The Parish Magazine No. 10
The Parish Magazine No. 10 is the newsletter of the The Arthur Conan Doyle Society published in march 1994.
The Parish Magazine No. 10
Illustration by George Willis Bardwell for the second authorized American edition (first American hardback edition) of Micah Clarke, published one hundred years ago, in September 1894, by Harper & Brothers.
A rare group shot of Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, as Holmes and Watson, in the company of the original Baker Street Irregulars. Photography by courtesy of Granada Television.
THE PARISH MAGAZINE
ISSUE NUMBER TEN: MARCH 1994
SUBSCRIPTIONS 1994/5
Members are reminded that subscription renewals are due on 1 June. Full details of rates for 1994/5 are included in this issue. A special remittance form is enclosed with this mailing: please save the cost of mailing reminders by sending your renewal without delay. Thank you.
Editorial
Eighty years ago, on Wednesday 20 May 1914, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his wife boarded the SS Olympic of the White Star Line and left Southampton bound for North America.
It is fitting, as the Society approaches its fifth anniversary, that we should, in a few weeks' time, be following in his footsteps as we head for the Society's first North American Convention in Toronto. It is fitting also that the Society, in celebration of that Convention and those successful five years, should embark on its first major publishing event and that the book published should be ACD's own account of his 1914 visit to North America.
Western Wanderings is the icing on the cake of the first five years: the first step to making many of ACD's more obscure writings available once more. It is a reward for five years hard and unceasing work to promote a belief: a belief that ACD was a writer and man worthy of greater attention than many had been prepared to allow.
The sunny Sunday morning in May 1989, when the Society's launch party was held at The George Inn, Southwark, seems a lifetime ago, and a great deal has happened since then. There have been mistakes and disappointments, successes and happiness — but behind it all there has been the conviction that this was the way to go. That I have a wife and partner who shares that conviction, who is there to help when the going gets a little rough, and who now spends as many hours as I do working on behalf of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society, makes the task much easier to handle.
We worked on Western Wanderings together, considering things that ACD wrote in our respective ways, commenting on issues from a British and a Canadian viewpoint. We hope that you, the members, will feel that we have done justice to ACD and the edition, and that you will help to make this major venture in the Society's history a success.
As seventy or more members from around the world gather in Toronto, we take heart from the level of interest now being shown in ACD. Drink a toast with us to Arthur Conan Doyle, The Arthur Conan Doyle Society — and the next five years.
Christopher Roden
Notes and News
SHERLOCK IN LA's tenth anniversary catalogue arrived recently. It is a nicely produced, 134 page cornucopia of Doylean and Sherlockian desirables. Books, records, scripts, film posters and stills are all here in this well-illustrated catalogue. Send US$2.50 to Sherlock in LA, 1741 Via Allena, Oceanside, CA 92056, USA for your copy.
Markus Geisser (St Gallerstrasse 20, CH-9320 Arbon, Switzerland) writes to tell us that The Reichenbach Irregulars, The Swiss Sherlock Holmes Society, is preparing to celebrate the centenary of ACD's memorable cross-mountain skiing expedition in the mountains of Davos. A special issue of The Reichenbach Journal is planned, and a whole weekend on the subject will be held in Meiringen between September 23-25. Anyone who is able to provide Markus with information on the subject of Conan Doyle and Switzerland should contact him direct.
PIECES OF HISTORY, Combe House, Forest Hill, Bideford, Devon (Tel: 0237 478205) specialises in original letters, documents, signatures, etc.. Rosalie Newton, the proprietor, would like to hear from anyone interested in buying or selling Conan Doyle material.
The Northern Musgraves Sherlock Holmes Society extends an invitation to its multi-society meeting at Granada Studios Tour on 11 June 1994. The focus of the meeting will be The Hound of the Baskervilles. Discussion, debate, papers and a special video presentation will explore different aspects of the novel. The meeting will run from 12.00 noon until 5.00 p.m. and will cost £15 per person (including a three course luncheon, coffee and Afternoon Tea). Members should note that although there will be access to Granada's Baker Street set, entrance to the main tour is not included.
Anyone who paid £38 for Dr Watson Books' facsimile of the first book edition of A Study in Scarlet will probably be less than pleased that the book is now being offered at the special promotional price of £25. Those still wanting a copy should contact Dr Watson Books at PO Box 1888, Bow, London E3 5PJ, quoting the offer as mentioned in this Society's publications. Better still, try to win yourself a copy for free. We have a copy of the book to give away as a prize to the winner of the quiz which appears elsewhere in The Parish Magazine.
'Battle lines drawn in struggle for South Africa's Land' ran a headline in The Times on 28 February. General Constand Viljoen, leader of the Afrikaner right, apparently has a quotation of ACD's hanging on his wall. 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,' says the article, was knighted during the Boer War for his services in a field hospital in Bloemfontein.' Well, of course, ACD was not knighted simply for serving in a field hospital — had that been the criteria, many hundreds would also have received the same honour. ACD considered that it was the pamphlet, 'The War in South Africa: Its Cause and Conduct', which won him the honour. The pamphlet was translated into every major language and many minor ones too. We pointed this out to The Times but the paper does not seem to have considered the matter sufficiently important to warrant correction.
Oxford University Press tells us that warehouse stocks of The Oxford Sherlock Holmes are virtually sold out. For those who have been awaiting its appearance in paperback, we can tell you that a number of revisions have been made and that these are now with the publishers. Plans are that Oxford World's Classics will issue the series in paperback, with Frederick Dorr Steele illustrations on the covers, in early October. The provisional price is £3.99 per volume, making them very competitive with the other series now in print. We should thank those who helped in a constructive way by bringing errors and omissions to our attention.
On the subject of The Oxford Sherlock Holmes, those of you who use William D. Goodrich's Good Old Index to search out canonical references, and are wondering just what use that volume will be with the new Oxford texts, need worry no longer. Philip Weller has compiled DOUBLOX, a set of tables which enables the simple conversion of a Doubleday reference to one in the Oxford series. Produced in a handy pocket-sized format, DOUBLOX is available from Sherlock Publications, 6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 3RU. Price: UK — £3.50; Rest of Europe — £3.50/US$7; Rest of World — £4.00/US$8. All dollar payments in dollar bills please.
Christopher and Barbara Roden have been bringing ACD and his creation Sherlock Holmes to local radio in recent months. In September last year, they were featured on BBC Radio Leeds' 'Real Lives' programme and, in January, ACD and Holmes were the topic of conversation during an afternoon broadcast for BBC Radio Solent. During the same weekend as the Radio Solent interview, the Rodens tutored a weekend on The Detective in Fiction' at Chichester's Earnley Concourse. Philip and Jane Weller conducted the session dealing specifically with Holmes and ACD.
Those who attended the weekend could not quite believe just how much influence ACD had on the development of the detective story: even without trying, we found Holmes cropping up in quotes from Hercule Poirot and Inspector Morse. Now we wonder how that could have happened? The Rodens also contributed an evening lecture on ACD to Warrington Libraries' week-long 'Festival of Literature' in November.
From the peaceful village of Minstead, whose churchyard is the resting place of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his second wife, comes news that all is not well within the Parish Council. Minstead's Rector, The Rev. Michael Delany, resigned in January following some unpleasantness. The row centres around plans to build a children's Sunday School area within the church. Following Delany's resignation, it seems that the PCC, many of whose members are also reported to have resigned, will back down and leave the church undisturbed. All of this, of course, has nothing whatever to do with ACD, but Dame Jean Conan Doyle tells us that one newspaper (The Telegraph?) included a photograph of ACD's grave alongside their article on the subject. All proving that the Press still sees ACD as a suitable topic around which to write a story.
Caveat Emptor! Further to our mention of the Sherlock Holmes Memorabilia Company in The Parish Magazine #9, we noted a particularly large mark up on items available through alternative outlets. Some books, in particular, are very highly priced at the SHMC — a copy of an early Strand, with six Sherlock Holmes stories, bore an asking price of £65! A rather startling example, however, was provided by Philip Weller's Elementary Holmes, which SHMC offers for sale at £9.99 (the printed price on the cover has been erased and replaced). The new revised edition of Elementary Holmes is available direct from Sherlock Publications for £5.50(UK): £6.00/S12(Europe); £6.00/S12(Rest of World, surface mail): £7.00/ $14(Rest of World, Airmail). Dollar payments should be in US banknotes; sterling cheques should be payable to 'Sherlock Publications'. Send orders to 6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 3RU. Having issued this warning, we also have to say, lest we are considered less than fair, that the Sherlock Holmes Memorabilia Company is a source for some rather nice inexpensive items too!
Sherlock Holmes Postage Stamps: we have a very limited stock remaining of sets of five envelopes in A.G. Bradbury's Victorian Print series, each envelope bearing one of the five stamps in the series. The price is £25/US$37.50/Cdn$50. Two of Royal Mail's 'News on Stamps' media packs, as advertised in The Parish Magazine 19, also remain. Price £20/US$30/Cdn$40. All prices include postage and packing. Please contact us at the Society's address if you are interested.
Members who subscribe to The Sherlock Holmes Gazette will be particularly saddened to learn of the death of its Editor and owner, Robert Godfrey. Since taking over from the magazine's founder, Liz Wiggins, Godfrey had changed the image of the Gazette in an effort to make it more commercially viable. Wiggins retained an editorial role, although trying to ascertain who was actually in charge of the editorial function became more and more difficult as time went on. We understand that a buyer for the Gazette is being sought, and that no further issues will appear until that matter has been resolved. Until then, expired subscriptions are being held intact. We'll report any further developments as they become apparent.
Membership of The Conan Doyle (Crowborough) Establishment is by invitation only, but the Establishment has recently introduced a category of Associate Membership, which is deserving of attention. Malcolm Payne gives full details in his 'News from Crowborough' column in this issue.
Hindhead's Turn Will Come is a large format (A4), glossy-paged, limited edition book, sub-titled "The Unauthorised History of a Golf Club', but its main interest for Doyleans is that it contains numerous references to the first president of that golf club, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. There are some elementary errors in connection with ACD, such as the dating of his knighthood, but also a wealth of information not available elsewhere. This book is not available through bookshops, but members of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society have been offered an opportunity to buy the last 25 copies at a discounted price of £10/US$20. The book is rather heavy and postage costs to be added are £3.50 (UK), £4.50 (outside UK). All profits from the book are being donated to the Macmillan Cancer Relief Fund. Sterling cheques should be made payable to 'Sherlock Publications' (dollar payments in banknotes only please). Send orders to 6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 3RU.
We are pleased to announce that Troy Taylor of Decatur, Illinois, is joining our regular team of contributors to The Parish Magazine. Troy, who runs The Old Book Barn, Box 500, Forsyth, Illinois 62535, edits a number of newsletters and the magazine The Whitechapel Gazette, described as a journal of Sherlock Holmes and the Victorian Era. Issue #3 is now available and features a twenty-four page article on Conan Doyle and Houdini. Troy will be contributing the occasional cartoon to future issues. For details of The Whitechapel Gazette, write to the address given above. If you haven't yet bought your Oxford Sherlock Holmes, Troy is offering complete sets at the remarkable price of US$75 (shipping included).
If you have any items of Notes and News, we shall be pleased to consider them for publication. Send all submissions to the editorial address.
The Micah Clarke Expedition
3/4 September 1994
For those members who want to get to grips with one of Conan Doyle's historical novels, there is no better opportunity than to join the Society's Micah Clarke Expedition during the weekend of 3/4 September 1994. The expedition is being organised by Philip Weller, who has provided the following information. This is sure to be an absorbing weekend, highly relevant to any study of Conan Doyle's historical fiction, and is worthy of your support.
The function will commence at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday 3 September with a guided tour of Lyme Regis, where the Duke of Monmouth landed and the rebellion began. After tea there will be a slide-illustrated lecture on the overall history of the rebellion and the route of Micah Clarke. Following Dinner there will be a discussion of various aspects of the book.
Accommodation will be provided in Lyme Regis at the hotel used by Monmouth's cavalry officers. On the Sunday the expedition will travel to Taunton to examine some of the locations associated with the rebellion there, before continuing to Bridgwater. Lunch will be taken during a private visit to the Bridgwater Museum, where there will be viewings of a video of the whole campaign and of a panoramic model of the Battle of Sedgemoor. In the afternoon, the expedition will visit the church in Chedzoy from which the battle was observed, and then move on to the Royalist headquarters at Westonzoyland and the actual battlefield.
The expedition will disperse from Bridgwater, adjacent to the M5, at approximately 5.00 p.m. Transport throughout the weekend will be by means of private cars in convoy, although it may be possible to offer a few places as lifts.
The cost for this mini-weekend, including accommodation, dinner, breakfast, lunch, an accompanying monograph and all entrance fees, will be £45 per head. Accommodation is limited, so early booking is strongly recommended, with bookings closing on 30 April. For further details send two first class stamps (or IRCS) to the expedition organiser: Sqn Ldr Philip Weller, 6 Bramham Moor, Hill Head, Fareham, Hampshire PO14 3RU, England.
Back to Baker Street
The London Festival of Sherlock Holmes Friday 20 May to Monday 30 May 1994
Originally announced at the end of last year as simply a 'Festival of Holmes', the title of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London's eleven day celebration of Holmes's return to London following 'The Great Hiatus' is now officially 'Back to Baker Street'. Events are open to all-comers, whether members of the SHSL or not — if you require a booking form and further details, write to Mrs Pamela Bruxner, St Cuthbert's Cottage, 23 North Street, Barming, Maidstone, Kent ME16 9HE, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
Those living within easy travelling distance of 'that great cesspool' will be able to derive most benefit from the events being staged, but with events taking place over two weekends, one of which is a Bank Holiday, there is an opportunity for everyone to attend at least some of the Festival's events. Those intending to stay in London for a few days, or even longer, may wish to know that the Sherlock Holmes Hotel is offering special conference related' rates during the event: Friday/Saturday/Sunday nights at £53 per single room or £67 per twin/double room per night; Monday Thursday nights at £76.50 per single room or £85 per twin/double room per night. Contact the hotel direct (071-486-6161) if you are interested in their offer.
Many of the events will appeal to Doyleans as well as Sherlockians. Members of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society are particularly asked to note that the unveiling of the plaque to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Devonshire Place, which the Society is sponsoring, will take place on Sunday, 22 May at 11 a.m.
The following list will give an idea of events taking place on the various days of the Festival:
Friday 20.5.94: Visit to the City of London Police Museum.
Saturday 21.5.94: Reception at the Criterion. Official Launch of the Festival. Cruise on the River Thames. An Evening with the Northern Musgraves at the Charing Cross Hotel.
Sunday 22.5.94: Unveiling of Plaque, Devonshire Place (No charge). Buffet lunch at the Sherlock Holmes pub. Sherlock & Peter (a discussion with the Dorothy L. Sayers Society).
Monday 23.5.94: Bruce Partington Walk (No charge).
Tuesday 24.5.94: Open Day at Marylebone Library (No charge). Debate at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel: "This house believes that the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are of greater enduring popularity than those of Oscar Wilde' (With the Oscar Wilde Society).
Wednesday 25.5.94: Empty House Walk (No charge). Evening Dinner and AGM of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.
Thursday 26.5.94: Turkish Bath. Inquest into the death of the Hon. Ronald Adair at the Law Society.
Friday 27.5.94: Tea at the House of Commons. International Sherlock Holmes Symposium at New Scotland Yard.
Saturday 28.5.94: Victorian Ball at the Reform Club.
Sunday 29.5.94: All-day Holmesian Scavenger Hunt. Party at St Bartholomew's Hospital.
Monday 30.5.94: Coach tour of South London.
Those events for which no charge is being made are indicated, although you should note that, in some instances, tube fares will be payable. For other events, charges range from a nominal £5 per head for Museum entry, to £55 per head for the Victorian Ball.
London is never an inexpensive place and members travelling from abroad may find it advantageous to check with their travel agent to see what airline/hotel packages are available to them. The British Hotel Reservation Centre (071-828-2425) is also available to suggest hotels/guest houses in the London area. For those fortunate enough to be able to attend all events, the whole Festival will cost £205(US$300) per person (note, however, that meals are not available at all functions). Taking advantage of a double room at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel on Baker Street, the ten-day event will cost £1152 (US$1700) for you and your partner.
Having recently been heavily involved in the organisation of an event on the opposite side of the Atlantic, we, as much as anyone else, appreciate all the hard work that goes into putting this type of event together. The SHSL has a large team working to cram what would, ideally, be a year's planning into a few months, to ensure that the Festival is a success. We feel sure that it will be. Give it your support if you can.
Subscription Renewal 1994/5
Members are reminded that subscriptions to The Arthur Conan Doyle Society are due for renewal on 1 June 1994.
Despite the heavy increases in postal charges announced in October last year, subscription levels remain unchanged for the coming year. Obviously, the Society handles a large volume of correspondence and members are again asked to consider enclosing postage stamps or IRCS if a reply to a specific enquiry is required. This will assist in efforts to absorb the latest, and future, increases in postal costs.
Joint Membership
The Joint Membership' category, introduced last year, has proved popular and will be continued.
Entitlement
Membership of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society entitles you to receive ACD - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society and two copies of The Parish Magazine within your subscription period. Subscriptions run from 1 June to 31 May the following year.
North American Members
U.S. and Canadian members may continue to make payments to the Society by personal cheque drawn either in US$ or Cdn$. All cheques should be made payable to The Arthur Conan Doyle Society.
The Arthur Conan Doyle Society continues to lead the field in catering for its overseas membership: the Society remains the only group of its kind to accept personal cheques in both US and Canadian dollars.
Subscription Rates 1994/5
| Full Membership (U.K.) | £12.50 |
| Joint Membership (U.K.) | £15.00 |
| Full Membership (Rest of World) | £14.00 |
| Joint Membership (Rest of World) | £16.50 |
All publications are sent by surface mail unless the relevant Airmail Supplement is remitted as part of the subscription.
Airmail supplements:
| USA/Canada | £5.00 |
| Australasia/Japan | £5.50 |
North American members may remit by personal cheque in US or Canadian dollars, by sterling cheques drawn on a U.K. bank, or by International Money Order.
| US$ | Cdn$ | |
|---|---|---|
| Non Airmail Subscription | $27.00 | $31.00 |
| Non Airmail Joint Subscription | $31.00 | $36.00 |
| Airmail Subscription | $35.00 | $39.00 |
| Airmail Joint Subscription | $39.00 | $44.00 |
Subscriptions should be sent to: The Arthur Conan Doyle Society, Ashcroft, 2 Abbottsford Drive, Penyffordd, Chester CH4 0JG to arrive not later than 1 June 1994.
No further mailings of Society publications will be made to those members whose renewal subscription has not been received by 31 July 1994.
All cheques should be made payable to 'The Arthur Conan Doyle Society'.
The Devonshire Place Commemorative Plaque
The simple wording on the commemorative plaque, which The Arthur Conan Doyle Society is sponsoring at 2 Devonshire Place, will be as follows:
- SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
- AUTHOR
- 1859-1930
- WORKED
- AND WROTE HERE
- IN 1891
The plaque will be unveiled by Dame Jean Conan Doyle at 11.00 a.m. on Sunday 22 May 1994 and we shall be pleased to see Society members at the event. No formal booking for the event is necessary, although as it takes place during the Sherlock Holmes Society of London's 'Back to Baker Street' Festival week, there may be a fairly large number of people in attendance.
On behalf of the Society, we should like to thank those people who have made donations to assist with the cost of the plaque. We are still able to accept contributions from anyone, or any group, who would like to be associated with this tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
A Personal Statement
As the members of this Society will know, the Society's administration and the preparation of its publications is work which occupies most of our leisure time. We are prepared to devote that time for the good that comes from it: the success of the Society itself, and the furthering of the reputation of Arthur Conan Doyle. Some people believe that, because we do so much for the Society, anything we say or do is naturally construed as 'official policy' of the Society. That is, quite obviously, not the case and we feel sure that the majority of free-thinking members would agree that any suggestion that we should be debarred from expressing a personal viewpoint would be a restriction of personal liberty. We are always careful, however, that when we do express a personal viewpoint, we make it clear that it is such by omitting any reference to the Society beneath our signatures. And never do we write on Society letterhead in connection with issues that some may consider contentious.
We are making this personal statement in the pages of The Parish Magazine in view of some responses to our recent personal letters and comments in the Sherlockian press regarding The Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street, London. It seems necessary to explain why, when many of the spokespersons for the 'Sherlockian Establishment' dismiss the Museum out of hand, we find some redeeming features. We reiterate that these are personal views, and are not put forward as 'policy', or otherwise, of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society, nor as any form of endorsement of the Museum by the Society.
We had not visited the Museum until September 1992, relying, until that time, on reports made by others shortly after the Museum opened. We had heard that it was shoddy and poorly assembled, but felt that the best way to assess its development was to visit it ourselves.
On our first visit, we saw nothing with which to be alarmed. We walked round, trying to put ourselves in the role of an interested visitor, and trying to put the minutiae of Sherlockian detail out of our minds. The Museum is, after all, a representation, in just the same way that other attempts to re-create the Baker Street rooms are representations. They are one person's attempt to re-create something which existed only in ACD's mind and, as we all know, ACD had a rather uncaring attitude to details in his Sherlock Holmes stories. So, we argue, however much attention, time and money is expended on creating 'Baker Street rooms', it is all, at the end of the day, pure supposition. Sherlock Holmes never existed — and neither did his rooms in Baker Street.
Many of the artifacts mentioned in the stories, and which we expected to see, were in place. Some were not. The displays were reasonably well presented; the staff were friendly, although, recognising that they were not totally familiar with all events in the stories, we took the time to talk to them and found them willing to listen and interested in what we had to say. A few things were poorly done: there were some inaccuracies and some anachronisms, most notably a letter from Australia bearing a 1992 stamp and postmark and pinned, with others less contemporary, to the mantelpiece with a jack-knife. On the whole, we felt it an acceptable introduction to the world and times of the fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, and said so. We also made it quite clear that we were in no way apologists for the Museum's proprietor, Mr John Aidiniantz, or for his actions.
We were certainly aware of reports that Aidiniantz claims this, that, or the other item actually belonged to Sherlock Holmes. We understand that certain items have been sold to Japan, passed off as genuinely belonging to Holmes, and have earned ridiculous sums of money as a result. We have heard that Aidiniantz claims that ACD actually stayed in (or visited) the house which is now the Museum. We have not encountered such claims personally — but we certainly do not condone them.
What we are trying to do and our most vehement critics seem unable to grasp this most simple of points is place the Museum into perspective. On the several occasions we have visited the Museum since September 1992, we have noticed an improvement. That improvement was most noticeable on our last visit, in February this year, when it was obvious that further work had been carried out and that a considerable number of new items had been added to the displays. On each occasion, the Museum has been warm and welcoming, the staff pleasant, and the visitors obviously enjoying themselves. There was no sign of discontentment that people had parted with £5 against their will, and in any case £5 is not so unacceptable a sum in the light of charges made by many other establishments in London. The choice is there: if you want to go into the Museum, you will pay £5. No-one is forcing your hand.
Our feeling is that the Museum serves a purpose by introducing large numbers of people to the concept of Sherlock Holmes. If only a dozen or so people each week go away, having learned something of Holmes and ACD, to read the Sherlock Holmes stories as written by Arthur Conan Doyle, then the Museum has done some good. What we want to see is more people discovering the world of Sherlock Holmes and the work of Arthur Conan Doyle.
It saddens us that our critics are unable to respond other than by personal slight. It has apparently been suggested recently that our speaking in the Museum's favour might be because we have an interest, financial or otherwise, in the Museum. We categorically refute any such suggestion. We respect other people's viewpoints on the matter, just as we would hope other people might respect ours. We do wish, however, that when they see a need to disagree so vehemently with us, they might feel able to discuss such matters with us rather than resorting to the infantile spite which presently marks their actions and words.
We hope this makes our position regarding The Sherlock Holmes Museum absolutely clear. We invite discussion on the matter from anyone who either supports our viewpoint or feels that it is wide of the mark. The Sherlock Holmes Museum exists and cannot be brushed under the carpet simply because it displeases a small percentage of people. The actions of the proprietor are another matter, and we are totally opposed to any of his outrageous claims and spurious statements. The pages of The Parish Magazine are open for your views.
Christopher & Barbara Roden
Granada's Holmes: The Final Farewell?
By the time this issue of The Parish Magazine reaches members, British television viewers will have had the opportunity of assessing the latest six Sherlock Holmes films from Granada. If reports are to be believed, there will be no more. The latest series has been beset by problems — most notably Jeremy Brett's illness, which led to filming being suspended. In a post-script to his Foreword for the latest revised edition of Peter Haining's The Television Sherlock Holmes (Virgin, 1994), Jeremy writes:
- I apologise for not being as lean as I should have been in the last twenty films. This has been due sadly to what has only recently been diagnosed as heart failure. I am now living on foxgloves and water pills, and I'm told that in the not-too-distant future I will be lean once more.
Latest reports are that the weight is off, that Brett is back to the 13 stones he weighed when Granada began production in 1983, and that he is looking forward to the future with relish. The Daily Mirror (5 March 1994) quotes him as saying:
- I feel we are really going out on a high. Of the forty-one films we have made, some of these are the best. But now I have to get back to my classical career... I've done my bit by Conan Doyle. I have survived to tell the tale.
Advance reports indicate that the new films offer a much more acceptable interpretation of ACD's stories than did either 'The Last Vampyre' or 'The Eligible Bachelor'. It is to be hoped so, for those two films undid, in four hours, much of the hard work of the previous ten years. But there will be changes in this series, too:
'The Mazarin Stone' is said to incorporate 'The Three Garridebs', 'The Golden Pince-Nez' features Mycroft Holmes in place of Watson — Edward Hardwicke was away filming Shadowlands when this episode was made; and, apparently, Mycroft replaces Holmes to do all of the investigating in one episode, following a script re-write occasioned by Brett's illness. So, undoubtedly, the purists will be in critical mood again although this may be tempered if the scripts are an improvement on the two two-hour disasters. The verdict will come soon enough. For the time being we wish Jeremy Brett a speedy recovery to full health and thank him for providing an interpretation of Holmes which so many now regard as definitive and which has done so much to introduce a new generation to the Sherlock Holmes stories of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Some time ago, Edward Hardwicke was kind enough to write a few words for us, summarising his view of the Holmes-Watson relationship. This is an appropriate moment to publish those thoughts and also to congratulate Edward on his superlative interpretation of Watson. Edward's interpretation has grown in stature with each performance, enabling him to withstand all efforts of various scriptwriters to make Watson a lesser character than he truly is.
Holmes and Watson — what makes the relationship?
Edward Hardwicke
For the last eight years, Sir Arthur's Sherlock Holmes stories have been the centre of my working life. Apart from being 'damned good yarns', they give, I think, a quite unique feel of the period and the social mores which governed everyone's behaviour so rigidly.
The special threat of the supernatural which is debunked by science makes for great dramatic conflict. For these reasons alone, the stories lend themselves wonderfully to film. To this you add the main ingredients, Holmes and Watson. Their relationship is a microcosm of all these elements. Holmes's logic and applied science is tempered by Watson's Victorian romanticism and, again, this is a wonderful basis for drama.
Looking specifically at the relationship, I believe that the basis of any close friendship that is to say people who spend a great deal of their working time in each other's company — must depend on humour: an element of teasing, mickey-taking, call it what you will. This seems to me an essential in making the Holmes-Watson relationship real. And then, Watson is a Doctor: no job for a slouch. In a sense, being a doctor is being a detective. You have to know how to diagnose and hence the deep respect Watson has for Holmes's ability.
Finally, one of the most important characteristics of the stories is their optimism. When Holmes puts things right, you have a feeling they will stay right. This is a quality missing from our cynical age. That is why I think the stories appeal so much to the young. All credit to Sir Arthur.
Western Wanderings
The Society's first major publishing project will be a reprint of Conan Doyle's four articles, which appeared in the Cornhill Magazine between January and April 1915 under the title 'Western Wanderings'. The articles tell of ACD's impression of North America during his visit in 1914 and, although the contents were later included, in very abbreviated form, in the first edition of Memories and Adventures, they have never before been collected into a single volume.
Western Wanderings will be issued casebound in red buckram, gold-blocked on the front and spine, in a limited edition of one hundred and fifty copies. An acetate dust-wrapper is being added for additional protection. Richard Lancelyn Green has provided a new bibliographical note and Christopher and Barbara Roden have added a lengthy Introduction, which draws on contemporary newspaper reports to provide coverage of Conan Doyle's visit and provide comment on many of the matters he mentioned in his articles. The volume is illustrated with six photographs from the Lancelyn Green Collection, some of which are published here for the first time.
A publicity flyer for Western Wanderings accompanies this issue of The Parish Magazine, but members should note that the special pre-publication price of £15 applies only until 30 April. After that date, the price will be £17.50. Postage and packing are extra.
This major reprint will be an important addition to any Conan Doyle collection, and is sure to be popular with members. Early ordering is essential if you wish to avoid disappointment, as there are no plans for a further reprint. Your support of this venture will also ensure that the Society is in a position to publish further volumes in the future. Don't delay order your copy now.
WESTERN WANDERINGS
ISBN 1-899060-00-6
Publication date: 29 April 1994
Notes from a Lumber-Room
Catherine Cooke
'A man should keep his little brain. attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library where he can get it if he wants.' — 'Five Orange Pips'
Those of us in, or in easy reach of, London were given a rare treat towards the end of last year: a whole season of Sherlock Holmes films down at the National Film Theatre and Museum of the Moving Image. Without a doubt the most popular event, judging from the size of the audience, was the first — a preview of the new Granada Sherlock Holmes series, 'The Three Gables'. This was, however, far from being the best event for many Sherlockians. That honour fell to the next showing: 'The Man with the Twisted Lip' and 'The Illustrious Client' from the 1965 BBC series starring Douglas Wilmer and Nigel Stock — the series that, I admit, hooked me and had me reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories before it was over. This series has worn well, and deserves to be known to a far wider audience than it is at present. Among the other offerings were the 1968 BBC 'Hound', with Stock again as Watson and Peter Cushing as Holmes, and that of 1982 with Tom Baker and Terence Rigby.
The Doylean interest was catered for with documentaries shown along with the BBC's inappropriately named 40 Minutes The Case of Sherlock Holmes' (it ran for some 70 minutes!). 'Science Fiction: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Link' from Yorkshire Television (1992) had a rather young and dashing Holmes in the shape of Reece Dinsdale investigating the Piltdown Man affair. It was an interesting idea, though one used elsewhere, with Hugh Fraser as Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle appeared in the somewhat unlikely shape of Paul Darrow (he of 'Blake's 7'), both as a friend of Holmes and one of the prime suspects. The other documentary was 'Stamp of Greatness: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — The Man who was Sherlock Holmes' from Channel Four (1986). Iain Cuthbertson appeared rather more believably as Conan Doyle in reconstructions of various events from his life, including the Edalji and Slater cases.
The last documentary, together with seeing the new book on the Slater case (reviewed in the 1993 issue of ACD) and an enquiry arriving asking for the dates Slater was convicted and released, sent me burrowing off in my own collection of Union Jacks for a half-remembered article on Slater.
For those whose memory of the business is a little rusty, the facts are briefly these: Miss Gilchrist was murdered on the evening of Monday 21 December 1908. Slater was arrested on the Lusitania off New York on the morning of Saturday 2 January 1909. His trial began on 3 May 1909. Convicted, he was sentenced to death. On 25 May 1909, two days before the sentence was due to be carried out, he was reprieved. Slater spent the next eighteen-and-a-half years in prison. His release was announced on 10 November 1927, and he walked free on 14 November; the Court of Appeal found for him on Friday 20 July 1928, setting aside the 1909 verdict. His ensuing dispute with Conan Doyle over costs seems to have lasted from August 1928 to October 1929.
The Union Jack was, of course, one of the main organs in which his devotees could find accounts of the cases of Sexton Blake. A fairly regular feature was articles on famous true crimes. The Union Jack for 12 December 1925, apart from revealing 'The Mystery of Mrs Bardell's Xmas Pudding' (Blake bases his deduction on a knotted string, as does Holmes in 'The Cardboard Box'), bore as 'The U.J. Detective Supplement' Vol.3, no.50, "The Riddle of Oscar Slater': 'Of all the Christmas riddles that have ever been propounded, that of the unfortunate Oscar Slater is surely the most tragic. Does his case really form a "serious blot on the administration of justice" or? The reader must judge for himself.'
- 'I suppose I must reconcile myself to dying within prison walls, but it is hard! I have lived in the hope that, even if my innocence were never established, there would come an end to my imprisonment, and I should be able to see the outer world again. But there is no relief now but death.'
- So spoke Oscar Slater recently when told that an appeal for his release from prison had been refused. For seventeen years Slater has been incarcerated in a Scottish gaol, suffering for a crime committed at Christmastime, and suffering for a crime of which many people think that he was innocent.
- The crime of which he was found guilty is one that presents many interesting problems to the crime student, and readers of the 'Supplement' will find considerable mental exercise in weighing the facts for themselves, and in forming their opinion.
There follows a fairly detailed description of the crime and its scene, and the case against Slater, which notes that the brooch he had pawned, and which had initially set the police on his trail, was not that stolen from Miss Gilchrist, and that the hammer found in his luggage could not have inflicted the blows that killed her.
- The defence put up the best show possible, but they did not have the legal big guns of the calibre of the prosecution, and the result was that, after an absence of eighty minutes the jury, by a majority, found Slater guilty. It is significant to note that out of the fifteen jurors nine were for conviction, five for not proven', and one for not guilty. In England such a difference of opinion would have meant a fresh trial.
The effect of the verdict on Slater is described, and the sentence. The 'Supplement' also highlights the evidence for Slater's innocence which was not admitted, the alibi provided for him by two women.
- Slater was convicted and nearly hanged; but he was convicted on circumstantial evidence. A gambler and an adventurer, a wanderer and a Bohemian, his mode of life shocked the rigid puritanical notions of the Scottish populace.
- One writer said publicly in the Press: 'Even if he did not do it, he deserved to be condemned, anyhow."
- Such a statement shows how biased public opinion was against a man who was friendless and alone.
- The case aroused the interest of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous creator of Sherlock Holmes. A newspaper agitation was started, and three years after the trial a commission to examine the case was appointed by the Government. Nothing resulted.
- There the case remains. The mystery of Christmas 1908 is a mystery still. Slater has declared his innocence; an unbiased review of the evidence exonerates him of the crime.
The writer of the 'Supplement goes on to theorise about how the murderer gained entry to the flat surely he was let in by Miss Gilchrist herself — and to speculate about the meaning of the papers found scattered about the spare bed-room, the nature of which had not been made known.
- The only thing that seems certain about the case is that Slater did not murder Miss Gilchrist. Never was there a case which more needed the tactful work of real detectives, and never was there a more obvious case in which an apparently innocent man was found guilty.
- It has been stated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that the Slater case is 'a serious blot upon the administration of justice in Scotland,' and possibly readers of the 'Supplement' will have already come to that conclusion.
The interesting thing about all this is that it appeared in a popular magazine aimed at the juvenile market — Blake was, after all, often called the office boy's Sherlock Holmes' and that it appeared in December 1925, nearly two full years before Slater, merely 'pardoned", was finally released from prison.
News from Crowborough
Malcolm Payne
The very latest piece of news, which, as I write, has yet to happen, is that Dame Jean Conan Doyle will be coming to Crowborough on 24 February to open the newly furbished hall, now known as "The Whitehill Centre'. This was formerly the Salvation Army Hall, and was opened in the early 1900s by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We are looking forward to this ceremony, and to being in the company of Dame Jean once more. Could it be that February will smile upon us, and send a nice sunny day? We trust so, for any ceremony that we have had here that has had anything at all to do with Sir Arthur has had fair weather. 23 May 1992, the day on which the Arthur Conan Doyle Memorial was unveiled, boasted temperatures well into the 80s Fahrenheit. This fact is very evident when one watches the video of the proceedings: most of the visitors are fanning themselves with their souvenir programmes!
An alteration to our constitution in November 1993 enabled us to offer Associate Memberships. These can be had for a donation of £10 sterling in the UK and the EC, or US$16.00 (currency)/US$20.00 (cheque) abroad. Associate Members will then be entitled to receive a publication to be known as The Birthday Newsletter. This title may give the wrong impression as to size: it will be in A4 format (comparable to eight and a half by eleven inches), up to one hundred pages long, and will be presented as a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle research file in a card folder with facsimile MSS. The Newsletter will contain articles of new research, newly transcribed interviews with staff and acquaintances of Conan Doyle and his family, and copies of newspaper reports, cuttings and photographs.
As the name of the Newsletter suggests, it will be published annually every 22 May. It does not take a Sherlock Holmes to deduce this, or to realise that as we did not change our constitution until November 1993, our 1994 issue will be the first. Everyone joining after May 1994 will of course receive the first issue. While we have had little publicity about the move as of yet, we already have a number of Associate Members from home and abroad, bringing with them glowing remarks from enthusiastic supporters of Sir Arthur's life and works.
For three days at the beginning of February, the Actor Sharers presented The Penultimate Problem of Sherlock Holmes by John Nassivera at the Trinity Arts Centre in nearby Tunbridge Wells. Such is the atmosphere in our Conan Doyle Room that the entire cast used it to practice some of their parts in a true Victorian venue, surrounded by ephemera strongly connected with Holmes's creator. One small point in their publicity would have raised a roar of laughter from Sir Arthur: the group stated that 'Arthur Conan Doyle wrote many of his best known books in the potting shed behind "Windlesham"'!
We have some new first day covers: one has been issued, and others are in the pipeline. Available now is a 'Sherlock Holmes's Birthday' limited edition of fifty, each one handstamped Crowborough, 6 January 1994 with one of the Holmes postage stamps. The envelope is decorated with a sketch of 'Windlesham' and one of Sir Arthur, and is handstamped 'Posted at Windlesham', with a special celebratory stamp cachet and the signature of the Founder/Curator. Price for the UK and the EC is £4.00 sterling; for the USA and others abroad it is £4.00 sterling, US$8.00 in currency, or US$12.00 by cheque. All prices include postage and packing. Other first day covers on the way are the 65th anniversary of the passing of Sir Arthur, and an ACD birthday cover which will feature ACD bowling W. G. Grace on 25 August 1900 and a W.G. Grace stamp. These covers are the same price as the one described above, and will be limited to fifty per issue. Associate Members will receive a 50p or US$1.00 discount on each cover. For information on any of the covers, contact Richard Greep at The Limes, Eridge Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, or ring him at (0892) 655534.
We also have copies available of our publication Recollections of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, reviewed in the most recent issue of ACD. The price is £4.50 (plus 50p postage and packing in the UK and 75p for the EC), or US$12.00 in currency/US$15.00 by cheque from abroad. If you're paying by cheque, then why not join us and become an Associate Member as well? Special rates are available for those wanting five copies or more of Recollections: please write to Malcolm Payne at The Conan Doyle Room, The Cross Hotel, Crowborough, East Sussex. Copies will be signed on request.
Finally, I would like to thank Christopher and Barbara Roden for allowing us space in the Parish Magazine for this news, and for all they do on behalf of us all, in selflessly working to further the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Supper at Waterloo
'I had some supper at Waterloo.' — Sherlock Holmes in 'The Crooked Man'
Chris Redmond
To a great mind nothing is little, as a certain S. Holmes is alleged to have said. And from the pen of a great man, which we will all acknowledge Arthur Conan Doyle to have been, no work is truly small. It might be of value, therefore, to apply close attention to a few lines by ACD which have almost certainly never before been discussed in scholarly literature, and to see what might be learned from them.
The lines, chosen more or less at random, are the poem 'The Dying Whip', which first appeared in Songs of Action (1898), was reprinted in Collected Poems of Conan Doyle (1922), and so far as I am aware has never been seen anywhere else. And a good thing too: for the main thing one learns from a reading of this poem is that even a great author is capable of writing bad, bad stuff and getting it published. This is a useful lesson to learn, for it helps us see the creator in proportion (ACD was not, after all, infallible!) and, furthermore, it helps provide a standard of comparison by which works acknowledged to be brilliant shine all the more brilliantly. ACD, who was many things, has never been largely praised as a poet, but he did publish three books of verse, and persuaded John Murray to issue that 1922 collection. Most Doyleans are familiar at least with 'The Inner Room', although whether it can be commended for its literary merit, or only for the light it sheds on ACD's psychology, is open to some discussion. A little attention to one of his other poetic works, then, is not completely unfair, although it cannot be completely complimentary either.
To 'The Dying Whip', then. The poem is what has become known to literary critics as a dramatic monologue, although it is not rich in drama, lacking any twist of plot, any slowly dawning surprise or secret such as those that enliven the dramatic monologues of Robert Browning. At one point the reader thinks something of the sort is coming, with a reference to 'two or three... whom I never seed afore', but nothing is made of it. The poem is simply the comments of a 'whip', a horsy man whose life has been spent around the stables and specifically in the service of a hunt. He acknowledges his fatal illness, boasts of knowing the voice of every dog in the pack, recalls bathetically the glorious incident in which he 'saved the pack' from one of its members which had gone rabid, grows briefly excited as he hears the hunt ride by, and weakens again. The poem ends in anticlimax:
- But my day was yesterday, so lay me down again.
- You can draw the curtain, Maggie, right across the winder pane.
Much of what is wrong with this poem is evident in that final couplet. Even its rhythm is awkward, a point that requires some attention to technical matters. This poem consists of twenty-two stanzas, each with four lines of iambic heptameter: that is, a metre with seven 'feet' to the line, each foot consisting nominally of one unstressed an one stressed syllable. Iambics are the commonest rhythm in English verse, reflecting well the typical structure of English phrases, such as a preposition and its object or the particle 'to' and an infinitive verb. Iambic heptameter is the same as Shakespeare's characteristic pentameter, only longer, with seven feet rather than five to the line.
Iambic heptameter, per se, is not common, but a slight variation on it is very common indeed: quatrains that alternate tetrameter (four feet) and trimeter (three feet), and that could just as easily be written in heptameter couplets. We find this metre in Longfellow—
- It was the schooner Hesperus
- That sailed the wintry sea;
- And the skipper had taken his little daughter,
- To bear him company.
— and in many another poet. Strikingly, we find it in most of the 1650 Scottish Psalter, the metrical version of the Psalms of David which are the traditional music of the Church of Scotland:
- The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.
- He makes me down to lie
- In pastures green; he leadeth me
- The quiet waters by.
The mostly interchangeable tunes intended for the psalms in this form are identified as being in common metre'.
As already mentioned, ACD's stanzas in 'The Dying Whip' (as well as 'The Groom's Story' in the same collection of verses) each have four lines; but really they are made up of two quite separate rhyming couplets. They could easily be sung to hymn tunes written in 'double common metre'. It is easy to suspect that the tunes of the Scottish Psalter, surely known to even a Catholic boy growing up in the capital city of Presbyterianism, are echoed in these verses as in some of those written by an earlier Edinburgh figure, Thomas Babington Macaulay. Should it be doubted that religious allusions are to be found in ACD's poetry, one needs only to look at the passage in 'The Dying Whip' in which the narrator speaks of having the Bible read to him:
- ... No 'orse would ever say 'Ah, ah! same as they said it there.
- Per'aps it was an 'Ebrew 'orse the chap ad in his mind,
- But I never 'eard an English 'orse say nothin' of the kind.
The allusion is to Job 39:25: 'He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off."
A technical discussion of prosody being outside the scope of this essay, not to mention outside the capacities of its author, it will be best to make one assertion briefly and baldly: ACD handles the 'double common metre' with indifferent skill at best. The problem is not that his iambs are not iambic, for no one expects poetic lines to be mechanically perfect; they would quickly become monotonous if they were. In the passage already quoted from Longfellow, for example, the first two lines do indeed have seven perfect iambs, but the third and fourth lines are made up of three iambs and four anapests. Do we protest? We do not, because it all reads smoothly. But ACD perpetrates couplets like this:
- I never was a 'eavy weight. I scaled at seven four,
- An' rode at eight, or maybe at just a trifle more.
That second, too-short line cannot be scanned without a stutter, and the sense suggests no reason why a stutter should be wanted. It is an instance of pure clumsiness. There are other such instances, including the final couplet, already quoted: if its first line can be said to have five feet at all, the first of them is as lame as Ricoletti.
Does this poem have any merits? A few, certainly, including the comic reference to the 'Ebrew 'orse, and another comic stanza:
- And the doctor says the reason why I sit an' cough an' wheeze
- Is all along o' varmint, like the cheese-mites in the cheese;
- The smallest kind o' varmint, but varmint all the same,
- Microscopes or somethin' — I forget the varmint's name.
It is funny, but with the same medical black humour found in some of the tales in ACD's Round the Red Lamp, published four years earlier. As for the varmint's name, we know that the whip developed a sweating, a sore throat and a cough, and soon was only skin and bone'. These sound like the symptoms with which ACD was all too familiar in 1898, as they afflicted his wife Louise, and we may tentatively identify the varmint as the tubercule bacillus. (Rodin and Key do not mention this poem at all in their Medical Casebook, surveying medical reference's in ACD's work).
One does not think of ACD as having written much about fox-hunting. In Memories and Adventures he says briefly that it is 'right' to kill foxes, as ridding the land of a pest, but he gives no indication that he ever hunted or knew the sport intimately. His most prominent piece about it is purely comic: 'The Crime of the Brigadier', later retitled 'How the Brigadier Slew the Fox', published at the end of 1899, a year after the poem first saw print. 'The Dying Whip' is thus a novelty in its subject-matter as well as in its form. Although not characteristic of ACD in any way, it does seem to provide another bit of evidence, beside the dozens with which we are already familiar, that he was willing to turn his hand to anything. For that, perhaps more than anything else, he continues to fascinate and impress us.
Editorial Comment:
Few of us would regard ACD as a poet, and yet, as his Collected Poems of Conan Doyle demonstrates, he was quite prolific in the medium. Still fewer of us, we suspect, would regard ACD as an accomplished poet, and there are certainly many examples in the Collected Poems, which measure up to the particularly poor example chosen for the foregoing article. Not all of ACD's poetry was weak, however, and it would be equally valid to point to Thomas Hardy, William Wordsworth and the rest, and say that here is a poor example, for many, if not most, of the great poets also produced mediocre work on occasion. Whatever ACD's reasons for writing poetry, and we suggest that many of us have also tried with little success to do the same, what he did produce is there to be studied along with his other work. The themes he chose often had specific relevance to him, and it is on that point that we would disagree with Chris Redmond: ACD certainly did hunt regularly, with the Chiddingfold Hunt, during his years in Hindhead, as a closer reading of his Collected Poems reveals. We hope to make his experiences the subject of a more detailed article in due course.
Books for Sale
Continuing our policy of offering any good copies of Conan Doyle material we find to Society members, the following have just come our way:
Collected Poems, John Murray (Cheaper Edition), 1928. A bright copy, with slight foxing to some page edges An opportunity to judge ACD's poetry for yourself! £12; US$18; Cdn$25 (postage and packing included).
Through the Magic Door, Thomas Nelson, nd. A good clean copy, with slight fading to spine.
£10; US$15; Cdn$20 (postage and packing included).
Please telephone us to ensure availability before sending any money through the post. You can contact us at any time (an answering machine is available) on 0244-545210.
Book Reviews
BAKER STREET AND BEYOND: Essays on Sherlock Holmes
by Lord Donegall
Westminster Libraries & The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, 1993;
126pp+ 12 plates; £14.95; ISBN 0-900902-17-0
(Prices inc. postage: UK £16.50; Europe £17.50; N.America US$35; Far East/Australia £19.50)
Order from: Sherlock Holmes Collection, Marylebone Library, Marylebone Road, London NW1 5PS
THE BAKER STREET BRIEFS
by S. Tupper Bigelow
Edited by George A. Vanderburgh & Cameron Hollyer
Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library, 1993; 168pp;
C$17.95; ISBN 0-88773-040-X
Order from: George A. Vanderburgh, P.O.Box 204, 420 Owen Sound Street, Shelburne, Ontario, Canada LON 1S0
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: EINE ILLUSTRIERTE BIBLIOGRAPHIE
by Gerhard Lindenstruth
Verlag Munniksma, Giessen, 1994; 236pp; DM49 (£23; US$35); (Prices include postage; available from Verlag Munniksma, Lindengasse 5, D-35390, Giessen, Germany)
The A Study in Scarlet Quiz
As announced in Notes and News, Dr Watson Books has presented us with a copy of the facsimile of the first book edition of A Study in Scarlet to offer as a prize to members. It seemed appropriate, therefore, that the quiz should focus on A Study in Scarlet. Please note that The Oxford Sherlock Holmes will be regarded as the definitive source for all answers. The closing date for entries is 1 June and the winner will be the first all-correct answer drawn from a hat by the Editors on that date.
Good Luck!
1. In what year was the Battle of Maiwand fought?
2. What was the daily income available to Watson when he returned to London from Afghanistan?
3. When was St Bartholomew's Hospital founded?
4. To what colour would a bloodstain turn when treated with a percentage of resin from the guaiacum tree?
5. Watson's bull pup has been the subject of discussion for years. What was a bull pup?
6. In which city is Lauriston Gardens actually situated?
7. Who lived at 13 Duncan Street, Houndsditch?
8. Who or what referred to the Vehmgericht, aqua tofana and Carbonari?
9. What rank did Arthur Charpentier hold in Her Majesty's Navy?
10. Where was Halliday's Private Hotel located?
Don't forget: send your answers to the Editors at Ashcroft, 2 Abbottsford Drive, Penyffordd, Chester CH4 0JG, England, to arrive not later than 1 June.
Important Collection of Conan Doyle Manuscripts auctioned at Sotheby's
Lots 313-320 in the Sotheby's auction held in New York on Friday 10 December 1993 were simply described in the catalogue as the 'Property of a California collector'. Their importance was, however, far greater than that conveyed by a series of lot numbers, for here was a collection of letters and manuscripts by ACD. The prices achieved must have been a disappointment both to Sotheby's and the California collector, as none of the lots reached the catalogue guide price.
The lots, in more detail, were as follows:
313: A group of autograph letters including:
- (i) A letter from ACD at Undershaw to H. Greenhough Smith, sending "The Story of the Man with the Watches' for publication.
- (ii) A two-page letter from ACD at Windlesham to an unknown correspondent, on the subject of materialism.
- (iii) A letter from ACD at Windlesham to an unknown correspondent, referring to ... leaving both the Gillette play and my "Speckled Band" outside the contract'.
- (iv) A short letter from ACD at Chalet Berna to a Mr Williams.
- Guide Price $3000-$5000
314: Autograph manuscript of the poem 'The Ballad of the Eurydice', bound in blue morocco.
- Guide Price $4000-$6000
315: Autograph manuscript of ACD's story 'A Shadow Before', constituting the full text of the story, in contemporary white boards with a half morocco green slipcase.
- Guide Price $8000-$12000
316: Autograph manuscript of ACD's story 'The Home Coming', constituting the complete text of the story, in contemporary white boards. The manuscript was the printer's copy for The Strand Magazine.
- Guide Price $8000-$12000
317: Autograph manuscript of ACD's story 'The Last Galley', constituting the complete text of the story, bound in tan morocco gilt.
- Guide Price $5000-$8000
318: Autograph manuscript of ACD's story 'The Last of the Legions', constituting the complete text of the story, in contemporary white boards.
- Guide Price $5000-$8000
319: Autograph manuscript of The Vital Message. The manuscript was described as a working draft at best, laden with emendations, with insertions on small pieces of paper. The manuscript closely resembles the printed version of the text'.
- Guide Price $15000-$20000
320: Autograph manuscript of ACD's story 'The Bully of Brocas Court'. It is again suggested that this manuscript was the printer's copy for The Strand Magazine.
- Guide Price $12000-$18000
We are always interested in receiving information on sales which include ACD material. Catalogues provide useful information, which may assist in tracking down certain items, enabling future research to be carried out. Thanks to Kathryn White for originally providing the details of this particular auction.
- Article courtesy Christopher Roden, founder of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003).
