I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

What do You Get When You Cross Sherlock Holmes with Jane Austen?

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<b>"one other detail was remembered by Jane" [CROO] </b></h4>
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Jennifer Petkus has added two equal cups of Sherlock Holmes and Jane Austen, a teaspoon of P.G. Wodehouse, and even a dash of Douglas Adams to create a unique and entertaining pastiche in the Charlotte House affair series.  I interviewed the author via email to see what inspired her to create an intriguing Victorian mash-up.</div>
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<b>I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere: <i> </i></b>Your "A Charlotte House Affair" series blends Sherlock Holmes with the world of Jane Austen.  How and why did you blend the two worlds together?</h4>
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<b>Jennifer Petkus (JP):</b> I discovered Sherlock Holmes when I was about eight years old, so he and Watson are old friends, but I began reading Jane Austen in my fifties. I had avoided reading any Austen in high school or college, being fonder of science fiction and mysteries, but even had I read her then, I doubt I would have appreciated her.</div>
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I was so excited by Austen that I wanted to write something set in her time and with an appreciation of her language. Not surprisingly, however, there’s a whole industry of Jane Austen fan fiction with pastiches, continuations and alternate realities of her novels. Austen’s characters have been cast as detectives and Jane Austen herself has solved crimes. This is all very similar to the situation in the Sherlockian world, of course, and I realized it would be even more difficult to stand out in Austen-land.</div>
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It was an inadvertent remark while walking the dog with my husband that led to the crossover. I’ve always been fond of the phrase “my particular friend,” which I first encountered in Charles Dicken’s <i>A Christmas Carol</i>. It’s a phrase you’ll also find in Austen and other writing from the time. (To my knowledge, it only occurs once in the Canon, Mary Morstan referring to Major Sholto as a “very particular friend” of her father in <i>The Sign of Four</i>.)</div>
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I suddenly realized that Holmes is Watson’s very particular friend as well, and I appreciated the double meaning indicating Watson’s strong friendship and Holmes’s peculiar tendencies.</div>
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At the same time I was reading <i>Emma</i>, my favorite of Austen’s six novels. Emma Woodhouse is a beautiful young woman who is adored by her friends and family. She is devoted to her widowed, valetudinarian father and has decided she will never marry, probably because she worries what her removal would do to her father. Although she’s a very likable character (despite Austen’s description of her as a heroine no one will very much like), she believes that because of her station in life (her father is very rich) and a misguided belief in her own intuition, that she knows what is best for others. She acts as a matchmaker for her particular friend, Harriet Smith, the natural (illegitimate) daughter of some man who has paid for her to be educated in a private school for disadvantaged young women. (Austen’s description of Mrs. Goddard’s school is wonderful: “a real, honest, old-fashioned Boarding-school, where a reasonable quantity of accomplishments were sold at a reasonable price, and where girls might be sent to be out of the way, and scramble themselves into a little education, without any danger of coming back prodigies.”)</div>
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Unfortunately Emma’s matchmaking goes awry. It turns out she is no great detective in matters of the heart and constantly chooses the wrong suitor for Harriet, while also being blind to her own desires. She is, in fact, a sort of Sheer Luck Holmes, a clueless detective whose one early success leads her to believe she has a gift for uniting lovers.</div>
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So in Emma, I had a not so great detective and her particular friend, Harriet. It was not much of a leap for me to transform Emma Woodhouse into Charlotte House and Harriet Smith into Jane Woodsen.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: small;">Our Mutual Friends</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> is the second book in the </span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"A Charlotte House Affair"</span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"> series</span></span></td></tr>
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<b>IHOSE: </b>Your Holmes and Watson characters (House and Woodsen) are female. What made you decide to switch their genders? What surprised you about writing the Doyle characters as female protagonists?</h4>
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<b>JP: </b>I suddenly realized that simply by making Emma into an actual detective in matters of the heart, that I had my version of Holmes and Watson. Charlotte House became a young woman who decided like Emma that she would never marry, but I had to give her a suitably romantic and tragic back-story to explain her resolve.</div>
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Charlotte is beautiful, rich and like Holmes has accumulated that specialist knowledge she requires. Like Emma, she remains close to her former governess. Mrs Fitzhugh actually lives with Charlotte and was her chaperone when Charlotte was about her investigations. As a single, young woman, Charlotte must always be above reproach.</div>
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Jane Woodsen is a young woman whose family has fallen on hard times. With her parents dead, Jane has chosen to live on her own and find work as a governess. A governess is one of the few employment options Jane has. She’s the daughter of a gentleman (her father owned land) and so would avoid work as a laborer. Her chances of an advantageous marriage are negligible as she has now dowry.</div>
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Unfortunately a governess is neither above nor below stairs. The family would treat her as a servant and the servants would not treat her as one of their own. Governesses were often very lonely figures in literature. Luckily Charlotte befriends Jane and takes her on as her protégé.</div>
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I found it surprisingly easy to make Sherlock Charlotte and John Jane, with the added advantage of an intimacy that we rarely glimpse between Holmes and Watson. For all their friendship, Holmes and Watson never call each other by their first names even though we know how devoted they are to one another. It’s really enjoyable to explore the Holmes-Watson dynamic and I drew from my female friends to create Charlotte, while I am the basis for Jane.</div>
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<b>IHOSE: </b>Your first book in the series, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Particular-Friend-Charlotte-Affair/dp/0615597467/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520316230&sr=1-1&keywords=my+particular+friend+petkus">My Particular Friend</a>,</i> was similar to a collection of Holmes short stories. Your second book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mutual-Friends-Charlotte-House-Affair/dp/1541054989/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1541054989&pd_rd_r=29FK37MYHH8S53TJ3CP5&pd_rd_w=l9fNl&pd_rd_wg=ZHZaI&psc=1&refRID=29FK37MYHH8S53TJ3CP5">Our Mutual Friends</a></i>, is a novel with several interwoven plots. Did you set out to write two different types of books or did it just shift organically?</h4>
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<b>JP:</b> It was a conscious decision to alternate. <i>My Particular Friend</i> is set in Bath, which in the late 18th and early 19th century was a marrage market, where wealthy parents would take their children to encounter a larger pool of prospective mates. So <i>My Particular Friend</i> focused on shorter stories so that I could establish Charlotte’s reputation as marriage counselor.</div>
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<i>Our Mutual Friends</i> is set in London and I decided that the stakes should be raised. The stories involve real intrigue and danger. I intentionally borrowed from <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> the device of making Charlotte absent from much of the book, focusing on Jane’s burgeoning skills as a detective. It might be that I also drew from <i>Elementary</i>’s Joan Watson in this.</div>
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I also wanted to explore the idea my characters would have to resolve multiple mysteries. In the Canon, Holmes often has multiple cases but those secondary cases rarely affect the main plot. I liked the idea of my Watson concealing her own investigation from Charlotte.</div>
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<b>IHOSE:</b> While Doyle and Austen are the biggest inspirations for your series, I note that P.G. Wodehouse also sneaks in.  Why did you incorporate Wodehouse? Are there any other authors I've missed?</h4>
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<b>JP:</b> Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves share many similarities to Holmes and Watson, of course. Bertie is forever trying to help a friend for whom the laughing love god has ceased smiling and inevitably making a mess of things until the far wiser Jeeves rescues his master. Although every Jeeves and Wooster story is about making love conquer all, Jeeves’ primary goal is to keep his master unmarried, for when the new wife arrives, the old valet departs. So my Jeeves (Cheevers) makes a perfect foil for Charlotte.</div>
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Of course my other great inspiration for <i>Our Mutual Friends</i> is Charles Dickens’ <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>. As in Dickens’ story, I tried to make the Thames, water, rebirth and reinvention central elements. Like John Harmon in <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, my Prince Nanaboo is born from the waters of the great river.</div>
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<b>IHOSE:</b> A question that I ask all Sherlockians: If you were stranded on a desert island with just one Sherlock Holmes story, which would it be and why?</h4>
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<b>JP:</b> If I’m allowed a novel, it would be <i>The Sign of Four</i>. There is nothing to compare with that boat chase on the Thames with Tonga firing his poison arrow at his pursuers. If I am limited to the short stories, I would choose "The Six Napoleons" for that glimpse into Holmes’s vanity when he receives praise from Lestrade, although I am perhaps prejudiced by Jeremy Brett’s incredible performance in that scene.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Jennifer Petkus between her two main inspirations for the <span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"</span></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Charlotte House Affair" series</span></span></td></tr>
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<b>IHOSE</b>: Any upcoming projects?</h4>
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<b>JP:</b> I will eventually write the sequel to <i>Our Mutual Friends</i>, completing what’s essentially a trilogy, but my next Holmes/Austen story will be quite different. <i>My Particular Friend</i> and <i>Our Mutual Friends</i> drew inspiration from the characters created by Doyle and Austen, but never actually included those characters by name. My next story will find Holmes solving a case arising from the events immediately after the end of Emma, involving the death of Mrs. Elton. I don’t have a working title for the story, however.</div>
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<b>IHOSE:</b> Any final thoughts?</h4>
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<b>JP:</b> Only that the reason I write is pure self-indulgence. I’m self-published and I really enjoy writing and designing the book. Dreaming up book covers, choosing typefaces and creating characters is the most fun. Actually promoting a book for me, however, is definitely one of the nine circles of hell, so I really appreciate this opportunity to talk about my book without pressure.</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Petkus/e/B004W5KYNW" target="_blank">Jennifer Petkus</a> divides her time creating websites for the dead, writing Jane Austen-themed mysteries, woodworking, aikido and building model starships. She has few credentials, having failed to graduate from the University of Texas with a journalism degree, but did manage to find employment at the <i>Colorado Springs Sun</i> newspaper as a cop reporter, copy editor and night city editor before the paper died in 1986. She lives in fear of getting a phone call from her dead Japanese mother. Her husband is the night editor at <i>The Denver Post</i>. Her best friend is a cop. She watched Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon live. You can find her books <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Petkus/e/B004W5KYNW" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Particular-Friend-Charlotte-Affair/dp/0615597467/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520316230&sr=1-1&keywords=my+particular+friend+petkus"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="819" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpMKakgTXfN64a7P52HIRgivyuZaSF2ke_nV3dzzjxtq3HOnLgcdZ8As4OIT6JuvVMQcUvrOFPrE9KsJq2A4MDWAwmIH9UKRl-XOewTt68RNWtiYqTFsEVi8UvfKVnHKlarXS6-8QHpWh/s200/Petkus1.jpg" width="127" /></a>     <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mutual-Friends-Charlotte-House-Affair/dp/1541054989/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1541054989&pd_rd_r=29FK37MYHH8S53TJ3CP5&pd_rd_w=l9fNl&pd_rd_wg=ZHZaI&psc=1&refRID=29FK37MYHH8S53TJ3CP5"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdrU6faI2zYOgBhMqCK7k37GZPlskOGpuM42TQM2KJ0jk0752rbKfet8VwiX_4l1NVi5cYcHUYXWiNfAprxpN3qtcW947mxOQeA021yyxWl9OU1MeDoM0zsef1XL3Gqa7myoHT-hNTGLa/s200/Petkus2.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times new roman";"><b>Derrick Belanger</b> is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="1519511957" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B017862MVS" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B00P4E8AVI" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a data-amzn-asin="1533202273" href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i><br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></i>

What do You Get When You Cross Sherlock Holmes with Jane Austen?

"one other detail was remembered by Jane" [CROO] Jennifer Petkus has added two equal cups of Sherlock Holmes and Jane Au...

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by Belanger Books

Episode 139: The Strand Magazine

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"the rushing stream of life in the Strand" [ILLU] </h4>
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<i>The Strand Magazine</i> and Sherlock Holmes are inextricably linked. It was the stories of the immortal detective, carried each month in that publication, that made it as popular as it was in the late 19th century and early 20th century. When the magazine published its last issue in 1950, it was the end of an era that spanned nearly 60 years.<br />
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In the late 1990s, <i>The Strand</i> was given a new life by Andrew Gulli, who determined that the world was prepared for more literature around detective fiction. Andrew sat down with us to talk about his unique beginnings with Sherlock Holmes in Greece, a television program (not the one you think) and what led him to editing an iconic mystery magazine.<br />
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And don't forget to try your hand at the latest Canonical Couplet, <b><i>as long as you're a </i></b><a href="http://ihose.co/ihosepatron"><b><i>Patron of the Arts</i></b></a>.<br />
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<b>Sponsors</b></h2>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a><i></i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" style="font-style: italic;">The Baker Street Journal</a></li>
<li><i><a href="https://sherlockholmesbooks.com/products/the-criminal-mastermind-of-baker-street">The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street</a></i></li>
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock139.mp3">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 31.1 MB, 1:07:45</h4>
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<h2><b>Links</b></h2></div>
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<ul>
<li>This episode: <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose139">ihose.co/ihose139</a></li>
<li><a href="http://strandmag.com/">The Strand Magazine</a></li>
<li><a href="https://strandmag.com/shop-new/">The Strand Magazine Shop</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_One_(bookshop)">Murder One</a> bookshop in London</li>
<li>The Polish-British co-production <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298697/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt">Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veuSvSbmZjs">A few episodes</a> of <i>Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson</i></li>
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Transcript</h3>
<b>We need your help with transcripts</b>: we still need to reach <a href="http://patreon.com/ihearofsherlock">the $100 level on Patreon</a> to help fund a transcription for each episode. All it takes is your help to get us to that level. We nearly have enough funding! Thank you in advance for doing your part to make the show available to the hearing-impaired.<br />
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<a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/381021260/Transcript-I-Hear-of-Sherlock-Everywhere-Episode-139-The-Strand-Magazine#from_embed">Transcript - I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 139: The Strand Magazine</a></div>
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Episode 139: The Strand Magazine

"the rushing stream of life in the Strand" [ILLU] The Strand Magazine and Sherlock Holmes are inextricably linked. ...

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by Scott Monty

A Dastardly New Sherlock Holmes Tale This Spring

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"The Royal Mallows is, as you know, one of the most famous" [CROO]</h4>
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When it comes to candy, some holidays are sweet. Halloween was a treat, Christmas was pure joy, and Valentines Day is when you thought "Be Mine" referred to ownership of the candies.<br />
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Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy confections again, we're quickly approaching Easter. And that means furry and fuzzy creatures, hopping and waddling their way to us. Bunnies and chicks are among the most popular, and thanks to Peeps and Company, their eponymous squishy treat owns the holiday like no other (perhaps with the exception of Cadbury and their creme egg).<br />
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But this year, rather than just the standard yellow Peeps which came to define the category, Sherlockians must keep an eye on their sundials. For if you look closely at the image above, you'll note that the yellow has given way to orange, and the Peeps are arranged neatly in a tray, five across.<br />
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Yes, that's right.<br />
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<b>THE FIVE ORANGE PEEPS!</b></h3>
<a href="https://www.justborn.com/news-and-media/2016/peeps-break-free-basket-spring-new-traditions/">Press release</a>.<br /><br />Get your own, in two flavors: <a href="https://amzn.to/3O05BZf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sunny D</a> or <a href="https://amzn.to/4uWsRrH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chili Lime Mango</a>.<br /><br />Take care near Waterloo Station...<br />
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A Dastardly New Sherlock Holmes Tale This Spring

"The Royal Mallows is, as you know, one of the most famous" [CROO] When it comes to candy, some holidays are sweet. Hallo...

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by Scott Monty

Baker Street Elementary — Everyone's a Critic

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"the critical part of my argument" [PRIO] </h4>
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When one produces some public work of note, there's virtually never an instance of said work being universally acclaimed. It's met praise and scorn, depending on the view of the critic.<br />
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From weekend sport (from which the popular phrase "Monday morning quarterback" gained popularity) to even some of the greatest works we know — such as the London premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony — creative works are subject to negative reviews and skeptical audiences.<br />
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So it comes as no surprise that we occasionally glimpse Holmes's prickly attitude regarding the cases that Watson has chosen to bring to life. As early at <i>The Sign of Four</i>, we're granted a view of Holmes taking issue with the single previous story that Watson has written up:<br />
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"You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or en elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid."</blockquote>
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— <i>A Study in Scarlet</i></div>
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Given that Holmes had the demeanor of an artist (recall that he said he was descended from the French artist Vernet, and that "Art in the blood is liable to take the strangest forms." [GREE]), it's not terribly surprising that his reaction to Watson's artistry would be emotional <span style="text-align: right;">— ironic, given that the topic over which he got so emotional was the discourse of the adventures arising from his logical faculties.</span><br />
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Later, in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," published in June of 1892, Holmes remonstrates Watson: "You have degraded what should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales.” It continues as far as "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" (September 1904) when Holmes unleashes:<br />
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 "You slur over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy in order to dwell upon sensational details which may excite, but cannot possibly instruct, the reader.”</blockquote>
But by this time, Watson has had enough. He replies with<br />
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“Why do you not write them yourself?” I said, with some bitterness.</blockquote>
Holmes was of course prepared with the retort courteous:<br />
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“I will, my dear Watson, I will. At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my declining years to the composition of a text-book which shall focus the whole art of detection into one volume."</blockquote>
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Could it be that this bickering of "professional beauties" [STUD] was rooted in something earlier in their relationship? Something that happened, perhaps, at Baker Street Elementary...<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary — Everyone's a Critic

"the critical part of my argument" [PRIO] When one produces some public work of note, there's virtually never an insta...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 138: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes

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"in and among the trenches" [REDH] </h4>
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In <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose137">the previous episode</a>, we talked with Ross Davies about supporting the fighting men of World War I. Now we look at one man in particular and his service during the Great War: Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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We of course know all about Holmes's long game, leading up to the capture of Baron Von Bork in "His Last Bow." But there's so much more information regarding his whereabouts, the doings of the government, the international forces at play, and even wine that deserves a deeper look.<br />
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Hence, the Baker Street Irregulars took the opportunity to do just that in Trenches: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes with the manuscript to "His Last Bow," edited by Bob Katz and Andy Solberg. They join us for a fifth time to talk about their work. The reason this one is so different from other versions is that the manuscript to "His Last Bow" is incomplete, and the owner of the manuscript wished to remain — and still remains — completely anonymous.<br />
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<b>Links</b></h2>
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<li><i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/trenches.html">Trenches: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes</a></i></li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUxjOS3g6Uc">I Love Lucy grape stomping scene</a></li>
<li>Bob's and Andy's previous appearances on IHOSE: <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose50">Episode 50</a>, <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose63">Episode 6</a>3, <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose76">Episode 76</a>, <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose93">Episode 93</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bestofsherlock.com/conan-doyle-manuscripts.htm">Conan Doyle Manuscripts</a> on The Best of Sherlock Holmes</li>
<li>Rebecca Romney's appearance on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose99">Episode 99</a></li>
<li>This episode: <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose138">ihose.co/ihose138</a></li>
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Episode 138: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes

"in and among the trenches" [REDH] In the previous episode , we talked with Ross Davies about supporting the fight...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

The Case of the Vinegar Valentine

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<b>"proof against the little god's arrows" [NOBL] </b></h4>
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<br />When one searches the Canon for Valentines, the only one one comes across is Colonel Valentine Walter ("<a href="http://ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/bruc.htm">The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans</a>") and the only mention of Cupid is how one <a href="http://ignisart.com/camdenhouse/canon/nobl.htm">noble bachelor</a> managed to avoid “the little god’s” [Cupid’s] arrows for twenty years. Surprising, given how many couples and the many permutations of love inform the adventures and the fact that the Victorians pretty much invented the holiday as we know it.<br /><br />There were apparently three saints called Valentine (Valentinus) — one a priest in Rome, one a bishop in Turni, Italy, and one who died in the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis — all connected to February 14. <br /><br />Little is factually known of the three; legends about the priest and bishop may have been conflated into the stories known today. Valentine was martyred for secretly marrying Christians; or for secretly marrying Roman recruits, thus preventing them to fight in war (soldiers had to be single at the time); or that he was executed for trying to convert the Emperor; or that after being arrested he restored the eyesight of an Umbrian judge’s blind daughter, converted him and his family, later arrested again in Rome, became friendly with the Emperor Claudius Gothicus, tried to convert him, whereupon the Emperor had Valentine beaten with clubs and beheaded on February 14, 269; or that Valentine refused to make sacrifices to Roman gods, was imprisoned, healed the jailer’s daughter of blindness, and on the day of his execution left the girl a note signed, “From your Valentine.”<br /><br /><br />But like many other Christian holidays, Valentine’s Day has a very long history and pagan origins. Lupercalia was held in ancient Rome on February 15 in honor of Juno, in this case one of her specific aspects, Juno Februalis, involving fertility and purification.  One ceremony had the<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"names or tokens representing all the young girls in the district ... placed in a love urn and the young lads each drew a token and the couples paired off. This was a kind of mating lottery game. During the Roman occupation of Britain, the idea was brought to this country and adopted by the ancient Britons. When people were converted to Christianity the pagan and Christian festivals were merged; the festival of Lupercalia was put back a day and celebrated on St. Valentine's day, February 14. The old pagan customs still continued and in Britain up to the beginning of the present century it was customary for local lads and lasses to draw lots for partners. In Lancashire, on St. Valentine's eve, the names of eligible young people were written on separate slips of paper and divided into two groups, male and female. The boys drew a slip from the girls' pile and vice versa. Thus each person received two sweethearts and then had to work out for themselves the most satisfactory arrangement. After the final selection had been made the boys treated their maidens to all sorts of outings and surprises including dances and gifts." (<a href="https://www.learnenglish.de/culture/valentinesday.html">British Culture, British Customs and British Traditions: Valentine's Day in the UK - February 14th</a>)</blockquote>
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<span style="line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>"I have never loved" [DEVI]</b></span></h3>
The linking of Valentine’s Day and love started in Europe in the Middle Ages, continued with written notes of verse in the 1500s and evolved in to giving tokens of affection, sometimes left anonymously on the doorstep of the beloved. Gloves were a popular gift because the name contained the word love. Flowers became widespread in the 1700s when Charles II of Sweden imported selam, the old Persian art of the <a href="http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valcard.html">language of flowers</a> to the West where it evolved to specific flowers and fruits having specific meanings, the giving of which conveyed messages to the receiver. </div>
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Postal reforms in England, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Penny_Post">Uniform Penny Post</a> in 1840 made it much more cost-effective to send your homemade Valentine to your love. Before then, postage was calculated by pages and distance; it could cost more than an average day’s wages to send a one-sheet letter from London to Edinburgh. Now the cost was one penny. Pre-printed Valentine cards became a big business. “Just one year after the Uniform Penny Postage, 400,000 valentines were posted throughout England.  By 1871, 1.2 million cards were processed by the<a href="http://fiveminutehistory.com/valentines-day-in-the-victorian-era/"> General Post Office in London</a>.” Mail carriers were given a refreshment allowance to help them cope with the increased burden in the days before the fourteenth.<br /><br />The cards ranged from simple color illustration and verse to elaborate constructions of paper lace, bird’s feathers, ribbons, bits of colored glass or mirror and hidden messages and gifts designed to be overlooked by the prying eyes of fathers. There were “mechanical” valentines made to pop-up or move by pulling paper levers or spinning discs.<br /><br />There were also "<a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/vinegar-valentines-victorian">vinegar valentines</a>" designed to be sent, sometimes anonymously, to the object, not of your desire, but disgust. These early versions of trolling were less elaborate then their loving counterparts, but no less imaginative, ranging from clever to crass and crude. One example, to be sent to an “old maid” read:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
’Tis all in vain your simpering looks,<br />You never can incline,<br />With all your bustles, stays and curls,<br />To find a Valentine.</blockquote>
<br />Richard Cadbury, son of John Cadbury, knew when to jump on a trend. The family chocolate business had refined its drinking chocolate in 1866, reaching new taste heights.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This process resulted in an excess amount of cocoa butter, which Cadbury used to produce many more varieties of what was then called "<a href="http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/celebrating-valentines-day-with-a-box-of-chocolates">eating chocolate</a>." Richard recognized a great marketing opportunity for the new chocolates and started selling them in beautifully decorated boxes that he himself designed."</blockquote>
<br />Richard didn’t patent his 1868 heart-shaped chocolate box, but it not only became associated with the holiday, but they were so beautiful that people kept them, filling them with tokens from their love.<br /><br />With all this rich history and contemporary popularity, it’s a shame that Watson never recorded a case connected with Valentine’s Day. Or did he?<br /><br /><h3>
<b><br /></b><b>"your time will not be misspent" [SILV]</b></h3>
To divine which villain cruelly used the holiday for his nefarious goals we need to turn to chronology. I hear the sound of marbles on porcelain as eyes roll in skulls, “Oh Gawd, not chronology!” I love the study of Sherlockian chronology; it can illuminate dark corners of the Canon, although I know it is the bane of some. But bear with me.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It may be remembered that after my marriage, and my subsequent start in private practice, the very intimate relations which had existed between Holmes and myself became to some extent modified. He still came to me from time to time when he desired a companion in his investigations, but these occasions grew more and more seldom, until I find that in the year 1890 there were only three cases of which I retain any record,” </blockquote>
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writes Watson in "The Final Problem," giving a headache that chronologist masochistically enjoy. Which three? Well, certainly "The Adventure of the Red Headed League" gets an almost unanimous nod, and "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," with its list of cases from the first year of Watson’s marriage comes in a close second. That leaves an opening for only one other case.<div>
<br />“You will remember that I remarked the other day, just before we went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary Sutherland…" [REDH], which would seem to settle it; "A Case of Identity" it is, except most chronologists are loath to put it in 1890, because in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," Mrs. Hudson visits Watson “in the second year of my married life,” which would put it in 1890, if Watson was married in 1888 and if this is not a reference to the doctor's second marriage. Oh, Watson, why didn’t you tell us when the start of your “own complete happiness” began? The majority of chronologists relegate "A Case of Identity" to 1889.</div>
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<br />In my incredibly erudite and rare monograph <a href="http://johnhwatsonsociety.com/product/monograph-two/">Some Observations Upon the Early Writing of John H Watson, MD, 1887-1894</a><b>*</b> I explain why "The Copper Beeches" did not occur in 1890, but sometime before 1887. This leaves a slot open for "A Case of Identity" and when we put it in 1890, something very interesting happens.</div>
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<i><b>*</b>Despite the sexy title, it is a monograph which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure Sherlockiana that it is said that there is no one in the Holmesian world capable of understanding it.</i><br /><br />The “maiden,” as Holmes calls Mary Sutherland, asks Holmes to find her missing fiancé, Hosmer Angel. That budding mathematician, that doctor with an eye for figures, Watson, finds something slightly ridiculous and wanting in the new client, </div>
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“a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted in a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire fashion over her ear…. the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchantman behind a tiny pilot boat.” </blockquote>
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And he later notes her “...preposterous hat and the vacuous face.” </div>
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<br />Angel disappeared from the cab in front of St. Savior’s Church on a Friday, which according to Mary’s “Missing” ad was the morning of the 14th. In 1890, the fourteenth fell on a Friday in February, March and November. November would be too late, for that would occur after "The Red Headed League" in October. Traditionally, weddings are not held during Lent (and this was to be a church wedding); Ash Wednesday was on February 19 and Easter on April 6, which eliminates March. So the perfidious James Windibank planned for Hosmer Angel to vanish on Valentine’s Day! The most romantic date on the calendar now becomes the most tragic day of Mary Sutherland’s life.<br /><br />Holmes feels some sympathy for Miss Sutherland: “Quite an interesting study, that maiden. I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite one….But the maiden herself was most instructive." And harbors something of a deep protectiveness: “But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel, and selfish, and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me.” Holmes comes across as a chaste knight errant to a maiden who he judges, rightly or not, as unable to protect herself, leading to his famous quote to Windibank, “I’d horsewhip you, if I had a horse.” No, wait that was <a href="https://youtu.be/PUV_2cqbrbo?t=41s">Groucho Marx</a>. <br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The law cannot, as you say, touch you,” said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, “yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!” he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, “it is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting-crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to—" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road.</blockquote>
<br />But Holmes’ gallantry goes too far:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
“And Miss Sutherland?”<br />“If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, ‘There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.’ There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.”</blockquote>
Did he really think she was too delicate and psychologically fragile to handle the truth? Perhaps to spend the rest of her life as a spinster, never to find true love? Or did he think that the danger of snatched delusions was more physic than psychic—for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction? Indeed, did he see a different type of passion in the depths of Mary's astigmatic eyes? Did those parallel cases in Andover in '77 and The Hague “last year” have a victim who sought her revenge? Poison in the family soup? Forty whacks with a handy ax? <br /><br />Whatever his reasoning, Holmes was overprotective of his client, treating her like a child, not a woman. Leave it to Watson, with experience of the “fair sex” <a href="http://ihose.co/trifles61">over three continents</a> and many nations to adjudge correctly. After a cooling period of a year, he unveiled the treachery of her step-father to her and to the public, perhaps also stopping a cold-blooded scoundrel in his rise from crime to crime.</div>
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Maybe Watson thought Mary's published humiliation was the just the shake of the shoulders she needed to wake her up and move on with her life. Cupid’s arrows wound all heels as well as bring the sting of love.<br /></div>
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