The Inner Room: Editorial (ACD Journal vol. 2 No. 1)
The Inner Room: Editorial [Vol. 2 No. 1] is an article written by David Stuart Davies published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2 No. 1, spring 1991).
This editorial celebrates the centenary of The Strand Magazine and argues that its partnership with Arthur Conan Doyle was decisive for the success of both. It traces how Holmes, later Doyle's other fiction and non-fiction, and the magazine's format grew together in a long association lasting until Doyle's death.
Editorial
Arthur Conan Doyle and The Strand Magazine were mutually successful. Both rose in the nation's consciousness and each complemented the other's fame. It was one of those fortuitous happenstances that, just as George Newnes was setting up his new and radically different literary magazine, Conan Doyle was ready to produce the most startling set of short stories which was to secure his lasting memory.
Newnes, who had safely nurtured Tit-Bits to a place of prominence, was eager to go up-market with a publication that would be "organically complete every month, like a book." Serials were out in their place were a series of complete tales. The magazine was to be monthly, illustrated and "to cost sixpence and be worth a shilling." Newnes had studied the American market and seen that the publications in the States were "smarter, livelier and more interesting." Originally, he had envisioned a periodical with "a picture on every page." Nothing like this had been seen in Britain. However, for technical reasons, it was not practical to be so lavish with illustrations and he modified his idea, allowing for a picture at every opening for the magazine, which was novelty enough. As Sherrinford turned into Sherlock, so The Burleigh Street Magazine became The Strand. With H. Greenhough Smith as Editor, the magazine was launched in January 1891.
It was somewhat typical of A.C.D., that the first story of his to appear in The Strand featured a product of modern science: a phonograph (a device he was to use later in The Mazarin Stone). Even though it was printed anonymously, The Voice of Science established the relationship between this lively new magazine and the young writer. Of course, the relationship was consolidated and enhanced when A.C.D. saw the possibility of writing a series of stories featuring his hero from A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of The Four. Each story would be complete, but the element of suspense and interest in the character and his adventures would work like a serial, enticing readers to buy the following issue to find out what this eccentric detective was up to next. As Conan Doyle recorded in his autobiography:
"... it had struck me that a single character running through a series, if it only engaged the reader, would bind that reader to that particular magazine. On the other hand, it had long seemed to me that the ordinary serial might be an impediment rather than a help to the magazine, since, sooner or later, one missed one number and afterwards it had lost all interest. Clearly the ideal compromise was a character which carried through, yet instalments which were each complete in themselves, so that the purchaser was always sure he could relish the whole contents of the magazine. I believe that I was the first to realize this and The Strand Magazine the first to put it into practice."
When A Scandal in Bohemia and The Red-Headed League landed on Greenhough Smith's desk, he was delighted. He remembered his reaction thus: "I at once realised that here was the greatest short story writer since Edgar Allan Poe. I remember rushing into Mr. Newnes' room and thrusting the story before his eyes."
A Scandal in Bohemia appeared in July 1891 and attracted considerable attention. The rest is history. With the help of the Holmes stories the magazine's sales soared and, as a result, other important writers were attracted to contribute, including W. W. Jacobs, E. Nesbitt, Rider Haggard, H. G. Wells and Arnold Bennett.
The Strand and Conan Doyle remained loyal to each other. Conan Doyle created Brigadier Gerard for the same market and all of his subsequent popular novels appeared in the pages of the magazine as well as many superbly crafted short stories. He wrote non-fiction pieces also including, for a fee of £5,000 his History of the British Campaign in France and Flanders.
When other British publications tried to poach him away with more lucrative offers, he resisted; and when, towards the end of his life, he produced articles which dealt with his growing interest in the spirit world, like the controversial feature on The Cottingley Fairies which appeared in the Christmas 1921 issue, The Strand published them, while Greenhough Smith tried, gently but firmly, to steer Conan Doyle towards conventional fiction. Conan Doyle, however, was not to be moved:
"I wish I could do as you wish, but, as you know, my life is dedicated to one end at present. I can only write what comes to me."
Like two old friends, which in a sense is what they were, they carried on in partnership until Conan Doyle's death in 1930: thirty-nine years of story telling. Because of the shift in popular reading habits following the Second World War, the magazine's own demise came in 1950. One can imagine the wraiths of Holmes, Challenger, Gerard, Rodney Stone, Sir Nigel et al haunting Burleigh Street in silent protest.
And so, in this centennial year of the birth of The Strand, we salute this publication which was so instrumental in helping the career of A.C.D. and which provided such a splendid showcase for his works.
David Stuart Davies
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
