My Virtual Reading Room

Conan Doyle, in his own words

How heavy is a glass of water?

Three letters of advice

Cooking (Mis)Adventures, or Mishka's Gruel
(this one makes me laugh every time)

There is nothing secret that shall not be made manifest

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930)

“I should dearly love that the world should be ever so little better for my presence. Even on this small stage we have our two sides, and something might be done by throwing all one’s weight on the scale of breadth, tolerance, charity, temperance, peace, and kindliness to man and beast. We can’t all strike very big blows, and even the little ones count for something.”

Originally posted by duathir at Arthur Conan Doyle, 'The Inner Room'

"For years, women fight for the right to vote
On terms on a par with a man!
They've got what they wanted--the right to vote--
What next if they do 't when they can?!"

(Franz Lehar, "The Merry Widow")
~~

And from the Baker Street Journal Twitter (@BakerStJournal):

"His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him.
A shock of orange hair,…a bulldog chin" (TWIS)

"by God, when next it comes to a vote—“ (VALL)

"elected to the office through the votes of the ruffians who in turn expected to receive favours at his hands." (VALL)

He said a few words to each candidate as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in them which would disqualify them. (REDH)

"Its power was used for political purposes, principally for the terrorizing of the negro voters” (FIVE)

"the next election, has cast a gloom over the county” (HOUN)

"The despotism and hatred of Liberalism” (STUD)

"too intimately concerned with politics and finance, to be fitting" (REIG)

Originally posted by med_cat at The Wanderer

A Post-Impressionist

Peter Wilson, A.R.A.,
In his small atelier
Studied Continental Schools,
Drew by Academic rules.
So he made his bid for fame
But no golden answer came,
For the fashion of his day
Chanced to set the other way,
And decadent forms of Art
Drew the patrons of the mart.

Now this poor reward of merit
Rankled so in Peter's spirit,
It was more than he could bear ;
So one night in mad despair
He took his canvas for the year
('Isle of Wight from Southsea Pier'),
And he hurled it from his sight,
Hurled it blindly to the night,
Saw it fall diminuendo
From the open lattice window,
Till it landed with a flop
On the dust-bin's ashen top,
Where, 'mid damp and rain and grime.
It remained till morning time.
( Then, when morning brought reflection/ He was shamed at his dejection... )

Man's Limitation

Man says that He is jealous,
Man says that He is wise,
Man says that He is watching
From His throne beyond the skies.

But perchance the arch above us
Is one great mirror's span,
And the Figure seen so dimly
Is a vast reflected man.

If it is love that gave us
A thousand blossoms bright,
Why should that love not save us
From poisoned aconite?

( If this man blesses sunshine/ Which sets his fields aglow... )

“How sweet the morning air is! See how that one little cloud floats like a pink feather from some gigantic flamingo.
Now the red rim of the sun pushes itself over the London cloud-bank. It shines on a good many folk, but on none, I dare bet, who are on a stranger errand than you and I.
How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”

(ACD, from SIGN)

There are three Holmes cases which mention a "life preserver." At that time that term was in fact used for a flotation device, but gained a different meaning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A blackjack-type weapon had the name as well, and was called a "life preserver" because it would harm someone but not kill them. Unlike a blackjack or cudgel, it was flexible in the middle. That helped soften the blow.

The only case of the three (BERY, BRUC, GREE) that shows us what one looks like is BERY - 'The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.' In that story George Burnwell takes one down from a wall. Luckily for us, Sidney Paget was able to illustrate the scene for us.

The first picture here is that Paget drawing. The other is a section of a 1902 book which featured a story about New Scotland Yard and the weapons they had encountered.

(from Historical Sherlock FB pg)

"Thank you," said Holmes. "The envelope, too, please. Postmark, London, S.W. Date, July 7. Hum!" (The Sign of the Four)

( On medical school, medical practice, and politics: )

This was part of a column titled "This Morning's News" and is from the 13 December 1893 issue of the newspaper The Daily News. Among other news items such as the weekly death rate in London (2,556 -- most from diseases we can now cure or prevent), the Speaker suffering a loss of voice, counterfeit twenty-franc gold pieces gone missing, and football injuries in America, there is this:

"Sherlock Holmes is no more. He dies with his name ringing in men's ears. The police of the world are left with their inferior resources to deal with crimes as of old. In the new number of 'The Strand Magazine' the career of this, the most wonderful detective -- amateur or otherwise -- known to fiction is brought to an end; how, it would be unfair to say. Enough that he meets with one who is "on the same intellectual plane" as himself, and the result is decisive, though there is no place for boasting. This creation of Sherlock Holmes is really great. There seemed no possibility of giving freshness to a favourite character of French fiction, but Dr. Conan Doyle has done that, and more. He has touched the imagination anew, and with amazing fertility and daring has made one person famous over the world. Sherlock Holmes will not be forgotten by this generation at least."

(copied from bookishadventures tumblr)

This is G.K. Chesterton's "The Complete Father Brown", a marvelous series of detective stories. Father Brown reminds me a bit of Sherlock Holmes, but even more of Hercule Poirot. If you like Doyle and/or Christie's work, I highly recommend these:

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/c/chesterton/gk/c52fb/

And speaking of Doyle, here's a complete good-quality scan of his "Memories and Adventures" autobiography, well worth a read if you like biographies and autobiographies. I shall post some excerpts later...

http://www.unz.org/Pub/DoyleArthur-1924?Col=-1

"...Wonderful is the atmosphere of the war. When the millennium comes, the world will gain much, but it will lose its greatest thrill."

(Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in his autobiography "Memories and Adventures", published in 1924)

...How much the time we live in shapes our views...this, from someone who worked in a field hospital during the Boer war, and had been in the thick of action as well and saw death and carnage and an enteric fever epidemic first hand...from someone who lived to see WWI and the horror that was chemical warfare...