Sherlock Holmes Victorian Parodies and Pastiches

by Bill Peschel

  Welcome to 223B Baker Street

  The debut of Sherlock Holmes in the pages of The Strand magazine introduced one of fiction’s most memorable heroes. Arthur Conan Doyle’s spellbinding tales of mystery and detection, along with Holmes’ deep friendship with Doctor Watson, touched the hearts of fans worldwide, and inspired imitations, parodies, songs, art, even erotica, that continues to this very day. “Sherlock Holmes Victorian Parodies and Pastiches: 1888-1899” collects more than 60 pieces—short stories, poems, newspaper clippings, and cartoons—all published during the opening years of Conan Doyle’s literary career. Also included are much of the original art and more than 150 footnotes identifying obscure words, historical figures, and events that readers were familiar with at the time. Peschel Press’ 223B Casebook Series—named because they’re “next door” to the original stories—is dedicated to publishing the fanfiction created by amateur and professional writers during Conan Doyle’s lifetime. Each book covers an era, publication, or writer, and includes lively mini-essays containing insights into the work, Conan Doyle, and those who were inspired by him. A lifelong fan of mysteries, and Sherlock Holmes in particular, Bill Peschel is a former award-winning journalist living in Hershey. He is the annotator of novels by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, publisher of the three-volume Rugeley Poisoner series, and author of “Writers Gone Wild” (Penguin).

  Edited by Bill Peschel

  Peschel Press ~ Hershey, Pa.

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Acknowledgments

  1888

  Hampshire on Stilts / Anonymous

  1891

  My Evening with Sherlock Holmes / J.M. Barrie

  1892

  An Interrupted Honeymoon / “A. Cone and Oil” (Charles C. Rothwell)

  The Yellow Cockroach / “A. Cone and Oil” (Charles C. Rothwell)

  The Great Pegram Mystery / “Luke Sharp” (Robert Barr)

  A Study in Red / “A. Donan Coyle” (A. Dewar Willock)

  The Real Sherlock Holmes / Anonymous

  The Adventures of Shylock Oams: The Sign of Gore / F.W. Freeman

  1893

  The Mystery of the Spot Ball / “C”

  The Adventure of the Two Collaborators / J.M. Barrie

  The Duke’s Feather / R.C. Lehmann

  Ideal Interview: Sherlock Holmes / “Anyhow”

  The Adventures of Chubblock Homes / Jack Butler Yeats

  Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Box / Anonymous

  The Man Who “Bested” Sherlock Holmes / Joseph Baron

  The Late Sherlock Holmes / J.M. Barrie

  1894

  The Last Letter from Sherlock Holmes / Anonymous

  The Adventure of the Table Foot / “Zero” (Allan Ramsay)

  The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes / Richard Morton and H.C. Barry

  The Adventure of the Tomato on the Wall / “Ka”

  The Identity of Miss Angela Vespers / “Ka”

  The Recrudescence of Sherlock Holmes / Frank Marshall White

  The Sign of the ‘400’ / R.K. Munkittrick

  On the Threshold of the Chamber of Horrors / Montgomery Carmichael

  Impressions of Sherlock Holmes / Anonymous

  Round the Pink Pill-Box / “Castor Oyle”

  The Old Age of Holmes / “Howard Fielding” (Charles Witherle Hooke)

  A Modern Miranda / “Peter Pericarp”

  1895

  Mrs. Dr. Sherlock Holmes / Anonymous

  A Trip to the Country / Charles Loomis

  The Genius of Herlock Sholmes / Anonymous

  The Adventure of the Child’s Perambulator / “Another Conan Doyle” (Charles Loomis)

  The Reappearance of Sherlock Holmes / Roy L. McCardell

  An Amateur Detective / Anonymous

  1896

  The Sherlock Holmes Theory / Percie W. Hart

  He Solves Another / Anonymous

  Another Mystery Solved / Anonymous

  The Field Bazaar / Arthur Conan Doyle

  The Röntgen-Ray-der / “Mr. M—”

  Another Victory for Herlock Shomes / William Henry Siviter

  1897

  How He Did It / Anonymous

  Perspicacity of Herlock Sholmes / Anonymous

  The $10,000 Robbery / Anonymous

  A Nineteenth Century Miracle / “Z.Z.” (Louis Zangwill)

  Holmes and the Startled Banker / Anonymous

  The Fatal Gas Bill / Anonymous

  One Against Our Old Friend Sherlock / Anonymous

  Met His Match / Anonymous

  Holmes As Newspaper Filler / Anonymous

  The Stranger Unravels a Mystery / John Kendrick Bangs

  1898

  Mr. Punch’s ‘Animal Land’ / E.T. Reed

  Misadventures of Sheerluck Gnomes / T.P. Stafford

  Lady Honiton’s Diamonds / Maitland Leroy Osborne

  1899

  The Mystery of Pinkham’s Diamond Stud / John Kendrick Bangs

  Sherlock Holmes Again / John Kendrick Bangs

  Sherlock Holmes’ Latest Triumph / Charles Joseph Colton

  Another from Sherlock Holmes / Charles Joseph Colton

  Appendix

  The Adventure of the Stomach Club Papers / Bill Peschel

  Copyright

  Footnotes

  Bibliography

  About the Editor

  Introduction: There’s Something About Sherlock

  Fanfiction did not begin with Sherlock Holmes. Depending on how elastic your definition, you could say fanfiction—a story based on a real person or someone else’s fictional creation—has been around nearly as long as storytelling. Hercules, for example, was the original Superman, and his twelve labors the first anthology. Then there were the Bronte siblings, who used the sons of the Duke of Wellington as heroes in their Angrian Saga. Even Frankenstein inspired hundreds of stories.

  But the meeting between the King of Bohemia and Sherlock over the recovery of certain indiscreet photographs inspired writers to kidnap the great detective for their own purposes. Some poked fun at the stories and its tropes, others placed Sherlock and Watson (or Blotsom, or Flotsam, or Potson) into stories of their own creation. Advertisers saw the value in appropriating him to use as a salesman. During the 1890s, more than 50 stories were published, and the number would only grow in years to come. Today, the Internet and the low cost of self-publishing—fueled by the popularity of Sherlock on TV and in the movies—have created an explosion of fan-driven stories, part of what once critic called the “tsunami of swill” that degrades the culture.

  We’ll let others fight that battle. A more interesting question is: Why Sherlock? Why did he inspire the outburst of parodies and pastiches that continue to this day?

  Looking at the historical record, there’s nothing else comparable to the flow of stories, artwork, and poetry centered around the inhabitants of 221B Baker Street. The Victorian era had popular detectives such as Max Carrados, Dr. John Thorndyke, and The Old Man in the Corner, not to mention Poe’s Dupin and Gaboriau’s Monsieur Lecoq. There were also popular characters that could have inspired writers, such as Dracula, Captain Nemo, even Conan Doyle’s Gerard and Professor Challenger.

  With all that available, again, why choose Holmes?

  Several reasons, I believe. First is the incredible popularity of the stories. Although Conan Doyle’s first two novels didn’t make much of a dent in the public consciousness, the short stories were popular from their first appearance. Issues of The Strand flew off the stands when Conan Doyle’s name was on the cover. When Sherlock vanished at Reichenbach Falls, more than 20,000 people cancelled their subscript
ions.

  Holmes also benefitted from being portrayed in the short stories. Unlike A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, where whole chapters passed without him, the stories distilled Holmes’ highly original character and abilities. Patterns appeared. The curtain rising on the cozy rooms at Baker Street, the dramatic appearance of the victim with an unusual story, the ferreting out of information from the tiniest clues, the unmasking of the villain and the celebration afterwards with dinner and a concert.

  It is in that concentrated form that he spread through the culture. Within two years after “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Sherlock’s name appeared in a Punch article as a candidate to investigate a mystery. The writer was confident that readers would understand the reference. But that was just the start. The distinctive personalities of Holmes and Watson—the highly intelligent, highly observant man of logic and science, paired with the emotional, physical, loyal friend—made them adaptable for any kind of story. In others’ hands, they could be treated seriously. Or, they could be portrayed as fools: the Holmes whose detailed observations are always wrong, and the doctor whose admiration knows no bounds.

  Then there were the tropes that surrounded them. The gaslit and fog-shrouded streets of London, Holmes’ eccentric behavior (the drug abuse, the experiments, the target practice in the sitting room), the distraught stranger entering the room with a strange tale. These details performed the role of set dressing, and could be the source of jokes in their own right.

  Familiarity, popularity and easily conveyed details. These created the conditions that encouraged Holmes and Watson to spread through the world’s cultures. It would be suitable to say that the medical man Conan Doyle had created a virus that infected literature, and caused an outbreak of fanfictionitis that continues to this day.

  Bill Peschel

  Hershey, Pa.

  Acknowledgments

  Writers are, by nature, unsociable and unclubbable (except at the hands of critics). But necessity is a mother, and when I needed help, I was fortunate to find allies who gave generously of their time and resources. These people mean a lot to me, not only for helping, but for being so darn much fun to work with.

  It’s traditional for a writer to honor one’s spouse, but Teresa is more than a life partner. She edited the manuscript, provided suggestions I was smart enough to use, oversaw every aspect of production, and kept the household running with her budget smarts and guerilla shopping while writing her own books. I’m proud and grateful to have her in my life.

  A spotlight of praise should also fall on Denise Phillips at Hershey Public Library’s Interlibrary Loan Department for tracking down the resources I needed. Special thanks must also be given to my researcher Scott Harkless for digging up many of the pieces. Sherlockian Charles Press has my gratitude for his encouragement and much-needed copies of rare stories he went to great trouble to secure for his Bedside Book of Early Sherlockian Parodies and Pastiches.

  Historical research involves finding treasures others have dug up. There have been many researchers who have gone before me, and by combining the results of their work, I was able to compile, and, in a few cases, even add to their extensive bibliography. Without the following researchers and writers, this collection would have been far smaller:

  * Charles Press (again) for his Parodies and Pastiches Buzzing ‘Round Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which provided me with a shopping list.

  * Bill Blackbeard for Sherlock Holmes in America.

  * Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee (“Ellery Queen”) for their ill-fated The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes.

  * Philip K. Jones for his massive (10,000 entries!) database of Sherlockian pastiches, parodies and related fiction.

  * John Gibson and Richard Lancelyn Green for My Evening With Sherlock Holmes and The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes.

  * Paul D. Herbert for The Sincerest Form of Flattery.

  * Peter Ridgway Watt and Joseph Green for The Alternative Sherlock Holmes: Pastiches, Parodies and Copies.

  * The Sciolist Press, Donald K. Pollock, and the other editors behind The Baker Street Miscellanea.

  * Ian Schoenheer for finding several wonderful parodies and sharing his love for illustrators of the period, including Howard Pyle.

  * The Baker Street Irregulars, from whose magazine several stories were drawn for the 223B Casebook Series.

  Every effort was made to determine the copyright status of these pieces and obtain permission to publish from the rightful copyright holders. If I have made a mistake, please contact me so that I may rectify the error.

  Know a Good Parody?

  If you have an uncollected Sherlock Holmes story that was published between 1888 and 1930, please let me know the title and author. If I don’t have it and you can share the story with me, you’ll earn a free trade paperback of the book it’ll appear in plus an acknowledgement inside! Email me at bpeschel@gmail.com or write to Peschel Press, P.O. Box 132, Hershey, PA 17033-0132.

  1888

  The son of an Irish couple who had resettled in Edinburgh, Scotland, Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859 into a family rich with the creative spark. His grandfather was a portrait painter and caricaturist. One uncle illustrated children’s books and drew for Punch magazine; another was an artist and historian and a third ran the National Gallery of Ireland. His mother, Mary, whom he called “the Ma’am” throughout his life, passed on her love of books and the ability to tell a captivating story. His father Charles showed promise as a designer until alcoholism undercut his abilities and set him on a path to an asylum where he would spend the rest of his life.

  When Conan Doyle was nine, he was sent away to a Jesuit boarding school, where he chafed at the teaching methods and corporal punishment. But he excelled in sports and, more importantly, discovered he could hold his schoolmates’ attention by telling stories. He began writing stories and poems.

  But when it came time to enter Edinburgh University, he chose medicine. His father had been diagnosed with epilepsy and institutionalized, and he needed to support his family. He alternated studying with summer work as a surgeon’s assistant, and continued to read and write when he found the time.

  But he continued to mingle medicine and literature. In September 1879, he sold his first story (“The Mystery of Sasassa Valley” to Chambers’s Journal) and an article on a poison to the British Medical Journal. In 1880 and 1882, he supplemented his medical training and thirst for new experiences by serving as surgeon on ships to Greenland and West Africa.

  In 1882, he joined a friend’s practice in Plymouth. But they parted after six weeks over what Conan Doyle considered unethical practices. He moved to Southsea, a residential suburb of Portsmouth on England’s southern coast and opened a solo practice. As he struggled to attract patients, he continued his freelance writing, selling articles to magazines as varied as Charles Dickens’ All the Year Round, The Lancet, and the British Journal of Photography. He also wrote stories such as “The Captain of the Pole-Star” (1883), based on his time at sea, and novels such as The Mystery of Cloomber (published in 1888), The Firm of Girdlestone (published 1890), and the Narrative of John Smith (the sole copy of the manuscript was lost in the mail).

  Conan Doyle also found time for love. In 1885, he married Louisa Hawkins, the sister of a former patient.

  In 1886, he began writing A Study in Scarlet, featuring the self-described “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes. He based his character on Dr. Joseph Bell, under whom he had studied in Edinburgh. Dr. Bell was an effective lecturer and power diagnostician and teacher. He emphasized to his students the power of observation. He was capable of identifying a patient’s occupation by the calluses on his hands and the wear on his clothing. His influence on Conan Doyle cannot be underestimated.

  “He would sit in the patients’ waiting-room, with a face like a Red Indian,” Doyle recalled, “and diagnose the people as they came in, before even they opened their mouths. He would tell them their symptoms, and would even give them details of their past
life, and he would hardly ever make a mistake.”

  The year 1887 marked two milestones in Conan Doyle’s life. In June, he attended a séance in Portsmouth. In the midst of the table rapping and levitation, he was passed a note from the medium. He correctly identified Conan Doyle as a healer—a fact easy to obtain—but also advised him “not to read Leigh Hunt’s book.” Conan Doyle had not told anyone that he had been thinking of it. Telling the story years later, he wrote, “This message mark[ed] in my spiritual career the change of ‘I believe’ into ‘I know.’”

  In November, A Study in Scarlet, introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world. With a successful practice, a growing family, and a proven ability to sell his stories, Conan Doyle had laid the foundation on which he would build his life.

  Publications: A Study in Scarlet (Beeton’s Christmas Annual, Nov. 1887; Ward, Lock edition, July 1888); The Mystery of Cloomber (Dec. 1888).

  Hampshire On Stilts

  ‘Donan Coyle’

  It wasn’t his Sherlock Holmes who was the first target of a parody, but another product of Conan Doyle’s pen. In August 1888, The Nineteenth Century magazine published “On the Geographical Distribution of British Intellect.” Conan Doyle analyzed the birthplaces of 1,150 notable people in Men of the Time, A Dictionary of Contemporaries, and a biographical dictionary and concluded that the county of Hampshire led the nation in the production of brilliant men. One has to admire the tedious effort needed to research and produce this 11-page article. When a Portsmouth newspaper pointed to the article with pride and said that Hampshire people should be “walking taller” as a result, an anonymous wag in the local satire magazine responded with “Hampshire on Stilts.” The article has been broken into paragraphs for readability.

  That Hampshire always was, is now, and ever will be, the chief of British counties, and the centre round which the civilised world revolves, is a proposition which no sane native of the shire would think of disputing. I am rather surprised, however, that Dr. Conan Doyle, in calling the attention of the world at large to this remarkable fact, has mentioned only one of the numerous points of superiority which give our native county its proud pre-eminence.