by David Marcum
And there the matter stood until late September and early October 2015. At that time, I was fortunate enough to revisit London on my second Holmes Pilgrimage, and during that sojourn, I was able to spend several nights staying in the Ruskin Hotel, requesting specifically to be placed in the No. 24 portion of the building. If one follows the Baring-Gould Chronology – and I mostly do – the main portion of “The Musgrave Ritual” took place on October 2nd, 1879, beginning when Reginald Musgrave visited Holmes in his Montague Street rooms. I like to think that fate put me in that very room as well on that date, and on October 2nd, I re-read “The Musgrave Ritual” while there. I’ll never read it the same way again.
Reading “The Musgrave Ritual” In Holmes’s Old Room
No. 24 Montague Street
Photograph by David Marcum, October 2nd, 2015)
The 136th Anniversary of “The Musgrave Ritual”
At the time of my second London visit, I re-contacted the Bedford Estates representative and visited the Estate offices. When I asked him about examining the rate books seen by Mr. Harrison during his original research, the representative became strangely reticent, and also when I visited the Bedford Estate offices in person, I had little success. Do I detect the present-day vibrations of a long-ago plot to obfuscate or hide the facts, perhaps originally put in motion by Mycroft Holmes himself and still affecting today’s events? It would certainly have been nice to examine the first-hand evidence for myself, and perhaps even obtain a photograph or two. The representative has since provided me with a new source to contact regarding the rate books. The quest continues.
The Author in front of “The Painting in the Parlour”
No. 24 Montague Street
Photograph by David Marcum, September 9th, 2016
While on my trip, I was also told by a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London that the idea for a plaque, was “not going to happen” due to the current difficulties of placing a plaque on any building in London. Because of this, I would like to urge the Baker Street Irregulars to take it upon themselves to establish a permanent marker at No. 24 Montague Street, along the lines of previous plaques in Baker Street, and also at Barts and the Criterion. Such a specific location that has been identified by Holmes himself as one of his residences should not be ignored.
I was able to return to London in September 2016 on a third Holmes Pilgrimage, and again stayed in the exact same location, in Holmes’s old room at No. 24. Although not on the exact anniversary date, I did re-read “The Musgrave Ritual” as before, as well as continuing my efforts to have a plaque placed to commemorate the building as an important Sherlockian site.
Other Sherlockian Sites in Bloomsbury
As No. 24 Montague Street is recognized as a legitimate Holmesian Pilgrimage Destination, one should also recall that there are a number of other important Sherlockian sites nearby.
No. 24 is across the street from the east side of the British Museum, where Holmes “waited, filling in [his] too abundant leisure time . . . .” It is well worth a stop when in the area, after all of the other Sherlockian locations have been visited.
There are several sites scattered closely around the Museum. In 1891, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Literary Agent, lived for a short time at No. 23 Montague Place – the street bordering the north side of the Museum, but the building is now gone – while maintaining a medical practice at No. 2 Upper Wimpole Street. It was here that he finally gave up on his medical career to become a full-time writer. Violet Hunter was living in Montague Place when she wrote to Holmes, seeking an appointment at the beginning of “The Copper Beeches” in April 1889.
Author Michael Kurland has identified that Professor Moriarty’s residence was nearby (prior to May 1891) in No. 64 Russell Square, where he had an arrangement with the Museum to receive books for his research, as needed. Sadly, No. 64 seems to be missing in action as well, possibly absorbed by a large hotel on the eastern side of the square. I theorized that perhaps the Professor altered the true address, and that it was really No. 46, which is near the southwestern side at the corner of Russell Square and Montague Street. (When asked, Kurland responded to me that, “I think you’re right and the professor disguised the true address for obvious reasons.”) How interesting it would be if the Professor had lived right around the corner from the home of his future nemesis?
Also of interest in that quarter: Hilton Cubitt stopped at a boarding house in Russell Square during the 1897 Jubilee, where he met his future wife, Elsie Patrick.
Another very important site, just around the corner to the south from No. 24, is the Museum Tavern, generally agreed by Sherlockians and Holmesians to be the “Alpha Inn”, described by Watson as “a small public-house at the corner of one of the streets which runs down into Holborn.” On December 27th, 1887, the Alpha Inn was visited by Holmes and Watson during their travels across London while on the trail of the thief of “The Blue Carbuncle.” This pub, at the corner of Gilbert Place and Great Russell Street, is directly across the street from the main entrance to the museum, and was no doubt visited by Holmes on many occasions during his years in Montague Street. Interestingly, he was apparently not recalled by the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord when he ordered two glasses of beer on that night in December 1887, a number of years after he had lived nearby, stating that the beer “should be excellent if it is as good as your geese.”
The Author at “The Alpha Inn”, Bloomsbury
Photograph by David Marcum, September 9th, 2016
Following Holmes’s advice from the Alpha – “Faces to the south, then, and quick march!” – one is just moments away from other important Sherlockian sites, including the Bow Street Police Station, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Lyceum (and its third pillar from the left), and so on into the Strand.
Finally, slightly to the southeast of Montague Street, on the far side of Bloomsbury Square Gardens, is another short block developed by the Bedford Estates. Southampton Place (known as Southampton Street in 1877), named for a Russell family connection to the Earl of Southampton in the 1600’s.
This location is interesting because, again according to Harrison in The London of Sherlock Holmes (pp.13-15), the London Post Office Directory for 1878 shows that No. 6 Southampton was occupied at that time by a Dr. John Watson, M.D. It is a well documented fact that Watson took his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the nearby University of London in 1878 – which is located just north of the British Museum, and in the same neighborhood as these others sites – and he would have certainly spent a great deal of time in Bloomsbury.
Did Watson live near Holmes during this crucial and formative period while each was just starting out? Did Watson try his hand at a short and unrecorded medical practice for just a bit before enlisting in the army, while only a few streets away at No. 24 Montague Street, Holmes waited for clients and acquired bits of useful and unusual knowledge? Did these two encounter one another in passing while on the streets of Bloomsbury, or perhaps jostle each other in the Alpha Inn, as each ordered a glass of the excellent beer?
I like to think that they did.
Sources:
Alexander, Arthur M. Hot On The Scent: A Visitor’s Guide to the London of Sherlock Holmes, Ashcroft, British Columbia, Calabash Press, 1999.
Hammer, David. “A Deep Game”: The Travelers’ Companion to the London of Sherlock Holmes, Indianapolis, IN, Gasogene Press, 1983.
Hammer, David. The Game Is Afoot, Dubuque, Iowa, Gasogene Press, 1983.
Harrison, Michael. The London of Sherlock Holmes, New York, Drake Publishers, 1972.
Harrison, Michael. The World of Sherlock Holmes, New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1973.
Marcum, David. Personal Photographs, London, England, October 2nd, 2015, and September 8th and 9th, 2016.
Sinclair, David. Sherlock Holmes’s London, London, Robert Hale, 2009.
“The Bedford Estates”, http://www.bedfordestates.com/the-estate/history/#7796, May 19, 2014
After
word
by Derrick Belanger
The seeds for this anthology were planted when I composed my story “The Tale of the First Adventure” for The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories – Part IV: 2016 Annual. The story involves Holmes, as a schoolboy, solving one of his first mysteries, and while drafting it, I thought a collection of stories from before Holmes’s time on Baker Street would make for an excellent anthology. Fortunately for me, David Marcum concurred and he once again used his editing magic to pull together this fine story collection. I want to thank Mr. Marcum for not only compiling and editing the collection, but for including an excellent adventure of his own. Big thank you’s go out to all of the authors for visiting this often ignored time period in the life of the young detective, and also to Brian Belanger for his exceptional cover art.
Finally, I’d like to thank our Kickstarter contributors for making this project a huge success:
Cristian Balaski
The Sci Fi Saturday Night Gang
Brian R. Boisvert
Sakuraember
Rebecca Hawthorn
David Ryan
Gustaf B.
Greg Chaban
Nuno Robles
Christopher Squire
Jim Jorritsma
Abigail Leib
Marjorie-Ann Garza
Amy E. Moffat
Troy V. Barkmeier
Thomas A. Turley
David P Sharp
Sharat Faqurudheen
Scott Vander Molen
Douglas I. D. McLean
Joyce and Garry Germann
Brian R. Boisvert
Lynn M.
@NeoNacho
Tracy Johnson
Alistair Gilmour
Noelle Airo
Scarlett Letter
Karen Rosner
cameron greatorex
Ash Allen
Daniel D. Victor
Fearlessleader
Dr. Warren H. Chaney
Anne Guglik
Douglas Vaughan
Marc Margelli
Steve Rosenberg
Anton Wijs
Callum Stoner
Edward Ludvigsen
JNM
Jeffery Lawler
Robert Perret
Jason VanNimwegen
Onno Hoogendoorn
Bridgette M. Findley
Fred Herman
Thomas M. Colwell
Peter Neuber
David A. Wade
Steven M. Smith
Lark Cunningham
Lazuli
Chris Basler
Rebecca Arcangeli
Ray Riethmeier
Dr. David A. Lee
Russell Hultgren
Chris Chastain
Mary T Haynes
Steve Emecz (MX Publishing)
Elizabeth Varadan
Mark Mower
Paul Hiscock
Elle Johns
Joelle Galatan
Mary Ann Raley
Nick Cardillo
Terry Cox
Edu Blake
Steve White
Greg Chaban
Nadine Rueckert
Bastgirl
Duncan Collins
Mark Carter
Jean-Christophe Remont
Chris Gilmour
Without your backing, this project may have never come to fruition.
With kind regards,
Derrick Belanger
April 2017
About the Contributors
The following contributors appear in this volume . . . .
Brian Belanger is a publisher and editor, but is best known for his freelance illustration and cover design work. His distinctive style can be seen on several MX Publishing covers, including Silent Meridian by Elizabeth Crowen, Sherlock Holmes and the Menacing Melbournian by Allan Mitchell, Sherlock Holmes and A Quantity of Debt by David Marcum, Welcome to Undershaw by Luke Benjamen Kuhns, and many more. Brian is the co-founder of Belanger Books LLC, where he illustrates the popular MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes young reader series (#1 bestsellers on Amazon.com U.K.). A prolific creator, he also designs t-shirts, mugs, stickers, and other merchandise on his personal art site at www.redbubble.com/people/zhahadun.
Derrick Belanger is an author and educator most noted for his books and lectures on Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as his writing for the blog I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. Both volumes of his two-volume anthology, A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural were #1 best sellers on the Amazon.com U.K. Sherlock Holmes book list, and his MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes chapter book, Attack of the Violet Vampire! was also a #1 bestselling new release in the U.K. His novellas, Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Primal Man are available from Endeavour Press. Mr. Belanger’s academic work has been published in The Colorado Reading Journal and Gifted Child Today. Find him at www.belangerbooks.com.
S.F. Bennett was born and raised in London, studying History at Queen Mary and Westfield College, and Journalism at City University at the Postgraduate level, before moving to Devon in 2013. The author lectures on Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and 19th century detective fiction, and has had articles on various aspects from The Canon published in The Journal of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and The Torr, the journal of The Poor Folk Upon The Moors, the Sherlock Holmes Society of the South West of England. She has recently published The Secret Diary of Mycroft Holmes: The Thoughts and Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes’s Elder Brother, 1880-1888 (2017).
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) Holmes Chronicler Emeritus. If not for him, this anthology would not exist. Author, physician, patriot, sportsman, spiritualist, husband and father, and advocate for the oppressed. He is remembered and honored for the purposes of this collection by being the man who introduced Sherlock Holmes to the world. Through fifty-six Holmes short stories, four novels, and additional Apocryphal entries, Doyle revolutionized mystery stories and also greatly influenced and improved police forensic methods and techniques for the betterment of all. Steel True Blade Straight.
Jayantika Ganguly BSI is the General Secretary and Editor of the Sherlock Holmes Society of India, a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and the Czech Sherlock Holmes Society. She is the author of The Holmes Sutra (MX 2014). She is a corporate lawyer working with one of the Big Six law firms.
Arthur Hall was born in Aston, Birmingham, UK, in 1944. He discovered his interest in writing during his schooldays, along with a love of fictional adventure and suspense. His first novel, Sole Contact, was an espionage story about an ultra-secret government department known as “Sector Three”, and was followed, to date, by three sequels. Other works include four Sherlock Holmes novels, The Demon of the Dusk, The One Hundred Percent Society, The Secret Assassin, and The Phantom Killer, as well as a collection of short stories, and a modern detective novel. He lives in the West Midlands, United Kingdom.
David Marcum plays The Game with deadly seriousness. He first discovered Sherlock Holmes in 1975, at the age of ten, when he received an abridged version of The Adventures during a trade. Since that time, David has collected literally thousands of traditional Holmes pastiches in the form of novels, short stories, radio and television episodes, movies and scripts, comics, fan-fiction, and unpublished manuscripts. He is the author of The Papers of Sherlock Holmes Vol.s I and II (2011, 2013), Sherlock Holmes and A Quantity of Debt (2013, 2016) and Sherlock Holmes – Tangled Skeins (2015), and the forthcoming The Papers of Solar Pons (2017). Additionally, he is the editor of the three-volume set Sherlock Holmes in Montague Street (2014, recasting Arthur Morrison’s Martin Hewitt stories as early Holmes adventures,), the two-volume collection of Great Hiatus stories, Holmes Away From Home (2016), and most recently the ongoing collection, The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories (2015 – ), now at six volumes, with three more in preparation as of this wri
ting. He has contributed stories, essays, and scripts to The Baker Street Journal, The Watsonian, Beyond Watson, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, About Sixty, The Solar Pons Gazette, Imagination Theater, The Proceedings of the Pondicherry Lodge, and The Gazette, the journal of the Nero Wolfe Wolfe Pack. He began his adult work life as a Federal Investigator for an obscure U.S. Government agency, before the organization was eliminated. He returned to school for a second degree, and is now a licensed Civil Engineer, living in Tennessee with his wife and son. He is a member of The Sherlock Holmes Society of London, The Occupants of the Full House and The Diogenes Club of Washington, D.C. (both Scions of The Baker Street Irregulars), The John H. Watson Society (“Marker”), The Praed Street Irregulars (“The Obrisset Snuff Box”), The Solar Pons Society of London, and The Diogenes Club West (East Tennessee Annex), a curious and unofficial Scion of one. Since the age of nineteen, he has worn a deerstalker as his regular-and-only hat from autumn to spring. In 2013, he and his deerstalker were finally able make his first trip-of-a-lifetime Holmes Pilgrimage to England, with return pilgrimages in 2015 and 2016, where you may have spotted him. If you ever run into him and his deerstalker out and about, feel free to say hello!
Mark Mower is a member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. He has written numerous true crime and murder mystery books. His first collection of Holmes pastiches, A Farewell to Baker Street, was published in December 2015. Since that time he has contributed to a number of Holmes anthologies, including his story “The Radicant Munificent Society”, which appeared in The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories (Part VI: 2017 Annual). His next Holmes collection, The Baker Street Case-Files, will be published in late 2017. He lives with his family in the English county of Suffolk.
