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Fandom and the Case of Arthur Conan Doyle

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Fandom and the Case of Arthur Conan Doyle Possessions and Obsessions: Fandom and the Case of Arthur Conan Doyle Katharine Grace Brombley The thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of the University of Portsmouth. Whilst registered as a candidate for the above degree, I have not been registered for any other research award. The results and conclusions embodied in this thesis are the work of the named candidate and have not been submitted for any other academic award. Word count: 79,108 1 Abstract This thesis focuses on the legacy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous literary creation: Sherlock Holmes. This thesis examines the historical, literary, and cultural context that caused a Sherlock Holmes fandom to emerge in the 1890s-1930s. Drawing on a range of resources, including previously unworked material from the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, Richard Lancelyn Green Bequest (Portsmouth, UK), this thesis furthers the current research being carried out on Sherlock Holmes fandom. The special edition ‘Sherlock Holmes Fandom, Sherlockiana, and the Great Game’ of Transformative Works and Cultures (2017) offers original research that traces the roots of participatory fandom to the 1890s, but there are still large gaps to be explored. This thesis therefore aims to engage with Sherlockian fandom as an 1890s phenomenon that progressed and grew from Holmes’ first appearance in the Strand. It also examines the previously ignored role of the Strand in cultivating a Sherlock Holmes fandom. It does this by looking at the commercialisation of Holmes, as well as the concepts of authorship, canon, paratexts, and collections. It combines existing approaches, such as literary theory, fan studies, and thing theory, and applies it to Victorian and Edwardian culture. This thesis argues that the Strand had a contradictory relationship with Sherlock Holmes fanfiction. On the one hand, the Strand used the idea of self-improvement to actively encourage readers to participate in authorship; on the other, they also rigorously enforced a literary hierarchy. Instead, Tit-Bits became the place for fans’ creative output, including Sherlock Holmes pastiches and parodies. This dual approach to fan behaviours was also present in the Strand’s attitude to collecting. They produced Sherlock Holmes postcards to be collected, yet also pathologised collectors in the magazine’s content. This thesis also argues that the Sherlock Holmes Canon itself offers a self-reflexive and dual portrayal of fans and collectors. 2 Possessions and Obsessions: Fandom and the Case of Arthur Conan Doyle Table of Contents Table of Illustrations 6 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 Richard Lancelyn Green 9 Fan Theory 12 Collecting and Collections 18 The Strand and Arthur Conan Doyle 24 Chapter One: Writing, Self-Improvement, and the Strand 32 Introduction 32 Self-Improvement and Economic Gains 34 Celebrities, Authors, and their Handwriting 40 Writing Tools as Means to Authorship 49 Typewriters and Female Professionalisation 61 ‘A Case of Identity’ and the Power of Type 67 Conclusion 76 3 Chapter Two: Escaping the Strand: The Paratextual Sherlock Holmes 78 Introduction 78 Arthur Conan Doyle and Defining the Canon 82 Sherlock Holmes Paratexts in the Strand 89 Paratextual Sherlock Holmes and Tit-Bits 93 Literary Competitions in Tit-Bits 100 Conclusion 112 Chapter Three: Collecting Sherlock Holmes: Autographs and Postcards 115 Introduction 115 Collecting in the Nineteenth Century 116 Handwriting as Sign 120 Arthur Conan Doyle versus Sherlock Holmes 123 Asking for Sherlock Holmes’ Autograph 128 Postcard Collecting 134 Conclusion 154 Chapter Four: Sherlock Holmes, Fandom and the Pathological Collector 158 Introduction 158 Collecting and Thing Theory 159 Stapleton and Naturalism 162 Baron Gruner and the Orientalised Other 178 Conclusion 196 4 Conclusion 201 The Creation of the Sherlock Holmes Society 205 The Sherlock Holmes Society Meetings (1934-1938) 210 Sherlockian Scholarship and the first Sherlock Holmes Society Meeting 212 The Organisation of the Sherlock Holmes Society 215 The Reach of the Great Game 221 Bibliography 228 Ethics Certificate & UPR16 249 5 Table of Illustrations Fig. 1. Facsimile of Burns’ Handwriting, Strand Magazine 67 (1896): 54 Fig. 2. Facsimile of the Handwriting of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Strand Magazine (1894): 605 Fig. 3. Facsimile of a page of Mr. Grant Allen’s story Jerry Stokes, Strand Magazine 1 (1891): 298 Fig. 4. Advertisement for Burge, Warren & Ridgley, Strand Magazine 15 (1898): xviii Fig. 5. Advertisement for Burge, Warren & Ridgley, Strand Magazine 18 (1899): ii Fig. 6. Advertisement for London Correspondence College, Strand Magazine Fig. 7. Advertisement for the Regent Institute, Strand Magazine Fig. 8. Advertisement for British School of Advertising, Strand Magazine Fig. 9. Advertisement for Premier School of Journalism, Strand Magazine 72 (1926): 57 Fig. 10. Advertisement page from the Strand Magazine Fig. 11. Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘The Reichenbach Falls’ (1903) Fig.12. Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘It was the shadow of Sherlock Holmes’ (1903) Fig. 13. Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1903) Fig. 14. Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘The man seized Sherlock Holmes by the throat’ (1903 Fig. 15.) Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘The silhouette on the Blind was a perfect reproduction of Holmes’ (1903) Fig. 16. Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘Look at that with your Magnifying Glass, Mr. Holmes’ (1903) Fig. 17. Advertisement for the “Sherlock Holmes” Picture Postcards, Strand Magazine Fig. 18. Reverse side for Sidney Paget, Postcard ‘The silhouette on the Blind was a perfect reproduction of Holmes’ (1903) 6 Fig. 19. Sidney Paget, illustration for The Hound of the Baskervilles, Strand Magazine 23 (1901): 246 Fig. 20. Sidney Paget, illustration for The Hound of the Baskervilles, Strand Magazine 23 (1901): 496 Fig. 21. Sidney Paget, illustration for The Hound of the Baskervilles, Strand Magazine 24 (1902): 12 Fig. 22. Howard K. Elcock, illustration for ‘The Adventure of the Illustrious Client’, Strand Magazine (1925) 7 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Arts Humanities Research Council for gifting me the AHRC collaborative award and Portsmouth City Council for access to their resources. Without this practical support, this fantastic project would never have come to fruition. To my supervisor, Dr Christopher Pittard – thank you for always finding something kind to say. Your input and eternal support have been invaluable. To Dr Jane Mee and Dr Patricia Pulham – thank you for your help, guidance, and support, both personally and academically. I would also like to give special mention to Dr Lincoln Geraghty for reading drafts and filling gaps in theory in this interdisciplinary thesis, and to Dr Roberta Pearson for kindly sending me vital proofs of articles that were then forthcoming to print in TWC. To all the staff and volunteers at the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, Richard Lancelyn Green Bequest, especially Michael Gunton and Laura Weston, I want to say that I appreciate all your work and dedication to such a fine collection. I am grateful for all your guidance, encouragement, and many trips into the storerooms. To Sherlockians all over the world, especially Mattias Boström, Alistair Duncan, Benoit Guilielmo, Tim Johnson, Jon Lellenberg, Steven Rothman, Randall Stock, and Nicholas Utechin – thank you for so freely sharing your knowledge and contacts with me. This thesis has benefitted greatly from your years of dedicated research. I am sad to never have known Richard Lancelyn Green, whose collection I have worked so closely with, and I do not underestimate the privilege it has been. To my family, including my ambitiously optimistic parents - without your love, financial and emotional support, this thesis would never have been written. Words cannot express how much I appreciate all you have done for me. To all my friends, including Rosie, Jack, Alex, Sian, Kieran, Millie – thank you for keeping me sane. To my fellow PhD students – Danni, Lucy, and Mel – thank you for your company, kind words, and advice. And finally, I wish to dedicate this thesis to my loving, limitlessly patient, supportive fiancé, Zach. Without you, none of this would have been possible. Your steadfast belief in me and your persistent encouragement have culminated in this finished piece of work and I can now happily say that was all worth it. 8 Introduction Richard Lancelyn Green World-renowned Sherlockian scholar, Richard Lancelyn Green, dedicated his life to his many hobbies and scholarly pursuits.1 His many attributes are celebrated in the memoir To Keep the Memory Green, compiled by two of his friends and fellow Sherlockians, Steven Rothman and Nicholas Utechin in 2007. In the memoir, contributors explain Lancelyn Green’s varied interests, which included book collecting, cinema and film, travelling, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes scholarship. His interest in the latter began with his recreation of 221B Baker Street in his family home when he was a boy. (C. L. Green, 2007, p. 58). Lancelyn Green was also heavily influenced by the interests of his father, Roger Lancelyn Green who was a renowned bibliophile, a scholar of Arthur Conan Doyle, and an expert on Victorian literature. Richard Lancelyn Green himself was highly educated, completing his English degree at Oxford University, and his family’s wealth enabled him to spend the majority of his time in scholarly pursuits, collecting, and travelling (To Keep the Memory Green: Reflections on the Life of Richard Lancelyn Green 1953-2004, 2007). In addition to the management of a few properties, Lancelyn Green’s work was predominantly writing and producing over 200 publications, most of which were related to Conan Doyle or Sherlock Holmes. Fellow Sherlockians in To Keep the Memory Green portray a sense of wonder and awe at Lancelyn Green’s capacity for knowledge. As Marina Stajic says, ‘Richard held a vast store of out-of-the-way knowledge and his knowledge, in general, was practically unlimited’ (2007, p. 119). Doug Wrigglesworth summarised it in these terms: ‘[w]hat a legacy of scholarship and friendship he has left us all.
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