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Sherlock Holmes: the Published Apocrypha
The field bazaar --
How Watson learned the trick --
The adventure of the two collaborators / by J.M. Barrie --
The man with the watches --
The lost special --
Sherlock Holmes: a drama in four acts / by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette --
The painful predicament of Sherlock Holmes: a fantasy in about one-tenth of an act / by William Gillette --
The speckled band: an adventure of Sherlock Holmes --
The crown diamond: an evening with Sherlock Holmes --
Plot for Sherlock Holmes story --
The case of the man who was wanted / by Arthur Whitaker.
How Watson learned the trick --
The adventure of the two collaborators / by J.M. Barrie --
The man with the watches --
The lost special --
Sherlock Holmes: a drama in four acts / by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette --
The painful predicament of Sherlock Holmes: a fantasy in about one-tenth of an act / by William Gillette --
The speckled band: an adventure of Sherlock Holmes --
The crown diamond: an evening with Sherlock Holmes --
Plot for Sherlock Holmes story --
The case of the man who was wanted / by Arthur Whitaker.
325 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 1980
5 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Arthur Conan Doyle
15.9k books24.3k followersSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 1, 2024
I give this four stars for its importance in the history of Sherlock Holmes as it contains a few of Doyle’s other detective stories and two plays he wrote about Sherlock Holmes as well as the William Gillette play. However, in terms of the quality of the material and my enjoyment of it it would be three stars, still pretty good.
May 17, 2012
A collection of stories and plays that are as close to belonging to The Canon as can be. One of those rare ‘must-haves’ for your Holmes library.
Sherlockians like to hold the Canon in the same esteem that Christians hold the Bible. So it should come as no surprise that there are some works by Doyle that are comparable to apocrypha. The term refers to early Christian writings not included in the Bible.
Jack Tracy, author of the popular Encyclopedia Sherlockiana, collected some authentic and near-authentic Holmes works that are not part of the Canon. Few books made up of Holmes fiction can justifiably sit on your bookshelf next to Doyle’s short stories and novels about the wisest and finest man Dr. Watson ever knew. This book is one of that rare numbers.
No one who has looked at Tracy’s Encyclopedia can doubt his Sherlockian scholarship. He utilizes his vast knowledge in an efficient and readable way in Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha. Each section begins with info about the writings that follow. Interesting and “must know” details set the stage for the pieces themselves.
For instance, chapter one contains three parodies. Doyle wrote the first for the Edinburgh undergraduate magazine. How Watson Learned the Trick, in which Doyle actually lampoons himself, was composed for Queen Anne’s dollhouse. The Adventure of the Two Collaborators followed upon the disastrous Jane Annie, a play co-written by Doyle and Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Four well-written pages tell the reader why and how these three parodies came about. There follows the full text of the stories. The book follows this pattern, and it is an accessible way to present the contents.
Next are two Doyle stories: The Man with the Watches and The Lost Special. Both were published in The Strand in 1898: after The Final Problem and before Holmes’ temporary revival in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Both tales include an unnamed amateur detective who could easily have been Sherlock Holmes. The great Edgar W. Smith argued that these two tales should have been included in the Canon as Holmes adventures. Doyle may have killed off Holmes, but it appears he wasn’t quite through writing about him. Well, or at least writing the same types of tales.
Next is my favorite chapter, William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes. There is a fascinating mini-history about Gillette’s two Holmes plays: Sherlock Holmes; A Drama in Four Acts and The Painful Predicament of Sherlock Holmes. Then we are treated to the full text of both plays. This book is worth the price for the Gillette plays alone!
In a natural progression, Doyle’s two Holmesian plays follow. A half dozen pages tell about the creation of The Speckled Band and The Crown Diamond. The first is a good play and was successful on stage. The second: not quite a keeper.
Hesketh Pearson found the outline for an unwritten Holmes story when he was researching his biography of ACD. That short outline is included in this book. It wouldn’t have been much of a Holmes tale.
The book ends with The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted. Pearson also discovered an entire previously unknown Sherlock Holmes tale in 1942. The Doyle estate (always quick to try and make a buck) surprisingly enough resisted pressure to publish it. Finally, in 1948, they accepted an offer from Cosmopolitan and it was published.
Then the bad news: Arthur Whitaker said that he had written the tale and sent it to Doyle in 1910, hoping it would become a collaboration. Doyle declined and suggested Whitaker rewrite is as non-Holmes tale. Finally, he purchased it for 10 pounds. Doyle set it aside and never used it. Whitaker produced the carbon copy of his typescript, as well as Doyle’s own hand-written letter in which the author had offered to buy the script.
The Doyle Estate refunded some of the money they received for selling the story and Whitaker was paid 150 pounds to be quiet about the affair. He died not long after and the matter was dropped by all parties. Cosmopolitan never admitted the story wasn’t by Doyle, and the Estate had no comments.
Tracy’s book is valuable alone for the fact that it was the first reprinting of Whitaker’s table since a 1949 appearance in Britain’s The Sunday Dispatch over 30 years before.
In short, The Published Apocrypha is almost The Canon and should be nestled close to Baring-Gould’s or Klinger’s Annotated versions of the stories on your Sherlockian (or Holmesian) bookshelf. I thoroughly enjoy my copy.
Sherlockians like to hold the Canon in the same esteem that Christians hold the Bible. So it should come as no surprise that there are some works by Doyle that are comparable to apocrypha. The term refers to early Christian writings not included in the Bible.
Jack Tracy, author of the popular Encyclopedia Sherlockiana, collected some authentic and near-authentic Holmes works that are not part of the Canon. Few books made up of Holmes fiction can justifiably sit on your bookshelf next to Doyle’s short stories and novels about the wisest and finest man Dr. Watson ever knew. This book is one of that rare numbers.
No one who has looked at Tracy’s Encyclopedia can doubt his Sherlockian scholarship. He utilizes his vast knowledge in an efficient and readable way in Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha. Each section begins with info about the writings that follow. Interesting and “must know” details set the stage for the pieces themselves.
For instance, chapter one contains three parodies. Doyle wrote the first for the Edinburgh undergraduate magazine. How Watson Learned the Trick, in which Doyle actually lampoons himself, was composed for Queen Anne’s dollhouse. The Adventure of the Two Collaborators followed upon the disastrous Jane Annie, a play co-written by Doyle and Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Four well-written pages tell the reader why and how these three parodies came about. There follows the full text of the stories. The book follows this pattern, and it is an accessible way to present the contents.
Next are two Doyle stories: The Man with the Watches and The Lost Special. Both were published in The Strand in 1898: after The Final Problem and before Holmes’ temporary revival in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Both tales include an unnamed amateur detective who could easily have been Sherlock Holmes. The great Edgar W. Smith argued that these two tales should have been included in the Canon as Holmes adventures. Doyle may have killed off Holmes, but it appears he wasn’t quite through writing about him. Well, or at least writing the same types of tales.
Next is my favorite chapter, William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes. There is a fascinating mini-history about Gillette’s two Holmes plays: Sherlock Holmes; A Drama in Four Acts and The Painful Predicament of Sherlock Holmes. Then we are treated to the full text of both plays. This book is worth the price for the Gillette plays alone!
In a natural progression, Doyle’s two Holmesian plays follow. A half dozen pages tell about the creation of The Speckled Band and The Crown Diamond. The first is a good play and was successful on stage. The second: not quite a keeper.
Hesketh Pearson found the outline for an unwritten Holmes story when he was researching his biography of ACD. That short outline is included in this book. It wouldn’t have been much of a Holmes tale.
The book ends with The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted. Pearson also discovered an entire previously unknown Sherlock Holmes tale in 1942. The Doyle estate (always quick to try and make a buck) surprisingly enough resisted pressure to publish it. Finally, in 1948, they accepted an offer from Cosmopolitan and it was published.
Then the bad news: Arthur Whitaker said that he had written the tale and sent it to Doyle in 1910, hoping it would become a collaboration. Doyle declined and suggested Whitaker rewrite is as non-Holmes tale. Finally, he purchased it for 10 pounds. Doyle set it aside and never used it. Whitaker produced the carbon copy of his typescript, as well as Doyle’s own hand-written letter in which the author had offered to buy the script.
The Doyle Estate refunded some of the money they received for selling the story and Whitaker was paid 150 pounds to be quiet about the affair. He died not long after and the matter was dropped by all parties. Cosmopolitan never admitted the story wasn’t by Doyle, and the Estate had no comments.
Tracy’s book is valuable alone for the fact that it was the first reprinting of Whitaker’s table since a 1949 appearance in Britain’s The Sunday Dispatch over 30 years before.
In short, The Published Apocrypha is almost The Canon and should be nestled close to Baring-Gould’s or Klinger’s Annotated versions of the stories on your Sherlockian (or Holmesian) bookshelf. I thoroughly enjoy my copy.
July 7, 2011
This collection shares much of it's content with the collection entitled "The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes." actually the only items that do not appeare in the afore mentioned book are two stage plays "Sherlock Holmes" by William Gillette and a stage adaptation of "The Speckled Band" by the creator himself Arthur Conan Doyle. I highly recomend the two plays as they are both very good and hardly ever seen on stage anymore.
The two stories "The lost Special" and "The man with the watches" are also very good but I have also seen them reprinted in many other collection (including "the final Adventures") so that they are hardly rare anymore.
The two stories "The lost Special" and "The man with the watches" are also very good but I have also seen them reprinted in many other collection (including "the final Adventures") so that they are hardly rare anymore.
May 4, 2012
A hodgepodge of Holmes related works including two stories he makes cameos in and plays written for the theater. These are all sub-par at best. Unless you are a die hard fan or a completest of the genre, this collection is better left unread.
May 14, 2013
Liked the short stories, wasn't that into the play adaptations.
August 13, 2013
For the big Sherlock Holmes' fans, this book contain stories that could be in the canon.
April 22, 2016
Nie, no sorry, straszna bzdura.
December 28, 2014
recka będzie na blogasiu, pewnie jutro
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews