The Transcendent Holmes

By John Warwick Montgomery

In a series of sparkling and intelligently presented essays, Dr. Montgomery takes a fresh look at the world "where it is always eighteen ninety-five" -- the world of Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes. Besides examining long debated problems, such as the true location of 221B, which was Holmes's University, how many times Watson was married, and where Watson was wounded, Dr. Montgomery also considers Holmes's activities in Tibet, his writings, his brother Mycroft, and his liking for fine wines.
In a stunning climax to the volume, the reader is presented with a discussion between Holmes and Watson which will almost certainly cause him/her to pause, think, and deeply consider the depth of the message conveyed.
Dr. Montgomery is a Sherlockian of long-standing. These essays prove that his time devoted to his subject has been very well spent indeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Reformation Publications
• Release date: Mar 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781945500732

Book preview

The Transcendent Holmes

The Author, in the role of Godfrey Norton (but in his own barrister’s wig and gown), conversing with the Master at Meiringen, near the Reichenbach Falls, September 1988.

John Warwick Montgomery

The Transcendent Holmes

An imprint of 1517. The Legacy Project

The Transcendent Holmes

Copyright © 2000 by John Warwick Montgomery

Revised American Edition © 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial use permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

New Reformation Publications

P.O. Box 54032

Irvine, California 92619–4032

ISBN: 978-1-945978-24-1 Hard Cover

ISBN: 978-1-945500-36-7 Soft Cover

ISBN: 978-1-945500-73-2 E-Book

NRP Books, an imprint of New Reformation Publications, is committed to packaging and promoting the finest content for fueling a new Lutheran Reformation. We promote the defense of the Faith, confessional Lutheran theology, vocation and civil courage. For more NRP titles, visit www.1517legacy.com.

Preface

To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, ‘of the making of Holmesian books, there is no end.’ What justifies another collection of Sherlockian essays?

First, the perennial fascination of Holmes himself, who, we argue, is genuinely archetypal. The Great Detective has such magnetic attraction that there can hardly be too many books discussing his career, his circle, and the Victorian world in which he lived.

Second, Holmesians, like other specialists, have the unfortunate tendency to myopic concentration on their own bailiwick—and this should be corrected. (Cf. the Scientist, who ‘learns more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing.’) The present author contends that Sherlockian scholarship can only benefit from insights gained in other fields: mythology, psychology, theology, literature in general, law—even vinology. The essays comprising this volume are intentionally wide-ranging, the purpose being to offer renaissance perspectives on an unarguably renaissance character.

Finally, the present work serves as a testimony to the extent of existing Sherlockian literature. Every effort has been made to take account of the responsible scholarship on the questions treated, and those readers who are new to the Holmesian scene should be humbled (as is the writer) to learn of the stature and quality of work carried out in this field. Hopefully, this present book will provide an entree into ‘the writings about the writings’ for those who peruse it.

My deepest thanks to those who have preceded me and to those who have directly assisted. Needless to say, they are in no way responsible for errors or infelicities in the result. Nick Utechin, distinguished editor of The Sherlock Holmes Journal, published an earlier version of my essay, ‘Holmes in Tibet’, in its Winter 1992 issue, and graciously supplied the Introduction to the present book. Earlier versions of ‘Harry Dickson, le Sherlock Holmes Américain’ and ‘Holmes Vinaire’ appeared in France in the Blood: A Practical Handbook of French Holmesian Culture (Sherlock Holmes Society of London, 1993), as did ‘Holmes, the Law and the Inns of Court’, in Back to Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes Society of London, 1994). The Société Sherlock Holmes de France first published ‘The Transcendent Holmes’ under the title, ‘Pourquoi Aimons-Nous Sherlock Holmes?’ (Sherlock Holmes et la France, Mairie de Paris et Agence Culturelle de Paris, 1996). Bernard Davies’s kindness warrants a particular word. So do the bibliographical labours on my behalf of Catherine Cooke, curator and librarian of the Sherlock Holmes Collection at the Marylebone Library, London. And more than one of these essays would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the remarkable courage of the membership of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and of the Northern Musgraves, who not only invited me to speak but actually listened while I did so.

JOHN WARWICK MONTGOMERY

24 May: The birthday of Victoria,

Queen and Empress

Contents

Preface

Key to Story Titles

Introduction

Holmes at Home: The Perennial Problem of 221B

Holmeses University Revisited

Holmes, The Law, and the Inns of Court

Holmes as Author

Holmes Vinaire

The Wounded Watson

Watson at the Altar

A Study in Mycroft

‘Harry Dickson, Le Sherlock Holmes Américain’

Holmes in Tibet

The Transcendent Holmes

The Search for Ultimates: A Sherlockian Inquiry

About the Author

List of Illustrations

Figure 1: The West End from Baker Street to Soho

Figure 2: London’s West End

Figure 3: The Environs of Baker Street

Figure 4: 111 Baker Street: Dr Briggs’s location of 221B

Figure 5: 109 Baker Street: Holroyd’s 221B

Figure 6: No. 31 Baker Street: Bernard Davies’s 221B

Figure 7: 34 Baker Street: The ‘Empty House’, according to Bernard Davies

Figure 8: The ‘Empty House’

Figure 9: Inner Temple, London

Figure 10: Inner Temple Court

Figure 11: The Temple Church from the Cloisters

Figure 12: The Côte de Beaune Wine Region, Burgundy

Figure 13: Café Royal: ‘The girl who asked for a glass of milk’

Figure 14: Early Harry Dickson cover illustration

For

W. HOWARD HOFFMAN, MD

WILL & JAN MOORE

CRAIG PARTON, ESQ.

DR ROD ROSENBLADT

Sherlockian Minds

and Transcendent Hearts

Key to Story Titles

ABBE The Abbey Grange

BERY The Beryl Coronet

BLAC Black Peter

BLAN The Blanched Soldier

BLUE The Blue Carbuncle

BOSC The Boscombe Valley

BRUC The Bruce-Partington Plans

CARD The Cardboard Box

CHAS Charles Augustus Milverton

COPP The Copper Beeches

CREE The Creeping Man

CROO The Crooked Man

DANC The Dancing Men

DEVI The Devil’s Foot

DYIN The Dying Detective

EMPT The Empty House

ENGR The Engineer’s Thumb

FINA The Final Problem

FIVE The Five Orange Pips

GLOR The Gloria Scott

GOLD The Golden Pince-Nez

GREE The Greek Interpreter

HOUN The Hound of the Baskervilles

IDEN A Case of Identity

ILLU The Illustrious Client

LADY The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

LAST His Last Bow

LION The Lion’s Mane

MAZA The Mazarin Stone

MISS The Missing Three-Quarter

MUSG The Musgrave Ritual

NAVA The Naval Treaty

NOBL The Noble Bachelor

NORW The Norwood Builder

PRIO The Priory School Mystery

REDC The Red Circle

REIG The Reigate Squire

REDH The Red-Headed League

RESI The Resident Patient

RETI The Retired Colourman

SCAN A Scandal in Bohemia

SECO The Second Stain

SHOS Shoscombe Old Place

SIGN The Sign of the Four

SILV Silver Blaze

SIXN The Six Napoleons

SOLI The Solitary Cyclist

SPEC The Speckled Band

STOC The Stockbroker’s Clerk

STUD A Study in Scarlet

SUSS The Sussex Vampire

THOR The Problem of Thor Bridge

3GAB The Three Gables

3GAR The Three Garridebs

3STU The Three Students

TWIS The Man with the Twisted Lip

VEIL The Veiled Lodger

WIST Wisteria Lodge

YELL The Yellow Face

Introduction

Some Nine Years Ago, I volunteered to chair an evening’s panel discussion on the Great Hiatus for The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Occasions such as these are often used to seek out new public speakers—there is always a hard core of old-timers who can be relied upon to invent a quick new Sherlockian thesis as required, but bright and untried scholars are always being sought to see if they can cope in this most critical of forums. I invited John Montgomery to participate and was extremely pleased that I had done so. There was a spark and a depth of thought apparent in his paper (you may read it in these pages—‘Holmes in Tibet’) which made it, and him, stand out. It, and he, are different.

It is therefore fitting that someone such as John should put together a collection of this sort; he describes his essays as ‘renaissance perspectives’ and it is splendid to see how the author has indeed looked anew at some of the great controversies of our sport. Where was 221B? Which of the two great universities was host to Holmes? Where the Watsonian wound? How many wives? These are the staples of Sherlockiana, born out of Andrew Lang, Vincent Starrett, and Christopher Morley—and pseudo-scholars such as I can never have enough of it!

Indeed, it has struck me forcibly in recent years that those coming new to the ‘Higher Criticism’ are often bereft of the essential information they need to reach their own scholarly decisions upon these pressing matters: the original masterworks are not always available in reprinted form, but are buried in unobtainable issues of the leading journals. How infuriating it must be for tyros to read passing footnotes by middle-aged Holmesians who assume knowledge! Professor Montgomery here does us a signal service in returning afresh to the major issues.

He is, of course, often entirely erroneous in his conclusions. How, for example, he can choose Cambridge as Holmes’s ‘alma mater’ is utterly beyond me (I am an Oxford man). I find myself perturbed that he can consider that the ‘Imperial Tokay’ mentioned in ‘His Last Bow’ could be an Alsatian wine—indeed, anything other than the supreme Hungarian fortified brew. And how can he support his argument that the Holmes-Watson apartment was not necessarily upon the first floor (American second), when we know from Holmes’s own lips that it was seventeen steps up . . .!

But this is quintessentially the Game . . . and I am beginning to take on the mantle of my more accustomed role of reviewer rather than Introduction-writer. In fact, I must hurry and finish this now, because I want to go off and re-read Professor Montgomery’s excellent work.

NICHOLAS UTECHIN

Editor, The Sherlock Holmes Journal

Holmes at Home

The Perennial Problem of 221B

According to Vincent Starrett’s famous line—and what true Holmesian would deny it?—‘it is always eighteen ninety-five’ at 221B Baker Street. But where precisely was (or, better, is) 221B? The problem has bedevilled the best of Sherlockian scholarship. Let us survey the most attractive solutions offered, concluding with a methodological analysis which may provide a route through the welter of conflicting viewpoints.

The Suffix ‘B’

‘221’ poses immensely more problems than ‘B’, so we shall deal with the latter at the outset. Tracy informs us that ‘the B represents the French designation bis, meaning that the address is a subsidiary one, in this case on an upper floor.’¹ But (1) bis is Latin, and only derivatively French; and (2) ‘subsidiary’ is not necessarily synonymous with ‘on an upper floor’. Baring-Gould dogmatically asserts that B ‘of course indicates that the rooms were on the second (British first) floor of 221 Baker Street’,² but this is merely a confirmation of the dictum of my Cornell logic professor Max Black: whenever someone says ‘of course’, it isn’t.

Figure 1: The West End from Baker Street to Soho

From: Baedeker’s London And Its Environs (8th rev. ed.; Leipsic, 1892).

Figure 2: London’s West End

From: Bacon’s Ordnance Atlas of 1888, reprinted as The A to Z of Victorian London, ed. Ralph Hyde (London: Guildhall Library, 1987).

Figure 3: The Environs of Baker Street

From: Ordnance Survey (1894), reproduced, with today’s numbering inserted, in James Edward Holroyd (ed.). Seventeen Steps to 221B (London: Allen & Unwin, 1967).

In spite of the consistent film and television depictions of 221B as an upper-floor flat, this is not necessarily the case at all. Leo Sauvage has argued that in European practice B (=bis) represents a repetition, i.e. an intercalation. ‘A house has been added between the existing number and the following one’,³ and the new house is given the B designation to avoid renumbering the existing higher numbers. Sauvage proves his point from STOC: the Franco-Midland Hardware Company’s temporary address was 126B Corporation Street, described as ‘a passage between two large shops’ (not the English and European first floor), and Holmes and Watson themselves have to climb five storeys to find it.⁴

Where Was 221? Competing Views

Granting, then, that the Holmes-Watson residence was located in an intercalated building, where was that building? In their day, the numbers on Baker Street ended at 85, so it is clear that Watson disguised the actual address, perhaps because of Holmes’s antipathy to publicity. Let us consider the more prominent attempts to identify that address with present-day Baker Street house numbers, recalling that in the period from the early 1880s to 1903 when Holmes resided there, the possibilities ranged from 1 to 42, south to north, on the east side of the street, and 44 to 85, north to south, on the west side (the number 43 was not used).

In January 1921, York Place was incorporated into Baker Street, and in 1930 renumeration occurred when Upper Baker Street was merged with Baker Street.⁵ Thus the higher Baker Street numbers today (such as the Abbey National Building Society House address now associated with Holmes) were not in fact ‘Baker Street’ addresses at all in Holmes’s day.⁶

Figure 4: 111 Baker Street: Dr Briggs’s location of 221B

Photograph by the author (1993).

Figure 5: 109 Baker Street: Holroyd’s 221B

Photograph by the author (1993).

But let us commence with the most northerly possibilities (the higher numbers—even