[339] The details of Watson’s time with his old service (that he planned in His Last Bow) have unfortunately not been maintained for posterity.
[340] The Victoria Cross is the highest military medal awarded in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. It was introduced in 1856 to honor valor during the Crimean War. This is the only record we have that Watson was awarded one, as his name cannot be found in the official list of the some 1300 recipients throughout history.
[341] A ‘Bar’ is the term used for a second awarding of the Victoria Cross. Preciously few men in history have been so worthy.
[342] Here Holmes echoes his sentiments from His Last Bow regarding Watson’s role in stopping the spy Von Bork.
[343] “Damon and Pythias” is an idiomatic expression for ‘true friendship.’ It derives from a Greek legend told originally by Aristoxenus, and then related by Cicero among others. Although the tale has primarily vanished from the contemporary mind, the allusion would have been obvious to Watson, who would have known of it from such references as Hamlet (Act III, Scene II) and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
[344] Holmes quotes himself here, from Chapter V of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
[345] Again, Holmes quotes himself, this time from The Boscombe Valley Mystery.
[346] When Watson volunteers to accompany Holmes on his illegal house-breaking, Holmes responds: “We have shared the same room for some years, and it would be amusing if we ended by sharing the same cell” (The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton).
[347] Holmes references Watson’s “occasional week-end visit” to his retirement home on the South Downs in The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane.
[348] Although Holmes could go without food for some time while on a case, he was also a gourmand when the case allowed. The two finest examples are in Chapter X of The Sign of Four and The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor.
[349] The English Channel is famous for not allowing a successful invasion since that of William the Conqueror in 1066, despite determined attempts from Napoleon and others to come later.
[350] That Holmes did consider higher matters is plain from the reports of this thoughts in The Adventures of the Cardboard Box and The Retired Colourman.
[351] Watson reports his and Holmes’ weakness for Turkish baths in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client. It should be recalled that Holmes was sixty-four years old (born in 1854) and Watson sixty-six years old (born in 1852) in 1918. Watson mentions Holmes’ rheumatism in the Preface to the collection found in His Last Bow.
[352] By this we can assume Holmes is referring to palimpsests, manuscript pages from which the text has been scraped or washed off so it can be used again. Holmes mentioned this interest in The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez.
[353] Presumably Holmes is referring primarily to Lassus’ Polyphonic Motets, which he published as a monograph. However, given his talents on the violin, perhaps he did more research on the music of the Middle Ages, as obliquely mentioned in The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans?
[354] Oddly, the canonical reference is to “miracle plays” (Chapter X, The Sign of Four). Presumably Watson misremembered what Holmes was actually discoursing on, given the broad range of subjects at the time.
[355] Holmes reported his special study of medieval pottery in Chapter X of The Sign of Four.
[356] At first, this appears to be an uncharacteristic mistake by Holmes, for most English barrows date from the Neolithic and Bronze ages. However, early Anglo-Saxons in the 6th and 7th Century CE also constructed them for their princes. Holmes likely compiled his knowledge of these burials from two sources: 1) Discussions with Dr. James Mortimer, who excavated a “prehistoric” barrow at Long Down (Chapter VIII, The Hound of the Baskervilles); and 2) A hands-on experience during his investigation of the singular contents of an ancient British barrow during the investigation of the Addleton tragedy (The Adventure of the Golden Pince Nez).
[357] Holmes was so interested in the topic of English charters that he almost turned down a case in order to continue his researches of them (The Adventure of the Three Students).
[358] Holmes was correct, of course. The final Canonical publication, entitled The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, took place in 1927. The result was uneven, to say the least, perhaps reflecting the waning of the seventy-five year-old Watson’s literary powers.
[359] The two cases that most come to mind are The Five Orange Pips (in which Holmes fails to prevent the murder of John Openshaw) and The Adventure of the Dancing Men (in which he fails to prevent the killing of Hilton Cubbit).
[360] Holmes mentions handling “five hundred capital cases” in Chapter V of The Hound of the Baskervilles, which took place roughly at the midpoint of his career. Shortly afterwards, he speaks of investigating over a thousand total cases (The Final Problem). By the time of his retirement, the tally mentioned in this letter may actually be rather low.
[361] Holmes reiterates a point he made in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty. In the recorded cases, he is noted as having directly aided the rulers of Bohemia, Holland (A Scandal in Bohemia), Scandinavia (The Noble Bachelor), and Great Britain (The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans).
[362] Holmes paraphrases himself: “But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast of coming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories - are these not the pride and the justification of our life's work” (Chapter VII, The Valley of Fear).
[363] Unfortunately, Holmes deigns to elaborate much upon how he trained himself for this unusual profession when pressed to do so by Watson in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.
[364] Although there are sixty Canonical tales of Sherlock Holmes, two were written in a third-person voice (presumed to be that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) and two were penned by Holmes himself.
[365] It is with uncharacteristic modesty that Holmes refers to his brain as an attic (Chapter II, A Study in Scarlet & The Five Orange Pips) or box-room (The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane), since the ‘method of loci’ is commonly referred to as the ‘memory palace.’ It is a mnemonic device that dates back as far as ancient Greek and Roman treatises. Simply put, it is a method of memory enhancement which uses visualization to organize and recall information.
[366] Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE) wrote about the ‘method of loci’ in his work De Oratore.
[367] Holmes references this vague perception in The Adventure of the Three Gables.
[368] It is odd that Holmes decided not to use his own personal library in the garret of his little house upon the South Downs, which he refers to in The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane, where presumably his rare old copy of Der jure inter Gentes can be found (Chapter V, A Study in Scarlet). As a garret is itself a type of attic, perhaps he found it too either too similar to his original mental “room?” Or perhaps he preferred the more formal library to be found in the home of “a man of letters” like Waston (The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge)?
[369] An extreme example of the ‘pot calling the kettle black’ from a man who indexed the case of The ‘Gloria Scott’ under ‘V’ for ‘Voyage’ (The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire)!
[370] Perhaps Watson did this on purpose to entertain his friend, knowing his passion for such things?
[371] Watson has clearly replaced the picture of Henry Ward Beecher that occupied this place during the time of The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, with that of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftsbury. An interesting choice by Watson, Shaftsbury was no military hero. He was, due to his constant advocacy for the better treatment of the working classes, known as the ‘Poor Man's Earl.’ One of his biographers, Georgina Battiscombe, went so far as to claim that: “No man has in fact ever done more to lessen the extent of human misery or to add to the sum total of human happiness.”
[372] As reported in The Adventures of Solitary Cyclist and The Veiled Lodger.
[373] As reported in The Adventure of the Golden P
ince Nez.
[374] As reported in The Problem of Thor Bridge.
[375] Sensational novels bound in vividly illustrated yellow boards, intended for railway travelers. We can presume that Holmes meant this metaphorically, and not every volume upon the shelf was literally yellow-backed. Watson tried to interest himself in one during the Boscombe Valley Mystery, and Miss Violet Hunter read one to her employer in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
[376] Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[377] Presumably Watson studied this work in an attempt to wean his acquaintance Isa Whitney off this drug, as mentioned in The Man with the Twisted Lip. It also may be the source of some of Watsons’ knowledge about Johann Paul ‘Jean Paul’ Friederich Richter (Chapter VII, The Sign of Four).
[378] Mentioned in the non-Canonical story The Adventure of the First Star.
[379] Mentioned in Chapter VIII of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[380] Watson was clearly familiar with this work, for he compared the “king of all the blackmailers” to Mr. Pickwick in terms of physical appearance in The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton.
[381] Mentioned in Chapter II of The Valley of Fear.
[382] Mentioned in Chapter II of A Study in Scarlet.
[383] Presumably Watson found this remarkable for the similarities of its hero Allen Quartermain with Dr. Leon Sterndale, individual of interest in The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot.
[384] In Chapter V of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils Watson is introduced to the short story ‘The Three Kings of Bermuda,’ originally printed in this book.
[385] Holmes and Watson discuss Meredith’s work in The Boscombe Valley Mystery, without referencing a particular volume.
[386] Mentioned in Chapter V of A Study in Scarlet.
[387] I have been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Hugo’s masterpiece.
[388] This is presumably Mark Twain’s collection of short stories titled after the headliner story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, which was mentioned in Chapter XIII off the non-Canonical novel The Gate of Gold.
[389] Holmes makes clear his opinion of Poe’s Dupin in Chapter I of A Study in Scarlet.
[390] I have also been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Richardson’s masterpiece.
[391] Mentioned in The Five Orange Pips.
[392] Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the First Star.
[393] Mentioned in Chapter I of the non-Canonical novel The Ruins of Summer.
[394] Mentioned obliquely by Holmes in Chapter VI of The Sign of Four.
[395] Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel The Gate of Gold.
[396] Never mentioned by name, but clearly widely read and influential in provoking fears like those of Mr. Robert Ferguson in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.
[397] I have been unable to locate a Canonical reference to Thackeray’s masterpiece.
[398] Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel The Gate of Gold.
[399] The mysterious Porlock sends a letter to Holmes which is encrypted using the Almanack in Chapter I of The Valley of Fear.
[400] Mentioned in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches & Chapter I of The Valley of Fear.
[401] Mentioned in Chapter I of the non-Canonical novel The Gate of Gold.
[402] Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the First Star.
[403] The first volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica was copied out by hand by Mr. Jabez Wilson in The Red-Headed League. Holmes also refers to it in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the First Star.
[404] At the time of The Hound of the Baskervilles (difficult to date precisely, but generally attributed to 1889), Watson specifically calls his shelf “small” (Chapter I).
[405] Watson consults this in Chapter I of The Hound of the Baskervilles, when he looks up the record of Dr. James Mortimer.
[406] Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle.
[407] We can presume this is the “recent treatise upon surgery” that Watson was deep into one “wild, tempestuous” November night before he and Holmes were called to investigate The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez. Interestingly, Dr. Joseph Bell (1837–1911) was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Medical School attended by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and was renowned for his skills at deducing diagnoses via close observation of his patients.
[408] Dr. Armstrong’s treatise, which he was writing when interrupted by Holmes, was clearly not published until after the events set down in The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter. It is probably an update of the English physician Benjamin Marten’s “Theory of Consumption” (published in 1720) with the clinical implications of the findings of Robert Koch, the German physician who discovered the mycobacterium in 1882, plus Armstrong’s experience taking care of many afflicted patients, such as Mrs. Godfrey Staunton. This topic would have also been of great interest to Watson’s literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whose first wife Louisa died of the disease in 1906. All copies of this work have unfortunately been lost.
[409] Published in 1882, this may be the “latest treatise upon pathology” that Watson attempted to read after meeting Mary Morstan (Chapter II, The Sign of Four). Scrofula is an old term for a swelling of the lymph nodes of the neck caused by tuberculosis. Because of the medieval belief that it could be cured by a royal touch, it became known as the ‘King’s Evil.’
[410] Mentioned in The Resident Patient.
[411] Watson was reading this journal after breakfast when called upon by Holmes to join him in The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk.
[412] The last two journals (Lancet, founded in 1823, and Journal of Psychology, founded in 1876) were mentioned as having published articles by Dr. James Mortimer (Chapter I, The Hound of the Baskervilles).
[413] A black-letter edition is a volume printed in an early typeface, and suggests an antiquarian edition. Holmes is described as reading from one in both Chapter I of The Sign of Four and The Red-Headed League. Again, Holmes is likely being metaphorical here, as it is unlikely that every one of these volumes was printed in this fashion.
[414] Presumably not the copy stolen from the Cunninghams in The Reigate Squires!
[415] Mentioned in The Adventure of the Three Students.
[416] Referred to by Holmes in both Chapter II of A Study in Scarlet and Chapter I of The Sign of Four.
[417] Horace, mentioned by Holmes in A Case of Identity, would have been familiar to any English schoolboy of the time.
[418] Watson was clearly familiar with the work, though he refers to it by its nickname, the ‘Arabian Nights,’ in both The Adventures of the Noble Bachelor and The Three Gables.
[419] Holmes paraphrases from the eminent Persian poet Hafiz (or Hafez; c.1325–c.1389) in A Case of Identity.
[420] Mentioned in Chapter XXIII of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[421] Mentioned in Chapter III of A Study in Scarlet.
[422] Holmes reads from this on the train in The Boscombe Valley Mystery.
[423] Referred to by Holmes in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire.
[424] Quoted by Holmes in Chapter VI of The Sign of Four.
[425] Quoted by Holmes in Chapter VI of A Study in Scarlet.
[426] One of Miltons’s most famous sonnets, ‘On His Blindness’ is quoted in Chapter VI of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[427] Mentioned in Chapter II of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[428] Paraphrased by Holmes in A Case of Identity.
[429] Holmes mentions one of Keats’ most famous works, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci,’ in The Adventure of the Three Gables.
[430] Mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle.
[431] It is not entirely clear which poem from this collection that Watson was familiar with. It may be an allusion to ‘B
oadicea’ (as discussed in Chapter VI of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils).
[432] This collection contains the poem ‘Excelsior,’ loved by Holmes sufficiently to make it part of the motto of the firm in The Adventure of the Creeping Man, as well as ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus,’ mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the First Star.
[433] The final work in this volume was ‘Christmas Bells,’ mentioned in the non-Canonical tale The Adventure of the Manufactured Miracle.
[434] A paraphrase of Hamlet (Act II, Scene II): “Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.”
[435] Quoted by Holmes in The Red-Headed League, this classic biography would have been known by every British gentleman of the time.
[436] Paraphrased by Holmes in Chapter III of A Study in Scarlet.
[437] Referred to by Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell.”
[438] Quoted by Dr. Mortimer in Chapter I of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
[439] Although not mentioned by name, it is logical that Watson would have at least one book by a man he once esteemed sufficiently to have his portrait standing on top of his bookcase (The Cardboard Box).
[440] Mentioned in Chapter II of A Study in Scarlet.
[441] Commended to the attention of Watson by the Hugo Baskerville (Chapter II, The Hound of the Baskervilles).
[442] Mentioned in Chapter V of A Study in Scarlet.
[443] Holmes quotes an obscure French philosopher, Francois, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, in Chapter VI of The Sign of Four. While possible that he and Watson may have been familiar with the phrase from the original source, more likely they knew of it from its appearance in Franklin’s pamphlets of 1741 and 1745.
[444] Misquoted by Holmes in The Red-Headed League.
[445] Mentioned in Chapter XII of the non-Canonical novel The Isle of Devils.
[446] Holmes notes, perhaps sarcastically, that Watson has a “Machiavellian intellect” in Chapter I of The Valley of Fear.
[447] This must be the source of Watson’s knowledge of the Copernican Theory, as outlined in Chapter II of A Study in Scarlet.
The Midwinter Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes: Three Adventures & The Grand Gift of Sherlock Page 25