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Profile by Gaslight: An Irregular Reader About the Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 17, 2022
In the 1930s a group of distinguished Sherlock Holmes fans began to insist that Holmes was not a fictional character. He was a real Englishman, born in 1854, who had his detective exploits written up by his real friend and confidant, Doctor Warson. There was some disagreement about exactly how Arthur Conan Doyle fit into the picture.
In 1933 Vincent Starrett published his biography, "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" In 1934 Christopher Morley, a well-known man of letters, established the Baker Street Irregulars, a lighthearted literary group dedicated to all things Holmesian.
Edgar Smith became president in 1940. He edited this 1942 essay collection. it is great fun. He includes essays on Holmes' library, on the surprising adventure of Mrs. Hudson, Holmes' landlady, on whether Homes had a drug problem, on Holmes' genealogical history and much more.
We also get some light verse sprinkled in.
The essays are written by professional authors and informed amateurs. Rex Stout, the author of the Nero Wolfe crime novels, stirs the pot with his essay, "Watson Was a Woman". Anthony Boucher, another well-known mystery writer and reviewer of the day, has another controversial essay on "Was the Later Holmes an Imposter?". He has a very interesting suspect for the real identity of Holmes in his later stories.
Many of the author's assume that in his old age, Holmes became a beekeeper out in the English countryside, as suggested in one of Doyle's stories. It was surprising in 1942 many of them assumed that Holmes was in his 80s still alive in remote England tending his bees.
It is hard these days to picture successful authors publicly involving themselves in this kind of whimsy.
In 1933 Vincent Starrett published his biography, "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" In 1934 Christopher Morley, a well-known man of letters, established the Baker Street Irregulars, a lighthearted literary group dedicated to all things Holmesian.
Edgar Smith became president in 1940. He edited this 1942 essay collection. it is great fun. He includes essays on Holmes' library, on the surprising adventure of Mrs. Hudson, Holmes' landlady, on whether Homes had a drug problem, on Holmes' genealogical history and much more.
We also get some light verse sprinkled in.
The essays are written by professional authors and informed amateurs. Rex Stout, the author of the Nero Wolfe crime novels, stirs the pot with his essay, "Watson Was a Woman". Anthony Boucher, another well-known mystery writer and reviewer of the day, has another controversial essay on "Was the Later Holmes an Imposter?". He has a very interesting suspect for the real identity of Holmes in his later stories.
Many of the author's assume that in his old age, Holmes became a beekeeper out in the English countryside, as suggested in one of Doyle's stories. It was surprising in 1942 many of them assumed that Holmes was in his 80s still alive in remote England tending his bees.
It is hard these days to picture successful authors publicly involving themselves in this kind of whimsy.
November 7, 2011
An essential early reader from 1944 featuring noted Sherlockians Vincent Starrett, Edgar W. Smith, Christopher Morley, W. S. Hall, Rex Stout, Julian Wolff, Dorothy L. Sayers, H. W. Bell, Elmer Davis and many more. Along with Starrett's 221B: Studies in Sherlock Holmes, Smith's Profile by Gaslight is often considered the main catalyst for the eventual creation (1946) of the Baker Street Journal. It will come as no surprise that this book is on the Shaw 100.
May 29, 2013
A treasure trove of canonical and non-canonical Holmesiana for every Sherlockian. Some trivia I already knew; some I discovered through this.
I didn't need any further proof that SH fans have always been wacky, but here it is anyway.
"Here, though the world explode, these two survive
And it's always eighteen ninety five".
Some consulting detectives live-in with (and love) army doctors. In every reincarnation. And the faithful fandom obsesses over every detail of (and comes up with WEIRDASS theories about) life inside 221B; again, in every reincarnation.
I didn't need any further proof that SH fans have always been wacky, but here it is anyway.
"Here, though the world explode, these two survive
And it's always eighteen ninety five".
Some consulting detectives live-in with (and love) army doctors. In every reincarnation. And the faithful fandom obsesses over every detail of (and comes up with WEIRDASS theories about) life inside 221B; again, in every reincarnation.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews