After the knighthood ceremony, Doyle attended a reception, where he was called as “Sir Sherlock Holmes,” and presented a shirt made in USA as a commemorative gift, (p223). As soon as he saw it, Doyle ranted and raved... Mr. Green told me in our private communication, “Doyle does say that after he had received his knighthood someone called him ‘Sir Sherlock Holmes’. He was annoyed, until the person told him that he thought people changed their names when they received a knighthood - and this was bona fide mistake”. However, it is hard to believe he received an American shirt as a gift. Garrick-Steele also claimed Doyle said dirty words everywhere, and that such things were reported in newspapers, especially by W. C. Stead (p224). I do not know anything about Stead actually writing such articles in newspapers. Stead died in the sinking of the Titanic. I do know that Doyle wrote a preface for a spiritualist book in which Stead sent a message after his death.
He also made Robinson say that he put all the letters from Doyle and the newspaper and magazine articles on the authorship problem of HOUN in a tin box, and buried them in the ground at Parkhill. Does Garrick-Steele want to say he found that box? There are no references to any such “discovery,” but it is possible he suggested it as one of the resources of his book (p224). Robinson also said he would return to Parkhill as a ghost after his death, to tell the truth. However, Garrick-Steele’s friend already said the ghost at the Parkhill was a maid!
Part 2 of the book is about HOUN, as above. The third quarter of the book is on the death of Robinson and an “affair” between Doyle and Mrs. Robinson. However, there is a fatal mistake at the beginning of Chapter Seven. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson moved to Buckingham Palace Mansions, London, found Doyle also had a room there, and the two worried about Doyle’s violence (p236). It is true Doyle had a room at the Mansions for his London stay, but that was in the 1920’s, long after the death of Fletcher Robinson. Mr. Green said “Fletcher Robinson did not move to Buckingham Palace Mansions, so far as I know” in our private communication. Furthermore, there is a reference to one of Doyle’s plays, The House of Temperly, as a work of Robinson, but this play was performed at the Adelphi Theatre, 11 February - 28 May, 1910, three years after the death of Fletcher Robinson. Was the Robinson who talked about The House Of Temperly a ghost? This is a matter for a spiritualist. He also says savagery was in the Doyle family’s nature (p237).
Steele writes that Robinson published some fiction including “The Tragedy of Thomas Hearne” in 1904 (p251), but as have seen above, this short story was actually published in 1905. If this story was the original HOUN, why did nobody refer to that “fact” when it was published? We know the answer; it does not resemble HOUN at all.
Robinson died on 21 January 1907. He had been to Paris for a holiday, and he caught typhoid there. Garrick-Steele claimed that Robinson died at a hotel in Paris where he was staying with his wife on holiday, and his body was brought to London in secret (p262). He suggests that the Paris hotel wanted to conceal the cause of death because it could be bad for the hotel’s reputation. Garrick-Steele also suggests that Gladys told her family Robinson died in Paris, but he could not find any death certificate for Robinson in France. He says the death certificate for Robinson was found in England, and says Robinson died in his house after twenty-two days’ struggle with typhoid. He also wonders why the name on the certificate was “Bernard,” not “Bertram” (p295). He suspects a conspiracy of her Majesty’s government! (p289)
Garrick-Steele’s theory has a fatal mistake. First, it is a well known fact that Robinson’s death occurred in London, not in Paris. Peter Ruber writes in the preface for The Chronicles of Addington Peace, “...on January 21, 1907, when Robinson died in London of typhoid fever.” (p5). I do not know where he got the idea that Robinson died in Paris and his body was brought to London secretly. Archibald Marshall writes that Robinson “had gone over to Paris, caught pneumonia, and died in a few days at the age of thirty-six or seven7” (p.6-7), but it is not clear whether Robinson died in Paris or London. In addition, it is not correct to explain his cause of death as “pneumonia,” rather than “typhoid.” Garrick-Steele himself also writes “He was in England when he got sick” (p297).
Garrick-Steele also blames Doyle for not attending Robinson’s funeral at Ipplepen or sending any messages, but Green9 says “Among the wreathes was one from Conan Doyle that read: ‘In loving memory of an old and valued friend’.” (p127)
There is a reference to Harry Baskerville’s ancestors. Garrick-Steele says that the great, great, great grandfather of Harry inherited a large manor house called “Heatree House” fifteen miles from Newton Abbott, but Harry’s grandfather lost it all gambling (p270). I do not know if this is true. I also do not know whether it is true that W. C. Stead severely criticized Doyle about his attitude to Robinson concerning HOUN (p273).
Furthermore, there is the third part of this book pertaining to Harry Baskerville and HOUN. Garrick-Steele refers to “The Journal” 17 October, 1951. There is no such newspaper in Britain, but Ms. Catherine Cooke identified this publication as the South Devon Journal. Garrick-Steele referred to this article, claiming the article refers not only to HOUN, but also to SILV as being written by Robinson. However, this is not a correct quotation. According to the original article of the South Devon Journal on October 17th, 1951, “He (Harry Baskerville) was a coachman at Parkhill House, Ipplepen, when Conan Doyle came to stay there to gather material for his books in the area, and it was as a result of the many long journeys over Dartmoor, on which Mr. Baskerville used to drive the author, that the location and background of scenes in “Hound of the Baskervilles” and “Silver Blaze” were created.” It is clear that Harry Baskerville showed Doyle the Dartmoor area which became the setting for HOUN and SILV, not claiming Robinson wrote them at all.
Garrick-Steele again misquotes this article. He writes that Harry met S.C. Roberts, the former president of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University in Massachusetts, USA! Why is the president of the SHSL an American? Mr. Green said “S.C. Roberts was the President of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge - and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University - that is Cambridge, England” in our private communication. He also says Harry became an honorary member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of New York. I did not know such a society existed, and no such reference exists in the South Devon Journal. Mr. Green said “This is wrong, but Harry was offered membership of a small scion society.” In his letter to me. This article also does not mention Robinson as one of the authors of HOUN. It just says, “An introduction to some of the countless legends of Dartmoor was given the famous author by Ipplepen landowner, Mr. B. Fletcher Robinson, and it was Mr. Robinson and Conan Doyle between them who decided that the young coachman’s name would be ideal for the book.”
Garrick-Steele also refers to an article of Daily Express, 16 March, 1959. However, it is easy to read the original article for earnest Sherlockian scholars, as it is reprinted in The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook. In this article, Harry Baskerville said “Doyle didn’t write the story himself. A lot of the story was written by Fletcher Robinson. But he never got the credit he deserved.” But Harry also says “There was never such a legend. It was a story Bertie (Robinson) invented and helped to write. I don’t know why he didn’t get more credit. It didn’t seem to worry him, though.” It means Robinson did not matter on the authorship of HOUN, and it is clear he just helped Doyle. Further, this article quotes a message from “a Holmes expert” as follows: “He may have agreed with Fletcher Robinson to adapt an existing Robinson story but found it impossible to make Holmes the central figure.” It would be nearer to the facts, I presume.
Garrick-Steele also refers to the Mid-Devon Advertiser of October 26, 1968, that also dealt the problem. However, this article entitled “The Baskerville country of Conan-Doyle (sic)” written by Arthur Wilde is a feeble one with many mistakes First of all, Wilde t
hought HOUN was a silent film, not a novel! He writes “...some elderly readers will recall his first silent film, “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” While writing part of the film the author stayed at the Duchy hotel, Princetown...” The only reference to the Robinson problem is, “During a conversation with a friend on Dartmoor, Conan-Doyle (sic) heard about a phantom dog.” There are no references to “Robinson” or “Parkhill” at all, so it is not credible to refer this as an article on this problem. In addition, Garrick-Steele also refers to an article in the Western Morning News of October 24, 1968 (?) by Edith Wheeler stating that Robinson rescued Sherlock Holmes and his writing ability was beyond that of Doyle. However, I could not find this article.
Garrick-Steele suspects the cause of Robinson’s death to have been typhoid. He insists it is suspicious that only a well-built, healthy sportsman like Robinson contracted the disease, and not any other members of the family or fellows of his publisher. But typhoid is one of the most common diseases of past centuries. I still remember how my grandmother told me not to buy foods at stalls, because of a fear of typhoid. This was only thirty years ago. Garrick-Steele also says Robinson’s body was not cremated, though typhoid was epidemic (p304), and suggests he was poisoned with laudanum by his wife Gladys. However, if Robinson was poisoned, the criminal would make sure the body was cremated to destroy the evidence. Garrick-Steele’s theories contradict each other.
Garrick-Steele states flatly that Gladys Robinson was the poisoner, and Doyle assisted her to kill Fletcher Robinson. Gladys thought her husband dithering, and she was also dissatisfied about having no children. However, Garrick-Steele shows no evidence about this important suspect at all. He just says Gladys was the only person who could poison Fletcher’s food, as if this is proof of her guilt. He says Gladys was attracted to Doyle who was like a father, a knight and a barbarian. But as I wrote above, the Robinsons did not live at Buckingham Palace Mansions, and Doyle only lived there years after Robinson’s death. There was no chance for Gladys to meet Doyle. Green also writes “There is no evidence that Doyle ever met her” (p127).
There is also another “fiction” by Garrick-Steele. He suggests Doyle proposed that Robinson be a ghost writer of Sherlock Holmes stories, and Robinson refused. That was another reason for the murder, he writes (p318). It is not believable that Doyle and Robinson had a bad relationship after publishing HOUN. According to A Biography of Arthur Conan Doyle4, Doyle joined the Crimes Club in 1904, a club of which Fletcher Robinson was also a member.
In the last chapter, the “spirit of Charles Doyle” came to Garrick-Steele, and he decided to read The Doyle Diary6. Foolishly, he thought this book was Conan Doyle’s diary! He says the mysterious portrait of Charles Doyle and Conan Doyle delivered to his house ten years ago was just the same as the one on p.5 of this book (p341). Furthermore, he insists this book was published in the United States because British publishers thought such a book against Doyle’s image would not be accepted by readers (p342). However, as is written above, this book was published in New York and London. I do not know why he dismissed “London” which clearly printed next to “New York.” He insists Conan Doyle was a brutal boy in his youth. He committed his father to a psychiatric hospital, and such a son would be the type to kill Robinson in latter days (p354).
In all fairness, The House of the Baskervilles is full of mistakes, errors, inaccuracies and ill will. It is hard to call it a non-fiction work, and it is even a poor work of fiction. It is said decades of British and American publishers refused to print this work, and this was the right decision. As mentioned above, there are too many mistakes, unintentional or otherwise. The general editor of the translated edition, Shimada Soji is one of the most famous Japanese mystery writers, and formerly wrote a Sherlockian parody. He would have knowledge of Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes at a considerable level, and it is curious to me that Shimada did not notice these errors in his book. In defense of the honor of Shimada, he points out there is no evidence of the relationship between Doyle and Gladys Robinson. In addition, Shimada says Garrick-Steele is writing his second book and the evidence might be shown in this next one.
I am thankful for the help and advice of Mr. Richard Lancelyn Green, Ms. Catherine Cooke, Mr. John Hall and the translator of The House Of The Baskervilles, Ms. Saga Fuyumi. I also thank Mrs. Mel Hughes for her advice on language.
References:
1 Rodger Garrick-Steele, Konan Doiru Satsujin Jiken (The House of the Baskervilles), translated by SAGA Fuyumi, general edit by SHIMADA Soji, Nan-un-do, Tokyo, 2002.
2 Richard Lancelyn Green & John Michael Gibson, A Bibliography Of A. Conan Doyle, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1983.
3 B. Fletcher Robinson & J. Malcolm Fraser, THE CHRONICLES OF ADDINGTON PEACE and THE TRAIL OF THE DEAD, The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, Shelburne, 1998.
4 Martin Booth, A Biography Of Arthur Conan Doyle, Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1997.
5 Ed. by Peter Haining, The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook, Bramhall House, New York, 1974.
6 Ed. by Michael Baker, The Doyle Diary NY & London, Paddington Press, 1978.
7 Archibald Marshall, Out And About, John Murray, London,
8 Richard Lancelyn Green, The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Part One, The Sherlock Holmes Journal, winter 2001, p.85-91.
9 Richard Lancelyn Green, The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Part Two, The Sherlock Holmes Journal, summer 2002, p.123-128
10 Arthur Wilde “The Baskerville Country of Conan-Doyle,” Mid-Devon Advertiser, October 26, 1968.
11 His name has gone down in mystery!” South Devon Journal, October 17, 1951.
(The Shoso-in Bulletin vol.14, 2004)
Influence of the Canon on Japanese Detective Stories
In the late nineteenth century, a lot of western products and systems were introduced to Japan, which had been living under Samurai traditions. Japanese society was dramatically modernized and rapidly westernized. The detective story is one example of the modern Western cultural items introduced to Japan.
The first translation of a detective story into Japanese was “Waran Biseiroku,” translated by Kanda Kohei in 1861. It was taken from a Dutch book called “Belangrijke Tafereelen uit de Geschiedenis der Lijfstra ffelijke Regtsplegling” by Jan Bastiaan Chritemeijer, published in 1821. The translation was not widely published, however, and the “boom” of western detective did not begin until the translations of Kuroiwa Ruikou (1862-1920). Kuroiwa was a newspaper editor and translated dime novels for his newspapers. His first translation was Hugh Conway’s Dark Days in 1888, but he translated mainly French works, including fifteen novels of Fortune Du Boisgobey (1824-1891), the French writer of police stories, four of Emile Gaboriau, and two of William Wilkie Collins. Kuroiwa’s great success influenced other newspaper editors, who also began to print detective stories. One of them was Mizuta Nanyougaishi, whose translation series, “Gushigino Tantei” (“Miracle Detective”), was published on Chuo Shinbun, in 1899. It is one of the earliest translations of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Kuroiwa translated nearly thirty detective stories in about five or six years, but then he lost interest and turned to romantic novels. After that, the detective story boom was over. But publishers did not stop printing translations of western detective stories, and several translations of Sherlock Holmes appeared. These translations were only published in small quantities, and were hard to find. Those who favored detective stories were an educated class of people, who could read the original English books.
One of the most famous Japanese novelists, who wrote several detective stories in his youth, was Tanizaki Junichiro (1886-1965). Tanizaki mentioned Sherlock Holmes and Watson in his stories “Kin to Gin” (“Gold and Silver,” 1918) or “Hakuchu Kigo” (“Devilish Words at High Noon,” 1918). He had studied English literature in college, and it is believed that he read Poe and Doyle in the original form.
This also applied
to Edogawa Rampo (1894-1965), who is known as the “Father of the Japanese Detective Story.” His first short story, “Nisen Douka” (“Two Cent Copper,” 1923) is said to be the first modern Japanese detective story. For nearly fifty years, he published many “puzzle” short stories, and later, thriller novels and criticisms. He founded The Japanese Society of Detective Writers, and was the first president. He also initiated the “Edogawa Rampo Award” for new mystery writers. It is said even today that this award is a most honorable start for young mystery writers.
Edogawa wrote in a private note (published later as “Kitan,” in Extraordinaries, 1919) of his experience with Sherlock Holmes stories. Of course, Edogawa read Japanese translations, but he was not satisfied with them. He also bought English editions and The Strand Magazine, and in his note, he compared them with old translations. His private translations of “The Gloria Scott,” “The Dancing Men,” and “The Three Students” still remain.
In Edogawa’s detective stories, one influence of the Sherlock Holmes series is Edogawa’s great detective named Akechi Kogoro. He is a private detective deeply trusted by police officers, like Holmes. In his early adventures, the storyteller is a nameless “I.” This character may be Edogawa himself. There is no character comparable to Dr. Watson, and the storyteller was more like the teller of Poe’s Dupin tales. Edogawa himself often confessed that the writer who influenced him most was Edgar Allan Poe, and his pen name (his real name was Hirai Taro) was taken from this famous American writer.
East Wind Coming Page 14
