ISTVÁN B. GELLÉR

ISTVÁN B. GELLÉR / THE GROWING CITY / EXPLORERS

Samuel J. Robin

(Sir Samuel of Hampstead)*

Born in town of S. during the Astro-Hungarian Empire. His talent were obvious from very early age. In the busy environment of his fathers bakery his inquisitiveness was realised in a study of classic and modern lanquage and civilisations. Serious study was begun under the Piarists, attening brilliant results in classis and modern lanquages. He become a private tutor for the noble family J. He accompanied the youngest of the family (the infamous Count Pepi.the wellknown spendthrift) to the place of his study in England. He gained entrance to the Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, studying classical philology and history.
During 1901 the first excavations, subsequent publications took place, followed by lecturetours througout the country. He met with Lady Anne Ashby, who gave him enormous financial and moral encouragment in his following research.
With twelve years hard work he discovered the larger part of the Growing City, and in the following years with publications he become the celebrated topic of discussion in Europian academic circles.
Two years were devoted in deciphering the triangular script. He established conclusively the division between the triangular and cuffic writings. He began the awesome task of compiling a dictionary.
He met his tragic death at the point of discovering the final segments of his beloved Growing City. His ashes were accompanied to his last resting place by his faithful servant Stevan (Sadeye) Sayatovic.

*(1869–1929) Archaeologist and ethnologist. Discovered and carried out archaeological research on the Growing City and deciphered triangular writing. In 1920 his was knighted Sir Samuel of Hampstead in recognition of his work.

Publications:
The discovery of the Growing City, Cambridge University Press, 1903.
The triangular pyramids and the decoding of their pictograms, Cambridge University Press, 1908.
The palace of Cha–Cha Choen, Cambridge University Press, 1922.
An introduction to the history of the Growing City, Cambridge University Press, 1927.

The Archaeologist's Birthplace

Baron Pepi on his favourite mount with his hunting dogs,

Szentegát, 1901.

Annemarie Courtambert, S. J. Robin, Lady Anne Ashby and companion and Mrs. Dawn on a trip to Brighton 1901

Ruins of the Growing City

Resting archaeologist among the ruins of the Judges' Chamber

Pages from the Diary of S. J. Robin

Detail from the excavation of the north wall

Discovery of fragments of writing

The "Schliemann" sheet

Drawing of the ritual tools

About the Lurker

The rather terse biography can be complemented by a curious photo album made of the remarkably reclusive S.J. Robins by the man with the mysterious identity known simply as "The Lurker". It is likely that the archaeologist's sketches and camp diary have also survived thanks to the Lurker, when the cat burglar was noticed by nobody amid the panic at the time of the Doctor's sudden death. But more of all that later, one could say in a different manner and way... The motives driving the Lurker are unknown to us, just as we can only guess at the individual's identity. The only document is the enlarged detail from the photograph taken of the audience at the Vicenza archaeology conference. A few recollections point to a strange young man who almost caused a fire from the magnesium powder flashlight in the lecture hall. Others remember a strikingly red-headed (maybe a wig?) individual with the exterior of a student who slipped up to the front rows with a Box Tengor camera.
For later scholars the picture of the Doctor only becomes complete together with the person of the Lurker. Today it can justly be presumed that we are speaking of a certain student (?) going by the name of Jean-Pierre Renan (?) who pursued Robin with maniacal fervour, on each occasion documenting the events in the scholar's life with his camera. (Nomen est omen.) Most of the pictures were taken in the course of Robin's short tour of Europe, and the remarkably highly-strung captions to the photographs also point to the pursuer's mental condition – although in some cases their documentary value is beyond doubt.
Maybe all this can be demonstrated: let us look at an excerpt from the pen of the "lurker" himself.
"Today I have taken some pictures of the Doctor as he was rummaging among some old pots. Just so long as he never gains possession of the secret. That secret, those secrets..."
And a betraying extract from Robin's diary from about the same time:
"Again I feel the flutter of an intruder behind me. I wonder where he's hiding while we are fingering the end of the world?"
For later onlookers, the notes of the archaeological researcher O. Günsberger say most about the appearance of the lurker's photo album:
"The Tr.-175 photo album came into my possession by chance, amid the bustle of a weekly market. When I pressed the salesman about the origin of the photographs and who had taken them, I received only careful and misleading answers. Knowing something of Scutari, I saw that further interrogation would be fruitless. At the address given, a bleary-eyed old woman suspiciously croaked unconnected sentences as she dried her cracked hands in a cloth. My attention turned to the crumbling plastered wall. There was an AGFA advert from the 1920s. Then the door was slammed in my face... Looking at the photographs I now sense around me the stealth in the dusk of the man leaving signs on the secret and the revolting noise of heavy breathing, even when there was a Leica* dangling from his neck. Of course today...."

* It was not a Leica but a Plaubel Makina. (The editor)

The audience at the Vincenza Archaeology Conference

Pages and Notes from the Lurker's Photo Album

"In vain does he feed the swans at Lake Geneva. He won't give up his mad plans, sanctified with the self-laudating data of conferences… Now I see clearly that he must fail. If only because of the excavations."