Peschel - Sherlock Holmes Great War Parodies and Pastiches I: 1910-1914

The debut of Sherlock Holmes in the pages of The Strand magazine introduced one of fictions most memorable heroes. Arthur Conan Doyles spellbinding tales of mystery and detection, along with Holmes deep friendship with Doctor Watson, touched the hearts of fans worldwide, and inspired imitations, parodies, songs, art, even erotica, that continues to this very day.

Sherlock Holmes Great War Parodies and Pastiches I: 1910-1914 collects 43 piecesshort stories, poems, and cartoonspublished during this stage of Conan Doyles literary career. Also included are much of the original art and more than 340 footnotes identifying obscure words, historical figures, and events that readers were familiar with at the time.

Peschel Press 223B Casebook seriesnamed because theyre next door to the original storiesis dedicated to publishing the fanfiction created by amateur and professional writers during Conan Doyles lifetime. Each book covers an era, publication, or writer, and includes lively mini-essays containing insights into the work, Conan Doyle, and those who were inspired by him.

A lifelong fan of mysteries, and Sherlock Holmes in particular, Bill Peschel is a former award-winning journalist living in Hershey. He is the annotator of novels by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, publisher of the three-volume Rugeley Poisoner series, and author of Writers Gone Wild (Penguin).

For more info on my books or to sign up for my newsletter, visit me at PeschelPress.com.

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The title of this collection is something of a dodge. The Edwardian period ended with the death of King Edward VII, Bertie to his friends and many mistresses, in 1910. His brother George V succeeded him, but nobody calls this the Georgian period. The Great War appears only in the last year of this volumethe last five months to be preciseso it could more accurately be called the Edwardian III book. But I hate that it spoils the symmetry of the series, and wars do not begin from an isolated point, but build up over years until a spark sets the powder keg alight. Europe was preparing for the next war by this time, and Conan Doyle rang the alarm to get his countrys military to adopt the new technologies of airships and submarines, as well as his own ideas. War was in the air, so for that reason and my desire for symmetry, I chose to call this the first Great War volume.

This book represents the end of an era. After this, to the usual parade of crimes and domestic concerns, Holmes and Watson will confront the war, from conscription and food rationing on the home front to trench fighting and prisoner-of-war camps. It will take many years for many writers to forget the horror and stresses of those times; some never will.

The 223B Casebook Series has two goals: To reprint the majority of the parodies and pastiches published in Conan Doyles lifetime, especially rare items not readily available, and stories collected about a single subject, such as The Early Punch Parodies of Sherlock Holmes.

The stories in the chronological books appear in the order in which readers of the time would have seen them. This way, we can see how writers changed their perception of Sherlock as the canonical stories were published. Stories for which dates could not be found, such as those published in books, were moved to the back of the year.

Each chapter begins with a description of Conan Doyles activities that year. I tried to keep the essays self-contained, but some events, such as Conan Doyles longtime relationship with Jean Leckie, span years, and you may need to read the essays in previous books in the series to fully understand them.

The stories were reprinted as accurately as possible. No attempt was made to standardize British and American spelling. Some words have undergone changes over the yearsShakespere instead of Shakespeare and to-morrow for tomorrowthey were left alone. Obvious mistakes of spelling and grammar were silently corrected, except in certain stated cases, and solid blocks of paragraphs were broken up to aid readability.

As each volume went to press, Im reminded again of how many people helped make this series larger and better than I could have done alone. Research assistant Scott Harkless provided rare and crucial stories. Denise Phillips at Hershey Public Library worked hard to acquire the books and articles I asked for. Peter Blau generously shared the fruits of his researches. Charles Press provided me with a shopping list from his Parodies and Pastiches Buzzing Round Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and happily filled in the gaps with extremely rare items from his researches.

Adrian Nebbett supplied a clean typescript and art for The Adventure of the Lost Baby.

Then there are the writers whose books led the way: Otto Penzler for The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories; Bill Blackbeard for Sherlock Holmes in America; Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee (Ellery Queen) for their ill-fated The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes; Philip K. Jones for his massive (10,000 entries!) database of Sherlockian pastiches, parodies, and related fiction; John Gibson and Richard Lancelyn Green for My Evening With Sherlock Holmes and The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes; Paul D. Herbert for The Sincerest Form of Flattery; Peter Ridgway Watt and Joseph Green for The Alternative Sherlock Holmes: Pastiches, Parodies and Copies; The Sciolist Press, Donald K. Pollock, and the other editors behind The Baker Street Miscellanea.

By digitizing the nations newspapers and making them searchable, The National Library of Australia enabled me to find previously unknown parodies and research their local references so we can appreciate what was going on in New South Wales, Mudgee, and Perth.

A great effort was made to determine the copyright status of these pieces and obtain permission to publish from the rightful copyright holders. If I have made a mistake, please contact me so that I may rectify the error.

Finally, my love to Teresa, wielder of the red pen and owner of my heart.

Got parody?: If you have an uncollected Sherlock Holmes story that was published between 1888 and 1930, please let me know the title and author. If I dont have it and can use it, youll earn a free trade paperback of the book itll appear in plus an acknowledgement inside! Email me at or write to Peschel Press, P.O. Box 132, Hershey, PA 17033-0132.

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Arthur Conan Doyle in 1910.

At 50, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was as energetic and active as when he was a young doctor at Southsea. He was happily married to his 35-year-old second wife, Jean. They had already begun his second family in March 1909 with the birth of Denis, and would add his brother, Adrian, in November 1910. After having to keep their relationship a secret for nearly a dozen years, Conan Doyle must have felt invigorated at these signs of a new life.