The Elementary Cases of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes)

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and possibly authentic.
Review: Ian Charnock has helpfully made available a series of Holmes tales from a surprising source: Stamford, the young fellow at Bart's who introduced Holmes to Watson. According to the volume's introduction (purportedly written in 1951, when Stamford was 91), the writer left strict instructions that the manuscript was not to be published until forty years after his death. We are probably expected to infer that this event came to pass in 1959.

All but two of the cases recorded here are the ones to which Holmes referred in "The Musgrave Ritual". Stamford narrates for us the cases of the Tarleton murders and of Vamberry the wine merchant, the matter of the old Russian woman, the singular affair of the aluminum crutch, and the full account of Ricoletti of the club foot (and his abominable wife). Two other cases appear here as well, one of which -- the case of the _Matilda Briggs_ and the giant rat of Sumatra (to which Holmes briefly alludes in "The Sussex Vampire") -- stands, to my mind, a greater chance of being "the real thing" than the enjoyable but clearly inauthentic work by Richard Boyer published some twenty-five years ago. (Likewise, some of the other cases have been written up elsewhere in what are clearly pastiches rather than historical accounts.)

These cases mostly take place, as Holmes mentions in "Musgrave," before his biographer has come to glorify him. And the reader may well wish that Watson _had_ gotten round to writing these cases up; Stamford (if he is indeed the author) has not quite got the good doctor's touch with a tale, and for the most part the cases themselves are frankly not all that intrinsically interesting. (Moreover, the writing style limps a bit in places. The writer has the odd British habit of omitting punctuation altogether allowing sentences to run on and on like this and suddenly inserting a gratuitous comma somewhere near the end which makes for occasionally, confusing reading.)

However, as Stamford notes in his introduction to the volume, he possesses valuable information about Holmes's early years that is not available elsewhere. In some cases the reader will have to watch carefully: Stamford is not above burying or encoding such information and leaving it to the reader to ferret it out. (For example, in a clear imitation of a famous "contradiction" in the canonical Holmes stories, Stamford refers to one character as "John" on one page and as "James" just a few pages later. In this case, however, the "error" is a clue to the real identity of the character.)

But on the whole, the information has at least the ring of plausibility. And to my mind the somewhat artless style of the narrative tells in favor of its authenticity: it really does seem to be a reminiscence of an elderly Stamford rather than something cooked up by a professional writer. (I would have been suspicious if the style _had_ been too much like Watson's.)

And perhaps most importantly, the character of Holmes rings true. In these tales we are encountering Xenophon's Socrates rather than Plato's, but it is clearly the same man -- or a very good imitation.

Sherlockians/Holmesians will therefore probably enjoy this collection. As I suggested, the tales themselves are not all that gripping -- but that too is a point in favor of their authenticity, considering that they are alleged to date from so early in Holmes's career. And the (alleged) insights into the character and early history of Holmes himself will be of interest to all fans of the great detective.

Naturally, of course, every reader will wish to judge their authenticity for himself or herself. But in my own view, these tales may well be genuine -- as opposed, for example, to the altogether enjoyable but clearly fictional "reminiscences" of Mary Russell in the Laurie King novels.

Charnock is to be commended for making this collection available to the public. Readers seeking titillation or edge-of-one's-seat excitement will be mostly unimpressed. But those seeking information on the young Holmes himself will probably be pleasantly surprised at how well these tales satisfy their purely historical interest.

Rating:
Summary: Well, now, indeed!
Review: In A STUDY IN SCARLET, I believe the first Holmes story to be published, we are introduced to Dr. John H. Watson, late of the Royal Army in India. While recuperating from wounds received in combat, he renews an acquaintanceship with "young Stamford", from his University days. Who introduces him, in turn, to his friend, Sherlock Holmes. Thus begins one of literatures most famous and enduring partnerships. During his chronicles, Watson refers to many adventures Holmes had before he and Watson met. In this book, Ian Charnock tells us of some of those adventures; those he shared or related to his friend, "young Stamford". At the time he tells these stories, Stamford is 91 years old, no longer young. His memory is, in places, foggy; in others, brilliantly clear. This device, plus Holmes' youth at the time allows Charnock quite a bit of leeway in creating his characters before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would. Thus, we see a Holmes whose character and habits are still forming. We also see slices of life in an earlier Victorian England than we are used to, as seen by Sir Arthur. One other thing of interest, you will note that Ian Charnock uses the same device pioneered by Sir Arthur: the story is told by a second party involved in the tale. In the original stories, Dr John H. Watson narrated a story in which he was involved. In these, "young Stamford" tells tales involving himself and the very same man. Interesting stories, told well. Very much worth your book dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Well, now, indeed!
Review: In A STUDY IN SCARLET, I believe the first Holmes story to be published, we are introduced to Dr. John H. Watson, late of the Royal Army in India. While recuperating from wounds received in combat, he renews an acquaintanceship with "young Stamford", from his University days. Who introduces him, in turn, to his friend, Sherlock Holmes. Thus begins one of literatures most famous and enduring partnerships. During his chronicles, Watson refers to many adventures Holmes had before he and Watson met. In this book, Ian Charnock tells us of some of those adventures; those he shared or related to his friend, "young Stamford". At the time he tells these stories, Stamford is 91 years old, no longer young. His memory is, in places, foggy; in others, brilliantly clear. This device, plus Holmes' youth at the time allows Charnock quite a bit of leeway in creating his characters before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would. Thus, we see a Holmes whose character and habits are still forming. We also see slices of life in an earlier Victorian England than we are used to, as seen by Sir Arthur. One other thing of interest, you will note that Ian Charnock uses the same device pioneered by Sir Arthur: the story is told by a second party involved in the tale. In the original stories, Dr John H. Watson narrated a story in which he was involved. In these, "young Stamford" tells tales involving himself and the very same man. Interesting stories, told well. Very much worth your book dollar.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting effort....
Review: The review elsewhere on these pages by Scott Ryan is quite good and tells the prospective reader most of what he or she needs to know about this book, so I will contribute not a complete review but a sort of interlinear commentary.

It's a great idea to have the pre-Watson Sherlock's adventures written up by the "young Stamford" who first introduced Holmes and Watson at Barts Hospital. However, Charnock has adopted a sort of "fundamentalist" approach here, dealing mainly with cases mentioned by Holmes to Watson as taking place in his early career--- many of the problems presented are hardly worthy of the mature Holmes.

There are some more serious problems. In what I think may be the first Holmes story written by the author, "Aluminium Crutch," the narrator is Holmes himself (always a problematical conceit) and the "solution" to the problem that Holmes presents is a preposterous and completely supernatural urban legend, which cheats Holmes' client as totally as it cheats the modern reader. Other stories end abruptly, with more loose ends than the average mop, particularly "Ricoletti," where Holmes expends a page meditating on the social horror of a lesbian relationship in Victorian England, without clarifying any aspect of the mystery that has been presented! Where the hell has the living yeti got off to?!?

One of the more interesting stories is "Opal Tiara," which has obvious echoes of "Musgrave Ritual," but achieves a number of fine twists at the end. The "Giant Rat" episode has the problem that all action occurs offstage, and Holmes himself never directly appears.

Characterizations are good, the simulation of a Victorian style is adequate, and Holmes' conversational dialogue particularly sounds "bang-on," in the fashion British pastiche writers often achieve, and American pastiche writers never seem to accomplish.

One of the better Holmes collections offered in fairly small printings by publisher Martin Breese. Get it while copies remain.