The Misadventure of Shelrock Holmes Read Free Page A

which Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery of Charles Dickens's Edwin Drood. The first of these, by Andrew Lang, appeared in "Longman's Magazine," London, issue of September 1905. The second, by Edmund Lester Pearson, is contained in Chapter III of the author's THE SECRET BOOK (New York, Macmillan, 1914). The third, by Harry B. Smith, appeared in "Munsey's Magazine," December 1924, and was later published in book form. 11 After many pipefuls of indecision we came to the conclusion that all three are
    10 Vincent Starrett's THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES; page 162.
    11 Harry B. Smith's HOW SHERLOCK HOLMES SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD; Glen Rock, Pa., Walter Klinefelter, 1934, private edition limited to thirty-three copies.
    INTRODUCTION Xlll
    too specialized in treatment and content matter to appeal to the
    general reader.
    Nor have we overlooked Corey Ford's The Rollo Boys with Sher-loc{ in Mayfair; or, Keep It Under Your Green Hat. This is to be found in the author's THREE ROUSING CHEERS FOR THE ROLLO BOYS * and in the January 1926 issue of "The Bookman." As the title indicates, Mr. Ford contrived a triple-barreled parody of the Rover Boys, Sherlock Holmes, and Michael Arlen. But the satirical emphasis was almost exclusively on Arlen's literary style in his famous book, THE GREEN HAT, and so fails to maintain contemporary interest. Regretfully we have been forced to exclude the pastiches written by H. Bedford Jones. This popular author once wrote a series of stories revealing the "true facts" in Watson's unrecorded cases — an imaginary dip into that "travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box" in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross. But after writing the series, H. Bedford Jones decided to remove Sherlock—thus disenchanting the stories —and sold most of them as "ordinary" detective tales. We have had the pleasure of reading three of Mr. Jones's "recorded" cases — The Adventure of the At-\inson Brothers (referred to by Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia),™ The Affair of the Aluminium Crutch (referred to in The Uusgrave Ritual)?* and The Adventure of the Matilda Briggs (referred to in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire}. 15
    We have also —this time without regret — omitted a translation of the numerous "Sherlock Ol-mes" pastiches counterfeited, so to speak, in the pulp-factories of Barcelona. These were written by anonymous hacks and spread throughout the Spanish-language countries of the world. You will understand our restraint when you read the following synopsis, generously supplied by that indefatigable enthusiast, Mr. Anthony Boucher. It is a typical example of what happened to Holmes in MEMORIAS ULTIMAS — a potboiler-potpourri of sex and sensation titled Jac^, El Destripador (}ac{ the Ripper).
    12 A rare instance in which book-appearance (New York, Doran, 1925) anticipated magazine-appearance ("The Bookman," January 1926).
    13 THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES; London, Newnes, 1892; New York, Harper, 1892.
    i* MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES; New York, Harper, 1894; London, Newnes, 1894. i 5 THE CASE-BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES; London, Murray, 1927; New York, Doran, 1927.
    The story opens in the office of Mr. Warm [sic], chief of police of London. Holmes has just returned from handling a delicate affair in Italy, and Warm brings him up to date on the latest development in London crime: Jack the Ripper. There have been 37 (!) victims so far — all women.
    Holmes's ancient rival, detective Murphy, enters with news of the 38th — the singer Lilian Bell. After a crude exchange of insults, Holmes and Murphy agree to a wager as to who will catch the Ripper. The stakes are ^1000, to which Warm adds 25 bottles of champagne for the winner.
    Next we see the bedroom of the fair Lilian, with her disembowelled corpse tastefully arranged amid flowers on the bed. Her maid, Har-riette Blunt, is disconsolate. Her brother, Grover Bell, is wondering about her will. Josias Wakefield, representative of the