrew Murray, Anthony Skene, Robert Murray Graydon, Edwy Searles Brooks and George Hamilton Teed.

Blake gets his own title
Longer tales of 60,000 words or so appeared in The Boys' Friend Library and the success of these led to the creation of The Sexton Blake Library in 1915. This digest-sized publication specialized in longer tales, and at the height of its popularity was published 5 times a month. It ran for just under 50 years.

The majority of Sexton Blake Library covers (prior to editor William Howard Baker's 1956 revamp of the character) were painted by master Sexton Blake illustrator Eric Parker

Writers who worked on Sexton Blake stories throughout this 53-year span included Charles Henry St. John Cooper, John Creasey, Jack Trevor Story, John G. Brandon Michael Moorcock, and (allegedly) Brian O'Nolan (aka Flann O'Brien and Myles Coppaleen.)

In 1959 Fleetway Publications acquired the rights to Sexton Blake adventures and published The Sexton Blake Library until the title's demise. The final tale, The Last Tiger, was published in June 1963.

In 1965, Blake editor William Howard Baker licensed the rights of the Sexton Blake character. He published the fifth series of The Sexton Blake Library independently via Mayflower-Dell Books, which ran until 1968. He then issued a final series of four Sexton Blake novels, using his Howard Baker Books imprint, in 1969. From 1968 to 1971 Valiant published new comic strips in the style of the Knockout strips from decades earlier. Blake's last original appearance was in Sexton Blake and the Demon God “a period thriller with ancient curses and cliff-hanger endings” in 1978.

Comic strips: 1939–1979
Blake comic strips featured in The Knock-Out Comic (later Knock-Out Comic & Magnet and, finally, simply Knockout) from 1939 to 1960. The Blake strip was illustrated originally by artist Jos Walker and then by Alfred Taylor, who illustrated Blake's adventures for ten years. The undoubted highlight of Blake's 21-year run in Knockout was a 14-part 1949 strip drawn by Blake's greatest illustrator Eric Parker, entitled The Secret of Monte Cristo. This was Parker's only contribution to Blake's comic strip adventures.

There was one Super Detective Library story about Blake: issue 68 (published November 1955), featuring a comic strip entitled Sexton Blake's Diamond Hunt.

A final Sexton Blake comic strip (initiated to tie in with the 1967–1971 television show) featured in IPC's weekly boys' anthology Valiant, from January 1968 to May 1970.

A seven-part Blake comic strip featured in IPC's comic Tornado from March 1979 to May 1979. A contract dispute (subsequently resolved in IPC's favour) caused the Tornado editorial team to rename Blake "Victor Drago" (and Tinker & Pedro "Spencer & Brutus") for the duration of this strip.

Other publications
A series of 160-page Sexton Blake annuals, featuring old stories and new material, began in 1938 and lasted till 1941.

Four hardbacks designed for the younger market were published by Dean & Son Ltd during 1968. The third of these, Raffles' Crime in Gibraltar, portrayed Blake contending with A. J. Raffles, E.W. Hornung's amateur cracksman.

There were a few anthologies and reprints in the 80s and 90s.

In 2009, IPC's information manager, David Abbott, signed licenses to publish two Blake omnibus archive editions: The Casebook of Sexton Blake, published by Wordsworth Editions, and Sexton Blake, Detective published by Snowbooks.

In 2009 Wordsworth Books published the casebook of Sexton Blake and Snowbooks published Sexton Blake Detective.

In 2013, Obverse Books licensed the character and published The Silent Thunder Caper by Mark Hodder, the first book in a proposed sixth series of the Sexton Blake Library, The imprint had previously published a collection of short stories featuring Blake villain Zenith the Albino.

2018 saw an uptick in Sexton Blake reprints, with the first print novels published by Stillwoods Publishing, a Canadian publisher out of Nova Scotia.

In 2020 ROH Press began publishing Sexton Blake tales with Sexton Blake The Early Years, a collection of Blake's first cases.

That same year British publishers Rebellion Developments released a Sexton Blake special under its Treasury of British Comics imprint. They also produced four anthologies in 2020-21, each introduced by Blakeologist Mark Hodder.

Sexton Blake bibliography
The Sexton Blake is so extensive it has been divided into four sections. For a list of titles from the different Blake eras check out the links below.

1893-1911: The Victorian/Edwardian Era Sexton Blake bibliography

In this era Blake works solo and with a variety of partners and detectives. In 1904 he acquires a sidekick, a young boy named Tinker. The following year he moved to Baker Street and acquired a dog named Pedro and a landlady named Mrs Bardell.

1912-1945: The Master Criminals Era Sexton Blake bibliography part 2: 1912-1945

From 1913 onwards the master criminals reigned supreme, regularly matching with Blake.

1946-1978: The Post War Era Sexton Blake bibliography part 3: 1946-1978

The era of the New Order saw Blake become more of a James Bond type. It also saw the end of the Sexton Blake Library in 1963. There were a few attempts at bringing him back, but the last original Sexton Blake story was published in 1978.

1979–present: Revivals and Republications Sexton Blake bibliography part 4: 1979-present

Various publishers issued Blake novels and anthologies, collections of some of his most popular adventures.

Blake's evolution
As the years passed, Blake's character experienced various permutations. The first descriptions and illustrations of him showed him to be "a middle-aged Victorian gentleman dressed in the typical clothing of the era and carrying a heavy walking stick."

At the start of his career in 1893 he was partnered with Jules Gervaise a French detective who was also his mentor. By early in 1894 Blake was solving cases solo. During the remainder of the Victorian era he worked with various assistants Griff (half-man and beast) and a Chinese boy named We-Wee. He lived in a variety of places including Norfolk Street, Strand, New Inn Chambers, and Wych Street.

In The Lamp of Death (1894) Sexton Blake met Muriel Lane a woman who would eventually become his wife. His wife was referred to again in the Union Jack Christmas Number for 1901 then disappeared from the Blake canon forever. Blake remained a strict bachelor for the rest of his career.

In 1904 Blake moved to Baker Street, acquired an assistant named Tinker, a landlady named Martha Bardell and a dog named Pedro. Blake began more and more to resemble Sherlock Holmes. Blake was tall, lean, strong limbed, with hair receding at the temples, and with a high intellectual forehead. When indoors at Baker Street he wore a red dressing gown, smoked a briar pipe and had a favourite chair.

Throughout the Edwardian era he worked undercover at variety of jobs: reporter, cab driver, laundryman, sailor, cowboy all of which were reflected in the titles of his adventures. In Sexton Blake KC it was disclosed that he was a fully trained lawyer, in "The Tattooed Eye" (21 November 1908) he says he is a duly qualified medical man but has never practised medicine.

Throughout his career Blake also visited many countries in North America, Africa, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. Blake spoke a variety of languages and often disguised himself as a local.

In 1908 Blake matched wits with George Marsden Plummer, the first of what would become a long line of master criminals. He was followed by Count Ivor Carlac in 1912, then Professor Kew, Prince Wu Ling, Zenith the Albino and many others.

The 1920s and early 1930s are considered Blake's Golden Age, a time when he matched wits with some of his greatest foes. By the mid 1940s most had disappeared.

Many of Blake's writers had been men of adventure who had travelled the world. When World War II started, they enlisted, leaving just a small group of writers behind (with the addition of the occasional guest writer). Consequently, the standard of Blake's stories suffered.

In November 1955, William Howard Baker became editor of the Sexton Blake Library and, during 1956, introduced a successful update of the Blake formula. The Sexton Blake Library found new popularity with faster-moving, more contemporary stories (often influenced by American pulp fiction).

Blake, who had been relocated a number of times over the years, was relocated to a suite of plush offices in Berkeley Square (while retaining lodgings at Baker Street) and acquired a secretary, Paula Dane, who became a not-quite-love interest for Blake.

Tinker was no longer a boy assistant, but a mature young man who went by his full name Edward Carter. Blake's office receptionist, Marion Lang, was introduced as his female counterpart.

Covers, which had become rather staid during the early 1950s, became much more dynamic and a new group of authors was commissioned.

Baker remained as editor until 1963 (his last story was "The Last Tiger") before becoming Blake's licensor/publisher and continuing to oversee Blake's print adventures until January 1970.

There were a few reprints in anthologies in the 1970s and 1980s. The new millennia has seen an up tick in reprints.

Blake's associates
Blake's first associate from The Halfpenny Marvel No. 6 ("The Missing Millionaire") is the Frenchman Jules Gervaise, who gives him the first recorded case. By issue No. 7 ("A Christmas Crime"), they initiate an investigative company together. In the third story of issue No. 11 ("A Golden Ghost"), Gervaise is not mentioned.

Blake's team
In Union Jack number 53, in a story titled "Cunning Against Skill" (1904), (written by W. J. Lomax under the pen-name of Herbert Maxwell), Blake picked up a wiry street-wise orphan as an assistant who was known only as Tinker until the 1950s. With the popularity of school stories during the early 1900s, Tinker's schooldays were chronicled in issues 229 and 232. Over the years, Tinker changed from a boy and good fighter to a rugged and capable young man. As well as assisting the "guv'nor", as he called Blake, Tinker kept Blake's crime files up to date with clippings from the daily newspapers, in addition to assisting Blake in his fully equipped crime laboratory. The Edwardian British private detective Herbert Marshall was a friend of one of the Blake authors', Charles Henry St John Cooper (1869–1926), and stated that Cooper had based the character of Tinker on Marshall's own teenaged assistant Henry Drummond. Drummond sold newspapers in Northumberland Avenue in order to support his widowed mother until, aged just 14, he was offered a job by Marshall. Drummond died in around 1905 from tuberculosis, aged 19.

In 1905, Blake's bustling housekeeper Mrs Bardell (created by William Murray Graydon, who also created Pedro the bloodhound), was introduced and remained until the end. Her misuse of the English language was legendary in stories – she was a gifted cook and would always be on hand if a client needed food or a cup of tea. Mrs Bardell even featured as the main character in stories such as: "The Mystery Of Mrs Bardell's Xmas Pudding" in 1925 and "Mrs Bardell's Xmas Eve" in 1926.

In Union Jack number 100 (9 September 1905), a story entitled "The Dog Detective" introduced Blake's faithful, wise and ferocious bloodhound, Pedro. Pedro was originally owned by Rafael Calderon, ex-president of a South American state, but after performing various services for Calderon, Blake was given Pedro by Calderon, using the guise of "Mr. Nemo". Pedro tracked many villains to their lairs in subsequent stories.

Another notable non-human associate (and almost a character in itself) was Blake's bullet-proof Rolls-Royce, named The Grey Panther (introduced at a time when most other sleuths were still taking cabs). For a short while, Blake also flew a Moth monoplane (also called The Grey Panther and designed by Blake himself).

Blake's enemies
Sexton Blake had a large rogues gallery of supervillains from around the globe. Some of the most famous included:

 * George Marsden Plummer (created by Ernest Semphill in 1908), a dishonest Detective Sergeant at Scotland Yard, opposed Blake, but like many others, Plummer ended in a police cell. Unlike many before him, he repeatedly escaped and became Blake's arch-enemy.
 * Count Ivor Carlac (created by Andrew Murray in 1912) was a Polish nobleman and former pilot who turned to a life of crime. He was highly cunning, a master of disguise, and utterly ruthless.
 * Professor Francis Kew (created by Andrew Murray in 1913) A highly respected surgeon who moonlighted as an arch criminal. He teamed up with Carlac in 1916, and the two would often match wits against Blake over the next twenty years.
 * Dr Huxton Rymer (created by George Hamilton Teed in 1913) a world renowned surgeon turned master criminal.
 * Prince Wu Ling (created by George Hamilton Teed in 1913) a former Chinese royal bent on world domination.
 * Waldo the Wonderman (created by Edwy Searles Brooks in 1918), a circus strongman who had tremendous strength, could contort his body like a rubber man, and was insensitive to pain. He first appeared as a villain and ended in later stories as a friend of Blake's, helping him with a number of cases. But despite his reformation, he continued to steal money (but his victims were now blackmailers, swindlers, and other no-good members of the underworld).
 * Zenith the Albino (created by Anthony Skene in 1919) the Byronic master thief.
 * The Criminals' Confederation (created by Robert Murray Graydon in 1919) was an insidious criminal organisation that spanned the globe. The Confederation featured in 50 tales from 1919 to 1926.

The type of villain Blake opposed changed with the times (as did Blake himself). After World War II, his opponents became more ordinary, their personalities and motives less fantastic. Veteran writers John Hunter and Walter Tyrer excelled at this type of writing, but others failed to maintain their standards.

Blake's allies
Sexton Blake also teamed up with a variety of police officers, private detectives and other assorted crime fighters from time to time. Some of the most popular include:

 * Detective-Inspector Will Spearing (created by Norman Goddard) Blake's first ally from Scotland Yard. Spearing made his debut in Sexton Blake PC in 1905.
 * Sir Richard Losely and Lobangu (created by Cecil Hayter in 1907) Sir Richard was a British explorer and Blake's former school mate. Lobangu is the mighty chief of the Etbaia tribe of Zulus.
 * Honourable John Lawless (created by Andrew Murray) Lawless is an adventurer and proud Britisher who made his debut in The Boundary Raiders (1916). Though not officially employed by the Empire he often fights for King and Country
 * Detective-Inspector Coutts (created by Robert Murray Graydon) Coutts made his debut in The Hidden Hand (1916) and fought alongside Blake against the Criminals' Confederation.
 * The Bat (created by Robert Murray Graydon) Dirk Dolland, alias the Bat, made his debut in The Hidden Hand (1916). At first a highly talented cracksman the Bat eventually became a strong ally of Blake's against the Criminals' Confederation.
 * Nelson Lee (created by Maxwell Scott) Like Blake, Lee was a private investigator created in the 1890s. The two first appeared together in Christmas Clues in 1895. They would team up again in The Winged Terror (1909) and in several tales in 1918.
 * Mademoiselle Yvonne Cartier (created by George Hamilton Teed) was at first a Blake foe then a loyal ally and eventually became a detective. She made her debut in Beyond Reach of the Law (1913) and appeared in Blake tales until 1926.
 * James "Granite" Grant and Mademoiselle Julie (created by W. W. Sayer) Grant of the British Secret Service and Mademoiselle Julie of the French Secret Service made their debuts in 1920 and fought alongside in numerous adventures for the next six years. The tales were reprinted in the 1930s.

Other associates included Derek "Splash" Page of the Daily Radio; Ruff Hanson, a tough American investigator (both created by Gwyn Evans), and Blake's friends at Scotland Yard: Chief Detective Inspector Lennard, and Superintendent Venner.

Stories

 * "Sexton Blake and the Demon God" (1978) John Garforth
 * "Sexton Blake and the White Fairy" (2000) John Hall
 * "Sexton Blake and the Curse of Ozymandias" (2000) John Hall
 * "The Seance at Stillwater Mansion" (2006) Mark Hodder
 * "The Return of the Yellow Beetle" (2006) Mark Hodder
 * "Special Dispensation 5 and 6" (Plus 5, Appendix 1) (2006) Mark Hodder
 * "The Case of the Left Hand of Thoth" (2006) Mark Hodder
 * "The Shades of Pemberley" (2007) Win Scott Eckert
 * "The Case of the Flying Submarine" (2009) Mark Hodder
 * "Pedro Pulls Through!" (2009) Mark Hodder
 * "The Day of the Dragon" (2009) Mark Hodder
 * "The Mystery of Devil's Forest" (2009) Mark Hodder
 * "Sexton Blake Versus Doctor Fu Manchu" (2009) Mark Hodder
 * "The Silent Thunder Caper" (2014) Mark Hodder
 * "Sexton Blake and the Ghost of Otis Maunder" (2018) David Friend

Manuscripts

 * Regan's Rum Racket by Edwy Searles Brooks
 * The Doomed Valley by Rex Dolphin
 * The Case of the Missing Diplomat by Dail Ambler
 * Riviera Racket by W. Howard Baker (?) as Peter Saxon
 * A Pinch of Sniff by W. Howard Baker (?) as Peter Saxon
 * The Odd Affair of Diane Starr by W. Howard Baker (?) as Peter Saxon
 * The Branded Blonde by W. Howard Baker (?) as Peter Saxon

Collections

 * Sexton Blake: Star of Union Jack and Detective Weekly (1972)
 * Crime at Christmas (1974)
 * Sexton Blake's Early Cases (1976)
 * Sexton Blake Wins (1986)
 * The Sexton Blake Casebook (1987)
 * The Sexton Blake Detective Library (1989)
 * The Casebook of Sexton Blake (2009)
 * Sexton Blake, Detective (2009)
 * Sexton Blake and the Great War (2020)
 * Sexton Blake Versus the Master Crooks (2020)
 * Sexton Blake's Allies (2020)
 * Sexton Blake On the Home Front (2021)
 * Sexton Blake's New Order (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Early Years (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: The Answers Casebook (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: Friends and Allies (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: The First Super Villains (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: The Master Criminals (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: Yvonne's Vengeance (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: Rymer and Wu Ling (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: Wu Ling Strikes Again (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: Cunning Schemes (2020)
 * Sexton Blake: The Storm Files (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Plummer Files (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Kew Files (2021)
 * Sexton Blake & Nelson Lee (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Claire Delisle Files (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: The Clique of Death (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Spy Stories (2023)
 * Sexton Blake: Schooldays #1 (2023)
 * Sexton Blake: Schooldays #2 (2023)
 * Sexton Blake: Schooldays #3 (2023)

The Criminals' Confederation series

 * Sexton Blake: The Bat Files (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #2 (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #3 (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Bat Files #4 (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: Confederation Rising (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: The Sinister Island Saga (2021)
 * Sexton Blake: Yvonne Joins the Fight (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Beware the Shadow (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Plots and Intrigues (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Reversals of Fortune (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: The Rival Presidents (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Reece's Republic (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Twists in the Trail (2022)
 * Sexton Blake: Final Curtain (2022)

Stage
There were several Sexton Blake stage plays:
 * The Case of the Coiners (1907), was the earliest produced
 * Percy Holmshaw produced Sexton Blake: A Detective Story in Four Acts in 1931. Blake was played by Arthur Wontner, whose performance then led to him being cast as Sherlock Holmes in five films.

Silent movies
There was also a spoof film titled Sexton Pimple (1914), starring the comedian Fred Evans.

Talkies

 * Sexton Blake and the Bearded Doctor was the first of three Blake talkies produced during the 1930s. Based on a novel by Rex Hardinge, this movie featured George Curzon as Sexton Blake and Tony Sympson as Tinker.
 * Sexton Blake and the Mademoiselle (featuring Mlle. Roxanne as the female villain from the books), from a story by G H Teed, followed soon afterwards.
 * The third production was Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror with Tod Slaughter playing the villain.
 * Two movies Meet Sexton Blake and The Echo Murders were made in 1945. They were directed by John Harlow, and featured David Farrar as Blake. (Farrar had played a small role in Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror.)
 * The Hammer film Murder at Site 3 (1958) featuring Geoffrey Toone did not launch a series.

Radio

 * On 26 January 1939, BBC Radio broadcast a serial named Enter Sexton Blake, featuring George Curzon as Blake and Brian Lawrence as Tinker.
 * 30 March 1940, BBC broadcast A Case for Sexton Blake, adapted by Francis Durbridge.
 * During 1967, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a popular series of Sexton Blake radio adventures starring William Franklyn as Blake, David Gregory as Tinker, and Heather Chasen as Blake's secretary, Paula Dane. Broadcast on Thursday nights at 7.00pm, this series of 17 programmes (which ran weekly from 24 August to 14 December) was scripted by Donald Stuart, devised for radio by Philip Ridgeway, and produced by veteran BBC radio producer Alastair Scott Johnston.
 * On 6 March 2006, after discussions between noted British radio producer Dirk Maggs and IPC publishing director Andrew Sumner, Maggs recorded a half-hour Adventures of Sexton Blake pilot show for his newly formed Perfectly Normal Productions. This humorous satire of Blake's adventures featured Simon Jones as Blake, Wayne Forester as Tinker, and a returning William Franklyn, in one of his final performances, as the elderly Blake (who narrates the adventure). As a result of the success of this pilot, Maggs directed a new series of Blake adventures for BBC Radio 2. The Adventures of Sexton Blake again featured Jones and Forester, joined by June Whitfield as Mrs Bardell, and Graham Hoadly as Professor Kew. The series was written by Jonathan Nash and Mil Millington and broadcast, in six weekly 15 minute instalments, during late summer 2009. An extended version of the complete series was released on CD by BBC Audiobooks on 10 September 2009. David Quantick's accompanying Blake documentary, The Hunt For Sexton Blake (also produced by Perfectly Normal Productions) was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 before the series started.

Sexton Blake (1967–71)
ITV broadcast Rediffusion/Thames Television's Sexton Blake featuring Laurence Payne as Blake and Roger Foss as Tinker from Monday 25 September 1967 to Wednesday 13 January 1971. In keeping with Sexton Blake's classic print adventures, Payne's Blake drove a white Rolls-Royce named "The Grey Panther" and owned a bloodhound named Pedro. The show was produced originally by Ronald Marriott for Associated Rediffusion, with Thames Television assuming production in 1968.

Pedro was played by one or more bloodhounds (bitches), which doubled as 'Henry', for Chunky dog food advertisements with Clement Freud, and were owned by the then secretary of the Bloodhound Club, Mrs Bobbie Edwards.

During rehearsals for the show in 1968, Laurence Payne was blinded in his left eye by a rapier.

Typical of the TV series's sometimes-fantastic storylines (all of which lasted 2–6 episodes) was 1968's "The Invicta Ray" in which a villain dressed in a costume and hood of sackcloth-like material and, under the rays of The Invicta Ray, became invisible so that he could commit crimes without being seen.

Of 50 episodes, only the first episode is thought to exist still.
 * Season One: The Find-The-Lady Affair. 4 episodes. Monday 25 September 1967 to Monday 16 October 1967.
 * Season One: Knave of Diamonds. 5 episodes. Monday 23 October 1967 to Monday 20 November.
 * Season One: The Great Tong Mystery. 4 episodes. Monday 27 November 1967 to Monday 18 December 1967.
 * Season One: The Vanishing Snowman. Christmas Special. Monday 25 December 1967.
 * Season One: House of Masks. 4 episodes. Monday 1 January 1968 to Monday 22 January 1968.
 * Season One: The Invicta Ray. 4 episodes. Monday 29 January 1968 to Monday 19 February 1968.
 * Season Two: The Case of the Gasping Goldfish. 2 episodes. Thursday 14 November 1968 to Thursday 21 November 1968.
 * Season Two: Return of the Scorpion. 2 episodes. Thursday 28 November 1968 to Thursday 5 December 1968.
 * Season Two: The Great Train Robbery. 2 episodes. Thurs 16 January 1969 to Thurs 23 January 1969.
 * Season Two: The Great Soccer Mystery. 3 episodes. Thurs 30 January 1969 to Thurs 13 Feb 1969.
 * Season Three: Sexton Blake and Captain Nemesis. 3 episodes. Wed 8 Oct 1969 to Wed 22 Oct 1969.
 * Season Three: Sexton Blake verses The Gangsters. 3 episodes. Wed 29 Oct 1969 to Wed 12 Nov 1969.
 * Season Three: Sexton Blake and the Frightened Man. 2 eps. Wed 19 Nov 1969 to Wed 26 Nov 1969.
 * Season Three: Sexton Blake and the Undertaker. 3 episodes. Wed 3 Dec 1969 to Wed 17 Dec 1969.
 * Season Three: Sexton Blake and the Toy Family. 2 episodes. Wed 23 Dec 1969 to Wed 30 Dec 1969.
 * Season Four: Sexton Blake and the Puff Adder. 6 episodes. Wed 9 Dec 1970 to Wed 13 January 1971.

The cast:
 * Laurence Payne as Sexton Blake
 * Roger Foss as Edward Clark (Tinker)
 * Dorothea Phillips as Mrs Bardell
 * Ernest Clark as Inspector Coutts
 * Leonard Sachs as Inspector Van Steen
 * Meredith Edwards as Inspector (Taff) Evans
 * Eric Lander as Inspector Cardish
 * Charles Morgan as Inspector Davies

Sexton Blake and the Demon God (1978)
Simon Raven's Sexton Blake and the Demon God was a six-part television serial produced by Barry Letts for the BBC in 1978. The serial was broadcast by BBC One at tea-time from Sunday 10 September 1978 until Sunday 15 October 1978 and was directed by Roger Tucker.

Jeremy Clyde played Blake, with Philip Davis appearing as Tinker and Barbara Lott playing Mrs Bardell.

The Sexton Blake Library (Obverse Books) )

 * Sexton Blake and the Silent Thunder Caper by Mark Hodder (2014)
 * Zenith Lives! (2012)

Other Blake appearances

 * A seven-minute 78 rpm record, titled Murder on the Portsmouth Road, had a script written by Donald Stuart and featured Arthur Wontner (who also featured as Sherlock Holmes in early British talkies) as Blake.
 * Michael Moorcock used Blake as the basis for The Metatemporal Detective, Seaton Begg. Moorcock also borrowed the character of Zenith the Albino, both as partial inspiration for Elric of Melniboné and as an actual character (who was implied to be an avatar of Elric's). Both Begg and Zenith featured in Obverse Books' collection Zenith Lives!  (2012), which includes a new Begg/Zenith novella from Moorcock. Seaton Begg was also the lead character in the 2019 novella The Immortal Seaton Begg, which was released as part of Sextet (An Obverse Celebration), a series of six interconnected novellas released in the second half of 2019 to celebrate Obverse Books' tenth anniversary.
 * Dorothy L. Sayers features Sexton Blake stories in her novel Murder Must Advertise as the preferred literature of a young office boy helping Lord Peter Wimsey solving the case.
 * Bengali novelist Dinendra Kumar Roy wrote 217 stories in Bengali, following the Sexton Blake series in the name of Robert Blake.

title: Sexton Blake


text:
Galatasaray S.K.

Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, Galatasaray Sports Club), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Gala, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair basketball, volleyball, water polo, handball, athletics, swimming, rowing, sailing, judo, bridge, motorsport, equestrian, esports, and chess. Galatasaray S.K. is among the key members of the Galatasaray Community Cooperation Committee together with Galatasaray University and the prestigious Galatasaray High School.

The football branch of Galatasaray has accumulated the most Süper Lig (24), Turkish Cup (18) and Turkish Super Cup (17) titles in Turkey,  thus making them the most decorated football club in Turkey, as those competitions are the top nationwide professional leagues and cups within the Turkish football system that is recognized and accounted for in accordance to the regulations set by the Turkish Football Federation and UEFA.

In the year 2000 Galatasaray also took claim of the UEFA Cup title by defeating Arsenal F.C. and the UEFA Super Cup, by defeating Real Madrid C.F. These accomplishments make Galatasaray the only Turkish football club to have reached that level of European success in the history of Turkish Football.

The club's wheelchair basketball team won the Champions Cup in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2014. They also won the Kitakyushu Champions Cup and became world champions in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. Galatasaray women's basketball team won the 2013–14 EuroLeague Women and FIBA Eurocup in 2009 and 2018. Galatasaray men's basketball team claimed their first EuroCup championship after defeating Strasbourg in 2016.

Etymology
Galatasaray is a quarter in Karaköy in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. Its name comes from that of Galata, which may in turn have derived from Galatai (meaning the "Galatians"), as the Celtic tribes were thought to have camped at Galata during the Hellenistic period before settling in Galatia in central Anatolia. Galatasaray translates directly as "Galata Palace" (saray means "palace" in Persian). Gala also means milk in the Greek language. Galatasaray High School, established in the area in 1481, was the progenitor of Galatasaray S.K. as well as other institutions of Galatasaray Community.

Galatasaray is a compound word and is pronounced as such, with a very brief pause between the two words. There is no diminutive form of the club's name. Fans refer to the club either by its full name or by its nickname Cim-Bom(-Bom)—pronounced )—of uncertain etymology. However, the shortened form "Gala" is sometimes used by English speakers.

History
Galatasaray SK was founded in October 1905 (the exact day is disputed, but is traditionally accepted as "17 Teşrinievvel 1321 " according to the Islamic Rumi calendar, which corresponds to 30 October 1905 (according to the Gregorian calendar) by Ali Sami Yen and other students of Galatasaray High School (a high school in Istanbul which was established in 1481) as a football club. Ali Sami Yen, who became Galatasaray SK's first president and was given the club's membership number "1", was the son of Şemseddin Sami (Frashëri), an Ottoman writer, philosopher, and playwright of ethnic Albanian origin, and a prominent figure of the Rilindja Kombëtare, the National Renaissance movement of Albania.

The club's first match was against Cadi Keuy FRC and Galatasaray won this game with a score of 2–0. There were discussions about the club's name, in which some suggested Gloria (victory) and others Audace (courage), but it was decided that its name would be Galatasaray.

According to researcher Cem Atabeyoğlu, Galatasaray took its name from one of its first matches. In that match, Galatasaray won 2–0 over Rûm club and the spectators called them "Galata Sarayı Efendileri" (in English: Gentlemen of Galata (City) Palace), and after this event, they adopted that name and started to call their club "GalataSaray". In 1905, during the era of the Ottoman Empire, there were no laws for associations so the club could not be registered officially, but after the 1912 Law of Association, the club registered legally.

Along with the founder Ali Sami Yen, the co-founders were the ones who were keen to do this sport, such as Asim Tevfik Sonumut, Reşat Şirvani, Cevdet Kalpakçıoğlu, Abidin Daver and Kamil.

At first, the colors of the Galatasaray Sports Club were red and white, which are the colors in the Turkish flag. However, the Turkish Republic was not founded at that time. Therefore, this inspiration caused repressive administration of the day feel uncomfortable and the administration hounded the footballers. For this reason, the colors were changed to yellow and dark blue till 1907. In 1908, new colors were chosen as red and yellow. Ali Sami Yen stated, "We were imagining brightness of yellow – red fire over our team and thinking that it would carry us from one victory to another."

While the football in Turkey began to fully develop, Galatasaray won ten more Istanbul League titles until 1952. Upon recognition of professional football in 1952, the first professional but non-national league of Turkey, Istanbul Professional League played between 1952 and 1959. Galatasaray won three of these seven titles.

Turkcell Super League, the top-flight professional league in Turkish nationwide football, and the most popular sporting competition in the country, formed in 1959. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 24 league titles since then.

The Turkish Football Federation started to organize "Turkish Cup" (today it is organized with the name Ziraat Turkish Cup) in the 1962–63 season for Turkish clubs to qualify for the UEFA competitions. This is the only national cup competition in Turkey. Galatasaray joined all seasons and won 18 trophies since then.

Crest
Galatasaray's first emblem was a figure of a spread-winged eagle with a football in its beak, drawn by 333 (Galatasaray High School student number) Şevki Ege. This was replaced in 1925 by the current "Ghayn-Sin" crest, designed by Ayetullah Emin.

Team colours and kit
Galatasaray wore red and white colours when founded, then played in yellow and black during the 1907–1908 season.

For a match against the football team of the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Barham (1889), played on 8 December 1908, Galatasaray finally settled on playing in red and yellow.

Ali Sami Yen, the main founder of Galatasaray, wrote the following in his diaries:

"Our goalkeeper Asım Tevfik, left-forwarder Emin Bülent and right midfielder Ali Sami Yen were commissioned for the task of determining the new team colours. After we had been in and out of several shops, we saw two different elegant-looking wool materials in Fat Yanko's store at Bahçekapısı (between Eminönü and Sirkeci in Istanbul, now called Bahçekapı). One of them was quite dark red, resembling the cherry colour, and the other a rich yellow with a touch of orange. When the sales clerk made the two fabrics fly together with a twist of his hand they became so bright that it reminded us of the beauty of a goldfinch. We thought we were looking at the colours flickering in burning fire. We were picturing the yellow-red flames shining on our team and dreaming that it would take us to victories. Indeed it did."

The red and yellow colours were also inspired from the roses which Gül Baba offered to Sultan Bayezid II.

Defunct departments

 * Wrestling 1887
 * İstanbul Championship: Winner(8) 1945 to 1955
 * Turkish Championship: Winner(2)

The first boxer in Turkey was Sabri Mahir.
 * Cycling 1898
 * Boxing 1904 the first club in Turkey.
 * Swedish gymnastics 1908
 * Hockey 1911
 * Field hockey 1915
 * Baseball 1925
 * Table tennis 1925
 * Handball 1926
 * İstanbul Championship: Winner (8) 1945 to 1955
 * Turkish Championship: Winner (2)

 * Cricket 1926
 * Aviation & gliding, 1931
 * Skiing & mountaineering, 1931
 * Motocross 1931
 * Fencing 1931
 * Water ballet 1995
 * Superleague Formula 2008

Reactivated departments

 * Tennis 1910
 * Gymnastics 1868

Stadia
Galatasaray played during its first years in different fields, since there were not any stadiums in Istanbul. In 1921, the first stadium, Taksim Stadium opened. Galatasaray played there until 1940. When the historic Taksim Stadium was demolished, Galatasaray decided to build a large, modern stadium. Due to difficulties stemming from World War II, construction was delayed for over two decades. In this period, they played in İnönü Stadium.

On 20 December 1964, Ali Sami Yen Stadium opened. It was named after the founder of the club, Ali Sami Yen and was in the Mecidiyeköy quarter of the Şişli district at the center of the city. In 1964, the stadium had a capacity of over 35,000. Due to improvements in security and prohibition of standing spectators, it had an all-seater capacity of 24,990 and was nicknamed "Hell".

After 2002, when Atatürk Olympic Stadium was built for Istanbul's Olympic Games bid, Galatasaray started to play European Cup matches there. The attendance record for a Turkish stadium was broken there, in a Galatasaray–Olympiacos match played in front of 79,414 spectators. But the Ali Sami Yen Stadium had historic importance for Galatasaray fans although it was smaller and older.

The new Nef Stadium was built for Galatasaray in return for the highly valued land of the historic Ali Sami Yen stadium in Mecidiyekoy, and became the new home ground for Galatasaray S.K., replacing the old Ali Sami Yen Stadium. The new stadium has a capacity of 52,695 seats. The Ali Sami Yen Stadium was demolished in 2011 with the contractor revealing that it was on the verge of collapse and that a major stadium disaster would almost certainly have occurred had the stadium remained in use

Since 1998, after every goal scored by Galatasaray, the last part of the song "I Will Survive" by the Hermes House Band is played. Although the song is in English and already adopted by Dutch football team Feyenoord, the part used has no lyrics except "la la la la". This makes it easy for fans to participate.

In addition, before every game the Florida State Seminoles' war chant is played accompanied by what the fans call a "scarf show", where fans display and wave their Galatasaray scarves.

Other facilities

 * Galatasaray Islet
 * Galatasaray Museum
 * Florya Metin Oktay Sports Complex and Training Center
 * Galatasaray Beyoğlu Hasnun Galip Club Administrative Center
 * Galatasaray Küçükçekmece Rowing Center
 * Galatasaray Nevzat Özgörkey Equestrian Facilities
 * Galatasaray Olympic Aquatic Center
 * Galatasaray Gölbaşı Ankara Facilities
 * Galatasaray Taçspor Tesisleri

Club officials

 * Board of directors:

 * Presidents:

Other businesses

Galatasaray AŞ owns a chain of 81 Galatasaray Stores, selling club merchandise in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Cyprus. The club also owns an online betting company, an insurance company, an Internet service provider company, a travel agency, a forex company, and a search engine company.

title: Galatasaray S.K.


text:
Investigation and arrest of Alfred Dreyfus

The Dreyfus Affair began when a bordereau (detailed memorandum) offering to procure French military secrets was recovered by French agents from the waste paper basket of Maximilian Von Schwartzkoppen, the military attaché at the German Embassy in Paris. Blame was quickly pinned upon Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer who was in training within the French Army's general staff.

French espionage
Among the military services reorganized after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was that of the French Counter Intelligence Department (disguised under the name of "Section de Statistique") led by a Lt Col Jean Conrad Sandherr. It watched the German embassy as one of its principal occupations. The ambassador, Count Münster, had promised on his word of honor that his attachés would abstain from bribing the French officers or officials. However, it was known at the "Section de Statistique" that the new attaché, Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen, probably without the knowledge of the ambassador, continued to pay spies and was in direct correspondence with the War Office in Berlin. According to indications furnished by a former Spanish military attaché, Valcarlos, Schwartzkoppen and the Italian military representative, Colonel Panizzardi, had agreed to exchange the results of whatever discoveries they might make.

To keep an eye on this plotting, the Counter Intelligence Office (the"Section de Statistique") secured the help of a cleaning lady employed at the German Embassy, a certain Marie Bastian. Madame Bastian, wife of a soldier of the Republican Guard, was "a vulgar, stupid, completely illiterate woman about 40 years in age," according to her boss. However she was of Alsatian descent and spoke German fluently. She was hired as a cleaning woman in the office of the German military attaché, Schwartzkoppen. Madame Bastian carefully collected all the scraps of paper, torn up or half-burnt, which she found in the waste-paper baskets or in the fireplace of Schwartzkoppen's office. She put them all in a paper bag, and once or twice a month took them or had them taken to the "Section de Statistique." There the pieces were carefully fitted together and gummed. By this means it was ascertained that, since 1892, certain secret information concerning the national defense had leaked out. Eventually, the conclusion was reached at high levels in the French General Staff that a traitor was passing on confidential military information to the German Embassy in Paris.

The anonymous letter
During the summer of 1894 a document arrived at the French Counter Intelligence Office which was far more alarming than any which had preceded it. It had been retrieved by French spy and cleaning lady Marie Bastian from the waste paper basket of the military attache at the German Embassy, Maximilian von Schwartzkoppen. It was a handwritten list of potentially available and highly sensitive French military documents. It was unsigned and has since become uniquely celebrated under the name of the "bordereau." This list, written on so-called "papier pelure" (thin notepaper), ruled in squares and almost transparent, was torn from top to bottom in two places, but was otherwise intact. The hand written text was present on both sides of the page.

According to the official version, which was long believed to be the true one, the paper had arrived by the usual means, through Madame Bastian; but the appearance of the document, which was hardly torn, makes this story unlikely. It would appear from other disclosures that the letter was taken intact from the letter-box of Colonel Schwartzkoppen in the porter's lodge at the embassy, and brought to the office by an agent named Brucker, who had formerly acted as a go-between of Madame Bastian and French counter intelligence. The detailed documents that this letter announced as having been sent to the German Embassy, along with the original envelope of the initial "bordereau" letter were never found. Here is a translation of this famous document from its French original:

 * Being without information as to whether you desire to see me, I send you nevertheless, monsieur, some interesting information, viz.:

 * 1. A note concerning the hydraulic brake of the 120, and the way this gun has performed.  [This phrase is a reference to the hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism of a field gun called "120mm court Modele 1890 Baquet."  It was a heavy field-piece, recently introduced into French artillery service; the mechanism of its hydraulic plus compressed-air short-recoil brake mechanism was quite novel for the time. But according to Touzin and Vauvillier (2006) as quoted from Les materiels de l'Armee Francaise (Les canons de la Victoire 1914–18): "...the 120mm Baquet Mle 1890 was far from being entirely satisfactory". As a matter of published record, only two hundred and ten (210)  Mle 1890 120mm Baquet field guns were eventually built. Conversely, and precisely at the same time as the discovery of the "bordereau"  in the summer of 1894, the first successful prototype of the highly advanced long-recoil Mle 1897 French 75 field gun had just been tested in great secrecy. Ultimately, over 20,000 French 75's had been built by 1918.]

 * 2. A note upon the 'troupes de couverture' (some modifications will be carried out, according to the new plan).  [This referred to troops that would be called to the frontier at the commencement of mobilization. They were destined to "cover" the concentration of the rest of the army; hence their name. The "new plan" is the plan No. XIII. adopted in 1895.]

 * 3. A note concerning a modification in the formations of artillery. [Most likely the "formations de manœuvre," which were just about to be altered by the new regulations.]

 * 4. A note relative to Madagascar. [The War Office was preparing an expedition to conquer that island.]

 * 5. The proposed 'manuel de tir' of field-artillery manual (March 14, 1894). [See below]

 * This document is exceedingly difficult to get hold of, and I can have it at my disposal for only a very few days. The minister of war has distributed a certain number of copies among the troops, and the corps are held responsible for them.

 * Each officer holding a copy is required to return it after the maneuvers.

 * Therefore if you will glean from it whatever interests you, and let me have it again as soon as possible, I will manage to obtain possession of it. Unless you would prefer that I have it copied in extenso, and send you the copy.

 * I am just starting for the maneuvers.

 * –D. [The initial was taken to be Dreyfus']

This communication was clearly written in August, 1894, at the latest. The "manuel de tir" for field-artillery is the résumé of the methods used to regulate the actual firing of ordnance on the battle-field; this shooting never takes place during the grand maneuvers in September but only during the "écoles à feu," which begin in May and finish in August. It is these "écoles à feu" that the writer incorrectly translates as "maneuvers," and the word probably has the same meaning in the last sentence.

It seems evident that the bordereau was handed over to Major Henry, who, with Major Cordier, was then assisting Colonel Sandherr, the head of the military counter-intelligence  section at the French War Ministry. According to General Auguste Mercier, the letter in question arrived at the office with other documents whose dates ranged from August 21 to September 2. It is probable that Henry kept the "bordereau" in his possession for a considerable time, making it all the more surprising that he did not recognize the undisguised writing of one of his former fellow officers, Major Esterhazy. It was not until September 24 that he spoke about the document to his close associates and to his chief, Colonel Sandherr. Sandherr immediately informed the head of the French general staff, General de Boisdeffre, and the secretary of war, General Auguste Mercier. They concluded that the informant of the German military attaché was a French officer, and furthermore, from the tone and diverse informations in the "bordereau", that he probably was an officer in the General Staff. Nothing justified this last supposition. On the contrary, the technically and grammatically incorrect wording, the difficulty which the author had in procuring the "manuel de tir" (which was distributed freely among artillerymen), and the inflated importance which the informant appeared to attach to his disclosures, all pointed to the suspected informant as not being a staff-officer.

Investigation
Nevertheless, this "first falsehood," suggested perhaps by the previous warnings of Valcarlos, was generally accepted; right from the start, the investigations led down a false path. At first no result was obtained from an examination of handwritings in the bureaus of the department. But on October 6 Lieutenant-Colonel d'Aboville suggested to his chief, Colonel Fabre, the idea that the bordereau, dealing as it did with questions which were under the jurisdiction of different departments, must be the work of one of the officers going through their "stage" (i.e., staff-schooling), they being the only men who passed successively through the various branches to complete their military education; moreover as, out of the five documents mentioned, three had reference to artillery, the officer probably belonged to this branch of the army. It remained only to consult the list of officers in training with the General Staff who had also come from the artillery. While looking through it, the two colonels came to a halt before the name of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an officer professing the Jewish faith and with family roots in Mulhouse, Alsace a province which had become German in 1871. Captain Dreyfus, who was raised in Paris, was an alumnus of the elite Ecole Polytechnique and a promising young officer. In fact he had been placed in this much coveted temporary assignment on the General Staff as a step up the promotional ladder. However Dreyfus had been in the office of Colonel Fabre during the second quarter of 1893, and Fabre remembered having given him a bad record on the report of Lieutenant-Colonel Roget and Major Bertin-Mourot. Dreyfus had given these gentlemen the impression (upon the most superficial grounds) of presumption and overbearing, and of neglecting the routine of service to go into matters which were kept secret. Fabre and D'Aboville immediately began to search for papers bearing the writing of Dreyfus. By coincidence the writing of Dreyfus showed a likeness to the writing of the bordereau. These officers, inexperienced and prejudiced, mistook a vague resemblance for real identity.

Arrest
From the end of 1892 to September, 1894, Dreyfus went through his "stage" in the Staff Office, receiving excellent reports from all hands, except Colonel Fabre. From 1 October 1894, he went through a placement (stage) in a body of troops, the Thirty-ninth Regiment of the Line, in Paris. His personal characteristics unfitting for command and his slightly foreign accent combined to prejudice people against him; he had also a rather haughty demeanor, associated little with his military companions, and appeared rather too self-confident. But his comrades and superiors, without being much attached to him, recognized his keen intelligence, his retentive memory and his remarkable capacity for work; he was known as a well-informed officer, a daring and vigorous horseman, with decided opinions, which he knew how to set forth skillfully and to uphold in discussion. In short, he was a brilliant and correct soldier, and seemed marked out for a glorious future. Added to all this, he possessed a comfortable private fortune (which brought him an income of $5,000 or $6,000 a year) soundly invested in his brothers' business; he was without any expensive vices, if not without failings, and was leading a settled life. It is difficult to imagine what motive could possibly have incited him to espionage.

His patriotic sentiments were fervent almost to the point of Jingoism. He had also come under the influence of the Boulangist movement, which, for many of his equals, meant revenge on Germany. Antisemitism appears to have been behind the idea that he was a traitor. Even the wording of the listing slip (bordereau) should have shown the absurdity of this supposition: Dreyfus would not have written, "I am just starting for the maneuvers," since that year none of the stage officers went to the maneuvers, having been officially advised by a circular on 17 May not to do so.

Without pausing to consider these objections, Fabre and D'Aboville took their "discovery" to General Gonse, deputy-chief of the staff, and to Colonel Sandherr, an anti-Semite of long standing. General de Boisdeffre, informed in his turn, told the story to the secretary of war. General Auguste Mercier had held this office since December, 1893. Brought face to face with the bordereau, his concern was to act swiftly, because, if the affair came to be known before he had taken any steps, he would be reproached for having shielded a traitor. This fear, and perhaps the hope of being able to pose as the savior of his country, decided him; once started he was forced to pursue the matter. However, he sought the opinion (October 11) of a small council formed of the president of the cabinet (Charles Dupuy), the minister of foreign affairs (Hanotaux), the minister of justice (Guérin), and himself.

The council authorized Mercier to proceed to a careful inquiry; he ordered an examination by an expert in handwriting. The matter was entrusted to Gobert, an expert Forensic document examiner of the Bank of France, who had been recommended to him. With great conscientiousness Gobert pointed out the striking differences between the writing of the bordereau and that of the documents which were given to him for comparison, the "personal folio" of Dreyfus, from which his name had been erased but the dates left, so that it was easy to identify him from the army list. There were some letters which struck the experienced eye at once, such as the open g (made like a y) and the double s made in the form ſs, features which were to be found only in the bordereau.

Gobert concluded (13 October) "that the anonymous letter might be from a person other than the one suspected." This opinion was pronounced "neutral"; a second inquiry was called for, and this time the qualifications of the "expert" for the task were doubtful. Alphonse Bertillon, head of the "service de l'identité judiciaire" at the Prefecture of Police, had already been entrusted with certain photographic enlargements of the bordereau. Bertillon, who already knew the identity of the suspected man, sent in his report the same day. His inference was as follows: "If we set aside the idea of a document forged with the greatest care, it is manifestly evident that the same person has written all the papers given for examination, including the incriminating document." Sheltered by this opinion, Mercier no longer hesitated to order the arrest of Dreyfus. The arrest was conducted in a melodramatic fashion, according to the plans of Major Mercier du Paty de Clam, who, as an amateur graphologist, had been involved from the very beginning in all the details of the affair.

Dreyfus was ordered to appear before the minister of war on the morning of 15 October, dressed in civilian clothes, under pretense of an "inspection of the 'stage' officers." He answered the summons without suspicion. In the office of the head of staff, he found himself in the presence of Du Paty and three others, also in civilian dress, whom he did not know at all; they were Gribelin (the archivist of the Intelligence Office), the "chef de la sûreté," Cochefert, and the latter's secretary. While awaiting the general, Du Paty, pretending that he had hurt his finger, asked Dreyfus to write from his dictation a letter which he wished to present for signature. The wording was most extraordinary; it was addressed to an unknown person, and asked him to send back the documents which had been lent to him by the writer before "starting for the maneuvers"; then followed the enumeration of these documents, taken word for word from the bordereau. Du Paty had flattered himself that the culprit, on recognizing the words, would confess; a loaded revolver lay on a table to allow him to execute justice upon himself.

Things did not turn out as Du Paty had expected. Dreyfus wrote tranquilly on under the major's dictation. There was a moment when Du Paty, who was watching him closely, imagined he saw his hand tremble, and remarked sharply upon it to Dreyfus, who replied, "My fingers are cold." The facsimile of the letter shows no sign of disturbance in the writing, hardly even a slight deviation. After having dictated a few more lines, during which "Dreyfus entirely regained his composure," he ceased the experiment, and placing his hand on the captain's shoulder, he cried: "In the name of the law I arrest you; you are accused of the crime of high treason!" Dreyfus, in his stupefaction, hardly found words to protest his innocence. He pushed away the revolver indignantly, but allowed himself to be searched without resistance, saying: "Take my keys, examine everything in my house; I am innocent." Du Paty and his associates assured him that a "long inquiry" made against him had resulted in "incontestable proofs" which would be communicated to him later on. Then he was placed in the hands of Major Henry, who had been listening from the next room, and whose mission it was to deliver him over to the military prison of Cherche-Midi. In the cab that took them there, Dreyfus renewed his protestations of innocence, and asserted that he had not even been told what the documents in question were, or to whom he was accused of having given them.

At Cherche-Midi Dreyfus was turned over to the governor of the prison, Major Forzinetti, who had received orders to keep his imprisonment secret, even from his chief, General Saussier – an unheard-of measure. Apparently, the minister had some doubts as to the guilt of Dreyfus, and did not wish to publish his arrest until the inquiry furnished decisive proofs.

The conduct of the inquiry was entrusted to Major Du Paty de Clam. Immediately after the arrest he went to see Madame Dreyfus, and ordered her, under the most terrible threats, to keep the matter secret, even from her brothers-in-law. He then made a minute search of the rooms, which furnished no evidence whatever: no suspicious document, no papier pelure (foreign notepaper) was found: nothing but well-kept accounts. A similar search made in the house of M. Hadamard (Dreyfus' father-in-law) ended in the same failure.

Du Paty repeatedly visited Dreyfus in prison. He made him write standing up, seated, lying down, in gloves — all without obtaining any characteristics identical to those of the bordereau. He showed him fragments of a photograph of that document, mixed up with fragments and photographs of Dreyfus' own handwriting. The accused distinguished them with very little trouble. Du Paty questioned him without obtaining any other result than protestations of innocence broken by cries of despair. The suddenness of the catastrophe, and the uncertainty in which he was left as to its cause, reduced the wretched man to such a terrible state of mind that his reason was threatened. For several days he refused to take any food; his nights passed like a frightful nightmare. The governor of the prison, Forzinetti, warned the minister of the alarming state of his prisoner, and declared to General de Boisdeffre that he firmly believed he was innocent.

Not until 29 October did Du Paty show the entire text of the bordereau to Dreyfus, and then he made him copy it. The prisoner protested more forcibly than ever that it was not his writing, and regaining all the clarity of his intellect when faced by a definite accusation, tried to prove to his interlocutor that out of five documents mentioned in the bordereau, three were absolutely unknown to him.

He asked to see the minister: consent was given only on condition that "he start on the road to a confession". In the meantime, writing experts had proceeded with further examinations. Bertillon, to whom the name of the prisoner had now been revealed, set to work again. To explain at the same time the resemblances and the differences between the writing of Dreyfus and that of the bordereau, he said that Dreyfus must have imitated or traced his own handwriting, leaving enough of its natural character for his correspondent to recognize it, but introducing into it, for greater safety, alterations borrowed from the hands of his brother Mathieu Dreyfus and his sister-in-law Alice, in one of whose letters they had discovered the double s made as in the bordereau. This is the hypothesis of "autoforgery", which he complicated later on by a supposed mechanism of "key-words", of "gabarits," of measurements by the "kutsch", of turns and twists. Bertillon's provisional report, submitted on 20 October, inferred that Dreyfus was guilty "without any reservation whatever".

General Auguste Mercier, still not satisfied, had the prefect of police appoint three new experts, Charavay, Pelletier, and Teyssonnières; Bertillon was put at their disposal to furnish them with photographic enlargements. Pelletier simply studied the bordereau and the documents given for comparison, and concluded that the writing of the bordereau was in no way disguised, and that it was not that of the prisoner. The two others, influenced by Bertillon, declared themselves in favor of the theory of identity. Teyssonnières, an expert of no great repute, spoke of feigned writing. Charavay, a distinguished paleographer, judged the prisoner guilty, unless it was a case of "sosie en écritures" – a most extraordinary resemblance of handwriting. He also spoke of simulation to explain away the palpable differences. On 31 October Du Paty finished his inquiry, and handed in his report, which accused Dreyfus but left it to the minister to decide what further steps should be taken. By this time General Mercier was no longer free to decide; the press had interfered. On 28 October Papillaud, a contributor to the Libre Parole, received a note signed "Henry" – under which pseudonym he recognized without hesitation the major of that name; "Henry" revealed to him the name and address of the arrested officer, adding falsely, "All Israel is astir."

The next day the Libre Parole publicized the secret arrest of an individual suspected of espionage. Other newspapers were more precise; days later, on 1 November, the anti-Semitic newspaper founded by Edouard Drumont announced the arrest of "the Jewish officer A. Dreyfus"; there was, it declared, "absolute proof that he had sold our secrets to Germany"; and what was more, he had "made full confession." All this was very awkward for General Mercier. It was too late to drop the case; he would have risked his position as a minister. He summoned a council of ministers, and, without revealing any other charge than that concerning the bordereau, declared that the documents mentioned in the memorandum could have been procured by only Dreyfus. The ministers, most of whom were hearing the story for the first time, unanimously decided to institute proceedings. The papers were made over to the governor of Paris, who gave the order to investigate.

No sooner had the name of Dreyfus been pronounced than the military attachés of Germany and Italy began to wonder if he had been in direct correspondence with the War Office of either country. They made inquiries in Berlin and Rome, and received answers in the negative. In his impatience, Panizzardi had telegraphed in cipher on 2 November: "If Captain Dreyfus has had no intercourse with you, it would be to the purpose to let the ambassador publish an official denial, in order to forestall comments by the press." This telegram, written in cipher, and of course copied at the post office, was sent to the Foreign Office to be deciphered. The first attempt left the last words uncertain; they were thus translated: "our secret agent is warned." This version, communicated to Colonel Sandherr, seemed to him a new proof against Dreyfus. But a few days later the real interpretation was discovered, of which Sandherr himself established the accuracy by a decisive verification. From that time it became morally impossible to bring home to Captain Dreyfus any document which would infer that the traitor was in communication with Panizzardi.

Judicial inquiry
The judicial inquiry had been entrusted to Major Bexon d'Ormescheville, judge-advocate of the first court martial of the Seine département. Comrades of Dreyfus said that they remembered, or thought they remembered, that in his past conduct he had shown signs of excessive curiosity. One officer testified that he had lent him the "manuel de tir" for several days, but that was in July, whereas the bordereau was now believed to have been written in April. An agent named Guénée, charged by Major Henry with the task of inquiring into the question of his morals, picked up a collection of tales which represented Dreyfus as a gambler and a libertine, whose family had been obliged several times to pay his debts. Another inquiry by the Prefecture of Police showed the inanity of these allegations: Dreyfus was unknown in gambling-houses, and Guénée's informants had confused him with one of his numerous namesakes. There was no visible motive; the accusation rested solely on the disputed handwriting.

However, public opinion had already condemned him. The press claimed that Dreyfus had exposed the system of national defense. All the treachery that had remained untraced was blamed on him. People were indignant that the penalty of death for political crimes had been abolished by the constitution of 1848; even death seemed too light a punishment. The only excuse that they found for him was that his race had predisposed him to commit an act of treason, the "fatalité du type."

The yellow press also blamed the minister of war, for keeping the arrest a secret, in the hope of being able to hush up the affair; he was said to be in league with "the Jews". General Mercier now understood that the condemnation of Dreyfus was a question of his own political life or death; convinced or not, he determined to establish the man's guilt. On November 28, he declared in an interview with Le Figaro that Dreyfus' guilt was "absolutely certain." Then, aware of the defects of the evidence, he ordered that a secret dossier should be prepared by collecting from the drawers of the Intelligence Department whatever documents concerning spies could more or less be ascribed to Dreyfus. This dossier, revised and put into a sealed envelope by Mercier himself, with the cooperation of Boisdeffre and of Sandherr, was to be communicated only to the judges in the room where they held their deliberations, without either the accused or his counsel having been able to see it.

As soon as it had become known that General Mercier had decided to pursue the matter, public opinion changed in his favor. "One must be for Mercier or for Dreyfus," proclaimed General Riu. Cassagnac, who, as a personal friend of Dreyfus' lawyer, maintained some doubts as to his guilt, summed up the situation in these words: "If Dreyfus is acquitted, no punishment would be too severe for Mercier!"