The Authentic World of Sherlock Holmes: An Evocative Tour of Conan Doyle's Victorian London

Rating:
Summary: Towards An Exact Knowledge of London
Review: Let me get my one negative comment, if that is what it is, out of the way at the beginning: Charles Viney's THE AUTHENTIC WORLD OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (the item currently for sale through Amazon.com) is an exact, page-by-page reproduction of SHERLOCK HOLMES IN LONDON, an earlier edition of the same material, now out of print. (The only differences are the title and dustjacket.) The book for sale here is well worth having, but you probably won't need both for your own collection, unless you're possessed of a "collecting mania" rivaling that of Baron Gruner's - Sherlockians will understand the reference. Therefore, be forewarned.

That caveat made, let me strongly recommend this excellent collection of period photographs, offered here at a very modest price. Viney has hit upon the wonderful idea of linking the images of the imperial city with Holmes's cases, accompanied by relevant extracts from the stories. He includes, as an appendix, a period ordnance map of London (c. 1888), where you can locate every major building, street, circus, alley and mew.

Now for Sherlockians the opportunity to spend more time with Mr. Holmes, which this lovely book provides, is self-recommending. Yet for a more general reader, whose interests might include history, Victorian culture and London, this book also has much to offer.

For in addition to creating Mr. Holmes, a figure who would become, as the OXFORD COMPANION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE notes, the most famous character in the literature of the world, another of Conan Doyle's great achievements was to deal through each case with an issue then current in contemporary British society. Bicycles are becoming the object of a fad, particularly giving women, literally, greater mobility, and you have THE ADVENTURE OF THE SOLITARY CYCLIST. Impoverished English nobles given to marrying wealthy American young ladies: THE NOBLE BACHELOR. The espionage that surrounds international power politics: THE NAVAL TREATY and THE BRUCE PARTINGTON PLANS. But even secondary details, only dealt with in passing - Londoner's love of Turkish Baths, for example, are displayed within the Holmesian canon, as in THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT. All can be found as one spends time with the world's first consulting detective. Viney's book gives pictorial evidence of that London culture, physical clues as to how they lived then; how the great metropolis looked to the great sleuth who wished to know it with precision.

May I make one more suggestion? For those who love London as I do, whether you are a Sherlockian or someone with an interest in the capital city of Victorian culture, please check out Felix Barker's book LONDON IN OLD PHOTOGRAPHS. (Currently available through Amazon.com.) This too shows the great town through period photographs. As Mr. Barker has arranged them, these images will lead you on walking tours through London from the Strand to Saint Paul's; from the corner of Baker and Oxford Streets to the Bank of England. This too, is a book to treasure.