The Other Anniversary

With the centennial of STUD's first publication full upon us, a goodly number of lesser anniversaries are bound to be overlooked. This November marks the tenth anniversary of the Hansoms of John Clayton, for example-but then, we Hansoms are not going to let that one slip by, so we needn't worry on that account. One anniversary that probably will pass without all the celebration it deserves is the seventy-fifth anniversary of published Sherlockian scholarship. In 1912, Ronald Knox's "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" first saw print in something called The Blue Book. It has been reprinted numerous times since then, and can, of late, be found in either Peter Haining's Sherlock Holmes Compendium or Philip A. Shreffler's The Baker Street Reader. If you can lay hands on a copy of either book, or persuade a friend with one to xerox the piece for you, I recommend an anniversary reading of the essay. It shows where Sherlockian scholarship started-and where it's headed.

To say "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" reads as fresh as anything written today is an understatement. The plain truth is, it reads better. You'll find nothing in any scion journal, foreign journal, or even the Baker Street Journal itself to match it. When Ronald Knox wrote "Studies," he wasn't just ahead of his time, he was ahead of our time as well. The fictitious scholars he cites-Backnecke, Ratzegger, M. Piff-Pouff, et. al.-seem to exist out there somewhere, always on the verge of writing their milestone works of Sherlockian criticism. And Knox and his mythical cronies were not content to drop just one theory upon the laps of future Sherlockians and leave it at that. They pioneered Canonical chronology, Holmes/Watson biography, the Sherlockismus, and a host of smaller areas of scholarship, all in one lively essay. Sherlockian scholarship was not just born in Knox's work, it was born walking, talking, and with a full set of teeth.

Oh, and one other thing-Sherlockian scholarship was born with a sense of humor. Later, Dorothy Sayers would come along with the statement that "The rule of the game is that it must be played as solemnly as a county cricket match at Lord's; the slightest touch of extravagance or burlesque ruins the atmosphere." William S. Baring-Gould, among others, would agree with her, yet through the years the truly memorable works of Sherlockian scholarship would always be the fun ones. Stout's "Watson was a Woman," Morgan's "Spotlight on a Simple Case," and Burr's "Stuart Brows Encircled or Tudor Loins Embraced?" all played the game in the spirit of Knox's original, and all are as fine works of Sherlockian scholarship as a student of the Master could want. Yes, there is a burlesque, and yes, there is even extravagance-but what can one expect from a phenomenon which began from an article citing M. Piff-Pouff or M. Paper Mache?

Ronald Knox was all of twenty-three years old when he first put together the speech that would become the paper "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes," and at twenty-three there is a strong tendency not to take the world too seriously (the best wisdom of the young). As most Sherlockians know, Knox wrote his speech as a poke at Biblical scholarships solemn scholarship, indeed. Ironically, Sherlockian scholarship has become just as solemn today in many areas, almost causing one to wonder if some latter-day Knox will arise with a satiric essay on Sherlockian scholarship and cause some entirely new phenomenon -- Flintstonian scholarship, perhaps?

Chronologies on the doings of Fred and Wilma, a definitive treatise on the life and times of Dino, maybe even some learned papers on the fastest possible speed of a stone-and-hide auto that the driver powers by sticking his feet out the bottom and running-with such, a new cycle of scholarship (albeit a less literate one) could begin. But before we accept the ideas of those like Jack Tracy (in a recent interview in The SherZock HoZmes Review ) who say the Grand Game is almost played out, before we do begin meditating on the canonicity of Bam-bam... let's give Knox's original one last anniversary reading. There's life there. You can feel it.

As long as there is one Sherlockian with even a glimmer of Ronald Knox's imagination, intellect, and sense of fun, the Grand Game will be played on. Sure, Sherlockian scholarship isn't what it used to be -- but then, it never has been. No one has ever matched Knox's original achievement. To me, that means that after seventy-five years...we've only begun.

Quick, Watson, the game's afoot!

(Printed in Plugs & Dottles, November 1987)