Thomas De Quincey
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Thomas Penson De Quincey (15 august 1785 – 8 december 1859) was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821). Many scholars suggest that in publishing this work De Quincey inaugurated the tradition of addiction literature in the West.
In the Conan Doyle stories
- The Silver Hatchet (1883) : The narrator compared the Budapest murders with the Williams murders described by De Quincey.
- J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement (1884) : Joseph Habakuk Jephson suggested to Harton he may be collecting materials for a book which shall outvie De Quincey.
- Uncle Jeremy's Household (1887) : When he arrived in town, Hugh Lawrence reminded of the description of the opium-eating Malay whom De Quincey saw in the farmhouse in Scotland.
- Through the Magic Door (1906) : No man invents a style. It always derives back from some influence, or, as is more usual, it is a compromise between several influences. I cannot trace Poe's. And yet if Hazlitt and De Quincey had set forth to tell weird stories they might have developed something of the kind.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
- The Man with the Twisted Lip (1891) : Isa Whitney started opium when he was at college, having read Thomas De Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations. (2)
