Issue of The New York Herald newspaper – the European edition in Paris (English), dated July 13, 1906 announces the final acquittal of Alfred Dreyfus, which was declared by the Court of Appeals – the day after the verdict that brought the famous trial in history to its conclusion. Includes a rare interview with Alfred Dreyfus after his final acquittal: “It was no small task to study the numerous documents and refute the accusations, clear or false, that were leveled against an innocent man. Now I am nearing the end of my suffering. Honor is restored to me… To all those who defended the truth and an innocent man, I say ‘thank you!”
In an extended article on the trial’s results under the headline “The Supreme Court Declares Captain Dreyfus Innocent, ” accompanied by a photo of Dreyfus and Picquart, it is written: “It (the court) informs that the conviction was made in error and that none of the charges brought against him holds true. The judgment by a military court is therefore unnecessary. As a result of this decision, Captain Dreyfus returns to his original position in the French army… After a lengthy investigation by the Criesp minal office, and after examining the case in detail,
the French Supreme Judicial Authority announced yesterday that Captain Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted and that he is innocent of the charges of betrayal brought against him…”. The lengthy article on the matter details how the court overturned the verdict of the military court on September 9, 1899, which accused Dreyfus and sentenced him to ten years in prison. The court determined that the sentence was a mistake and decided that there would be no further trial.
“Thus ends the Dreyfus affair… When Mr. Ballot Beaupré, the president of the court, read the verdict yesterday afternoon, there were no applause… but a long sigh of relief was seen from the lips of those present. These included Emile Zola, the young son and daughter of Alfred Dreyfus, Madame Louis Dreyfus, Lieutenant Colonel Picquart, Major Targe…”.
The reading of the verdict lasted an hour and ten minutes. It declares that the “Bordereau, ” on which the main accusation was based, could not have been the work of Dreyfus and was certainly that of Major Esterhazy; that the additional evidence brought in Rennes bears no basis in fact, and that Dreyfus’s alleged confession is a lie. As a result, the court concluded that “nothing in the nature of a crime or offense is established against Dreyfus”. The newspaper further reports that Dreyfus will now return to his position, and the government will seek to promote him to the rank of Major. The court recommended discharging from the army all officers involved in the forgeries that led to Dreyfus’s conviction, and members of the establishment who were previously declared unworthy due to their defense of Mr. Dreyfus will be reinstated. Additionally, the government announced its willingness to order the publication of the verdict on the walls of every commune in France.
Later on in the article is an interview with Dreyfus under the headline “My Honor is Restored to Me”: “A reporter from “The Times” approached Mr. Alfred Dreyfus yesterday afternoon… and found him sitting by a window lost in thought, his eyes following the movement of the clouds. “Your trials were difficult and long”, said the reporter.
“Yes, ” replied Mr. Dreyfus, “a long time indeed. The investigation by the prosecution seemed endless to me. But hard work brought peace. Together with me, Mr. Mornard, my advisor and friend, I prepared the memoirs that I presented to the court. It was no small task to study the numerous documents and refute the accusations, clear or false, that were leveled against an innocent man. Now I am nearing the end of my suffering. Honor is restored to me.” Mr. Dreyfus refused to speak about his opponents, but the “Times” reporter understood that among these people there are eleven who he will not forgive for many years, if at all. The conversation then turned to Mr. Dreyfus’s position in the army, but he refused to speak on that subject. “At this stage, ” he said, “the court of appeals has issued its judgment. Now I am once again an officer, and therefore I must postpone any interviews. I have only one word to add. To all those who defended the truth and an innocent man, I say thank you!” . Later the article lists the main events of the affair starting from its beginning in 1894.
On July 12, the Court of Appeals overturned the verdict of the Rennes court, and the next day the National Assembly decided by a majority vote to return Dreyfus (and Picquart) to their military ranks, thus ending the Dreyfus affair.
The New York Herald was a widely circulated newspaper based in New York City, which operated between 1835 and 1924. Founded as an independent newspaper that did not support any party. In 1845, it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the United States. In 1861, it distributed 84,000 copies and dubbed itself “the most circulated newspaper in the world”.
The European edition of the newspaper (the edition before us) began in October 1884 under the official name Herald European Edition-Paris, and even in the years when the newspaper’s audience grew, most of its readers were in France or its surrounding countries. When American forces began arriving in France in 1917, the demand for the Paris Herald surged, and eventually, about 350,000 copies were printed daily. After the war, the European edition became the centerpiece of American expats in Europe. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises (1926), the first thing the protagonist, Jake Barnes, does upon returning from Spain to France is to buy the New York Herald from a kiosk in Bayonne located in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques department and reads it in a café.
8 pages. 56 cm. Complete issue. Very good condition.
