The World of Sherlock Holmes

Review: Over the past decade several illustrated books about Sherlock Holmes have appeared, some good and some poor. The latest is generally very good, but marred by some odd lapses.

Martin Fido, author of The World of Sherlock Holmes iis an authority on true crime, with a particular interest in the 19th century. He convincingly places the early stories in the tradition of the ‘shilling shockers’, with clear elements of the ‘penny dreadfuls’. This is no slight to Conan Doyle; rather it shows how genius can transform unpromising material into something precious. By indicating how A Study in Scarlet would have appeared to its first readers, Mr Fido shows how much of the book’s success did not depend on Sherlock Holmes. He brings a fresh eye to the subject, and so helps us to notice features that may have escaped our attention. His suggestion as to why Mrs Watson called her husband ‘James’ is masterly, and he has much of interest to say about Arthur Conan Doyle.

Mr Fido acknowledges help from Jon. L. Lellenberg, Catherine Cooke, Geoffrey Stavert and others; it would have helped if he’d had one of them proof-read his typescript. We’d have been spared such embarrassments as John Crew (for John Clay), Major Sebastian Sholto (for John), Eugene Drebber (for Enoch), and Mary Ferguson (for Mary Sutherland). There’s a picture of the Lowther Arcade, with the note that Holmes bought his Stradivarius there (no: it was in the Tottenham Court Road). The author of Cold Comfort Farm is named as Flora Post, rather than Stella Gibbons. Arthur Twidle is credited with illustrating The Sign of Four before Sidney Paget began his illustrations for The Strand Magazine in 1891, but Twidle’s work was actually for the 1903 Author’s Edition. The Poor Folk Upon The Moors will be surprised to learn that they’re a ‘provincial branch’ of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London called The Poor People of the Moor. And it was Edmund Wilson, not Raymond Chandler, who famously asked, ‘Who cares who killed Roger Ackroyd?’ This is rank and regrettable carelessness that spoils a generally very worthwhile book. The text is pithy, and the illustrations excellent. I should add that I’ve seen the book on sale for only £5.99, and at that price it’s a bargain. You can afford to ignore its flaws and accept it for its considerable merits.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 181, 1998]