Review:The Universal Sherlock Holmes/Christopher Roden
This review of the book "The Universal Sherlock Holmes", by Ronald B. De Waal was written by Christopher Roden and published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 5, 1994).
This critical review evaluates Ronald B. De Waal's monumental bibliography The Universal Sherlock Holmes, praising its extraordinary scope while questioning aspects of editorial choices, format, indexing, and production methods. It also discusses the growing role of computerisation in Sherlockian scholarship and the tensions between electronic and traditional book-based research.
Review
- The Universal Sherlock Holmes
- by Ronald B. De Waal
- Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library, 1994; Four Volumes: 1440pp + xl;
- £100, US$150, C$200 (plus postage); available bound or unbound;
- ISBN: 1-896032-00-1 et seq
- All Enquiries to The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box:
- Attention George A. Vanderburgh, PO Box 204, 420 Owen Sound Street, Shelburne, Ontario, Canada LON 1S0 (Fax: (519) 925-3482).
Reviewed by Christopher Roden
The work of Ronald De Waal needs no introduction from me. Anyone remotely interested in Sherlock Holmes will, over the years, almost certainly have made use of Ron's first two bibliographical collections, The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson (1974) and The International Sherlock Holmes (1980). The latest product of Ron De Waal's bibliographic toils is The Universal Sherlock Holmes, which combines the contents of the previous two volumes with the thousands of additional items that have been noted in the last fourteen years. It goes without saying that the result is a hefty volume of paper-some one thousand four hundred and fifty pages in all-which brings together a total of 24,703 entries, guaranteed to raise envy in the hearts of those Sherlockians who collect. And which Sherlockian doesn't? The Universal Sherlock Holmes is the product of a lifetime's work, and one can only express admiration for Ron's devotion and dedication to his task. If any one man has made it possible for Sherlockians to know everything (or almost everything) there is to know about Sherlock Holmes, it is Ron De Waal-and he deserves our heartfelt thanks.
Ron's commander of operations on this production was George Vanderburgh of Shelburne, Ontario. It was George's obsession with computerising anything and everything that could be computerised that led to the original suggestion for an electronic version of the De Waal bibliography. George, too, deserves our thanks for ensuring that the project was seen through to conclusion both he and Ron, I feel sure, must have been on the point of calling it a day many times during the last couple of years.
The contents of TUSH, as it has already become known, will be familiar to users of the previous volumes. In essence, they are a detailed bibliographical listing of the appearances of Sherlock Holmes in books, newspapers, magazines, comics, on film, on TV, and on radio. They survey everything that has been written about everything that was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They also offer us a listing of Sherlockian Societies and 'famous' Sherlockians, and it is in respect of these last two items that I must make my initial criticism. Firstly, the listing of our own Society under the heading of 'Sherlockian Societies' is incorrect. It seems I must repeat again that The Arthur Conan Doyle Society is not a Sherlockian Society and, whilst we are more than pleased to welcome Sherlockians to our ranks, we do so in the hope and belief that they join because they want to know more of Sherlock Holmes's creator. Unfortunately, the categorisation given to us in TUSH is unlikely to lessen the number of letters we receive from people who write: 'I am a great fan of Sherlock Holmes and think Jeremy Brett is marvellous'.
Secondly, the 'famous Sherlockians' list must also come in for criticism, as much for some of the inclusions as for the lengthy list of exclusions. There seems to have been little logic behind the selection process, which yielded a tiny tot dressed as Sherlock Holmes (seemingly because that received newspaper coverage), and excluded those whose contribution to the Sherlockian movement and Sherlockian scholarship is more worthy of note (possibly because that isn't newsworthy). Whatever criteria were applied, a large number of people has good reason to feel aggrieved.
These small things are important-but pale into insignificance when one really begins to use TUSH. Any reference work worth its salt has an Index. TUSH does not. TUSH has a 'Selective Concordance'-the computer boffin's way of saying that, because this was intended as an electronic version, the search facility on the computer will look after all your needs in this respect. And effectively that is what George Vanderburgh has said. Over and over again, in editor's introductory comments and in publicity blurbs, we are told that the electronic version renders a Title/Author Index redundant.
It's a little over three years now since George Vanderburgh visited me in Chester to show me some of the gadgetry he has assembled in his quest to computerise the complete output of ACD. I couldn't help but be impressed at the possibilities offered by computerisation, even if I shuddered at the thought of having to upgrade equipment to cope with the various texts and programs he was discussing. I seem to remember saying at the time that these developments were all very well, but that they had certain limitations. I could not, for example, foresee the day when I would curl up in an armchair with my trusty lap-top to read a Brigadier Gerard story, nor did I think it likely that reading a computerised text in bed would be a particularly comfortable experience. I still do not relish either prospect.
Some people genuinely believe that the advent of CD-ROM spells death for the book. I find that viewpoint myopic and arrogant in the extreme, and I dare say those readers who treasure books, those who enjoy reading and researching in books, and those who simply enjoy having books around them might feel the same. As for having my bed-side table littered with the paraphernalia to read micro-film or CD-ROM-forget it! Fortunately, the editor has now succumbed to pressure and a Title/Author Index for TUSH is now in the course of production.
TUSH cannot, however, be judged solely on the basis of how its editor feels we should read Conan Doyle and related material. We have all been waiting a long time for its arrival and will all, no doubt, be more or less delighted with its contents. However, whether we have to like this latest incarnation, earnestly awaited and badly needed though it may have been, is another matter.
TUSH is available in two forms: unbound sheets, offering the advantage of adding a binding of one's preference, but the disadvantage of having to handle an extremely weighty block of loose sheets until the binding is done; or in cerlox-bound volumes, offering the advantage of at least having volumes of a manageable size, but the disadvantage of having a binding which allows the book to slip and slide out of square as soon as it is touched-and also the disadvantage that, sooner or later, the plastic comb binding will ensure that sheets get torn, rendering the original idea somewhat redundant.
The set costs the same in either format, leading one to the conclusion that those who purchased the unbound sheets (probably for aesthetic reasons) are subsidising the more expensive production methods employed on the bound version. Quite simply, the production values lack imagination. These are not books in the accepted sense, they are manuals-you know, the sort of things computer buffs are surrounded by.
And, despite all the work we know the project has entailed, the price of TUSH has to raise eyebrows. The high price may be because this is, when all is said and done, a copy-shop product--and if you have visited your local copy-shop recently, you will know they do not come cheap. Over a year ago, I tried to persuade George Vanderburgh that he could get the work produced less expensively in a perfect-bound version-and even provided costings from a British printer, which suggested that TUSH could be passed on to purchasers at a less heart-breaking price. We do know a little bit about publishing, here in ACDS headquarters, even if our knowledge of computers, like Holmes's knowledge of Geology, is practical but limited.
As is the case with all bibliographies, TUSH will become incomplete very quickly. To combat this, Ron De Waal promises a series of biannual supplements to keep users as up-to-date as possible. This, along with other developments, leads us into new realms of Sherlockian publishing: the optional extras-yet another ploy to convince users that the electronic version is the only worthwhile version.
The Title/Author Index will be available early in 1995. It will, when it is published, cost a further £20 (US$30, C$40) plus postage and handling. And it does not end there: you might also feel you need A Conversion guide for TUSH to enable you to cross refer to items in the previous incarnations of De Waal's fine work (£4, US$6, C$8 plus postage and handling). Then, when you have purchased your new computer, you will want HyperTUSH, the electronic Hypertext version of TUSH on three floppy disks (£50, US$75, C$100 plus postage and handling). When this happy day arrives, you'll be given a 40% discount if you own TUSH, or 50% if you own TUSH and the Index-the publicity leaflet does not say whether you have to return your printed TUSH to qualify, in the way you usually have to return a Master Disk for a software upgrade. And, when you finally have TUSH installed on your computer (MS-DOS compatible, but also runs of a MAC with DOS shell software), you will need How to use your TUSH by Doug and Dianne Elliott (£8, US$12, C$16 plus postage and handling).
Oh, dear! It does sound complicated, doesn't it? I'm delighted to see TUSH at long last but, despite all the optional extras and the no doubt endless possibilities offered by the electronic version, I think I'll be sticking to the printed word — when I've saved up enough to have all those loose sheets bound into easy to handle volumes.
Christopher Roden
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
