Review:France in the Blood and Back to Baker Street/Christopher Roden
This review of the books "France in the Blood" and "Back to Baker Street" was written by Christopher Roden and published in the The Parish Magazine (No. 11, august 1994).
This review warmly praises both Sherlock Holmes Society of London publications as well-produced and absorbing companions to Sherlockian events, full of lively articles on France, London, and Conan Doyle. While noting a few format choices and minor editorial mismatches, the reviewer finds both books highly enjoyable and rewarding reading.
Review
- France in the Blood
- A Practical Handbook of French Holmesian Culture with Some Observations
- Edited by Philip Porter & Catherine Cooke
- The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, 1993; 92pp; £10.50, Europe £11.50, North America
- US$18, Rest of World £13.50 (prices include postage and packing); ISBN: 1-873771-02-9
- Back to Baker Street
- An appreciation of Sherlock Holmes & London
- Edited by Roger Johnson & Jean Upton
- The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, 1994; 100pp; £11.50, Europe £12.50, North America US$21.50, Rest of World £14.50 (prices include postage and packing);
- ISBN: 1-873771-03-6
- Both publications are available from The SHSL's Merchandising Officer, Mrs Lynne Godden, Apple Tree Cottage, Smarden, Ashford, Kent TN278QE.
Reviewed by Christopher Roden
It has become the norm for the Sherlock Holmes Society of London to offer a well-produced book to accompany their major event of any given year — indeed, I suppose we have come to expect a book, for the published word provides, in many cases, the atmosphere of an event we, along with many others, were unable to attend.
The two books reviewed here show no falling off in production quality, but France in the
Blood is a departure from the previous large format books the Society has produced. Philip Porter and Catherine Cooke chose the format of The Strand Magazine for their booklet, and I have to say that the choice was a splendid one. The book is easy to handle and, most important of all, fits nicely onto a bookshelf.
But to the content. With a limited number of canonical references to France, it is not surprising that there should be some duplication of subject matter. For instance, both Tim Owen and Fraser Smyth deal with aspects of Vernet, and wine and cognac beome the point of discussion in three articles. This does not take away from the value of the book and, if there is any overlap at all, it is only slight.
As usual, Richard Lancelyn Green has provided the contribution on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this time in the form of an article from The Speaker for 21 April 1894. 'Paris in 1894: A Superficial Impression' is Conan Doyle's brief appreciation of la mode française, from the temperance of the average citizen to the unrivalled taste in matters of city planning; from the tidiness of the French to the accuracy of their newspapers. It's all fascinating reading and makes France in the Blood worth its cover price for this article alone.
My own copy of France in the Blood suffered a slight accident: a spilled glass of red wine left a slight stain on the bottom edges of many pages. Justice, I suppose — but it was not by way of critical comment that the wine should be an Australian Shiraz!
The Strand format might have been a more appropriate choice for Back to Baker Street, the book which accompanied the 'Back to Baker Street' festival staged by The Sherlock Holmes Society of London in May, as this would really have captured the atmosphere of Sherlock Holmes's London most effectively. This book, bound in blue card with an amended Strand illustration on the cover, reverts to the large format and, whilst the page size is ideal for larger illustrations, the book is a less comfortable read as a result.
The articles are a gathering of old and new, several being reprinted from older Sherlockian Journals. Of the reprints, Jon Lellenberg's 'The Early Holmes: Alone in Bloomsbury', reprinted in shortened form from Baker Street Miscellanea (December 1978), is one of the more charming pieces I have encountered in some time. I should dearly have liked to read the unabridged version.
Back to Baker Street could, I suppose, be summarised as 'all you wanted to know about the London of Sherlock Holmes', from Bernard Davies's 'The Back Yards of Baker Street' and 'The Mews of Marylebone', to James Cuthbertson's 'The Banking Connection' and Tim Owen's 'What do you say to a Ramble Through London?". Richard Lancelyn Green provides some important Doylean material in 'Conan Doyle in London'. And Back to Baker Street has its own built-in facsimile, in the form of four pages of the manuscript of 'The Adventure of the Empty House'. The accompanying discussion tells us nothing that was not previously recorded in Richard Lancelyn Green's notes for The Return of Sherlock Holmes in the Oxford Sherlock Holmes series but, nevertheless, the presence of Conan Doyle's original adds a further dimension.
The popular and versatile Stephen Fry turns up here, too, with what the publicity for the book described as a jeu d'esprit. 'Taxi!' is actually another reprint, this time from Fry's recent volume of reprinted jottings Paperweight. Its only connection with the subject of the book appears to be that it follows a short piece on 'The Cabs of London'. A sample of L'esprit du jeu would, perhaps, have been more appropriate on this occasion, and we know that Fry is capable of such witness his pastiche "The Adventure of the Laughing Jarvey', also printed in Paperweight.
But such criticisms are minor ones. Both volumes offer many hours of absorbing reading for the winter months to come.
CR
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
