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The suspense is obviously killing everybody ... but go ahead, make a guess!
Which A.C. Doyle Sherlock Holmes story could this one be?
BOXING ...
Lemme see if I can add some inspiring pictures ...
Oops! Well, not actually showing Holmes boxing, but I couldn't resist! ;)
;)
I will say now that it is not the Holmes story that takes place during Christmas (though I do love that one!). The boxing reference is for the sport.
So boxing as sport, perhaps when Holmes was at college...?
But no, it is not The Yellow Face or when Holmes was in college. Do take another guess; don't be shy now ...
The recent guess by respected member Mrcoggins is ...
... absolutely correct! Fine memory indeed, good sir. The other 2 clues were "rope" and "thorn". There is a boxing reference in this tale - and let me say from the outset that The Sign of Four is a true banquet for Holmes fans!
The Sign of Four is one of Doyle's longer stories, steeped in heady atmosphere and intrigue - mysterious, full of memorable characters, and with wonderful further insights into Holmes' and Watson's character.
So let the reading and reviews commence! It doesn't take a genius like Holmes to deduce that this will be one of the most satisfying Sherlock Holmes stories you'll ever read.
The Sign of Four is wonderful and probably my favourite Sherlock Holmes adventure. It was a pleasure reading it once again and I hope my review will please my fellow Holmesians.
You might not remember but there is a witty reference to Holmes' boxing skills.
The previous illustration, however interesting, is not from this story.
He had a fine flow of language, and his adjectives were very vigorous. He ended a string of abuse by a vicious back-hander, which I failed to entirely avoid. The next few minutes were delicious. It was a straight left against a slogging ruffian. I emerged as you see me. Mr. Woodley went home in a cart. So ended my country trip, and it must be confessed that, however enjoyable, my day on the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than your own.”
I can't wait until we get to this story.
;) Thanks for the info
I particularly liked the caption about Guy Ritchie. ;)
Yes, the project Gutenberg has all the Sherlock Holmes adventures, since they are now in public domain. They even have different file types which come very handy if you have an ereader.
Would you like to give us a short (or full) review of the story @Mrcoggins? I would love to know your opinion on it.
Regards Coggins.
- The story was commissioned by the managing editor of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine during a dinner which included Oscar Wilde. Doyle would contribute with this story while Wilde would write The Portrait of Dorian Gray for the magazine;
- Was first published as The Sign of the Four in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in February 1890 but republished later that year as The Sign of Four;
- Most publications favor the 4 word title, however in the text "the sign of the four" is used almost exclusively.
Cover of the first book edition:
Yes, after its initial publication, the second "the" comes and goes with various publications. And there are lots of illustrations of this story over the years. I'd like to just show a few illustrations (none will give away anything major, I don't think):
First up, here is a comic book illustration I found, from 1968, the comic book was called Look and Learn:
Here is a nice cover from Wordsworth Classics, using the second "the" in the title:
So many editions, and many seemed to use the second "the". It is definitely up to the publisher which way to go with that. There are phone apps for this story, Kindle editions, free online versions, radio shows, audio books, everything you can think of. This is one of Doyle's longest and most respected stories. Although, apparently things really did not take off in huge popularity of Holmes until the short stories began - which as we we have recently talked about, started with A Scandal in Bohemia.
I am trying to copy a photo of the Lippincott's 1889 book, compiled from its magazine; The Sign of The Four, included; but I don't know if this will work: Yay! it worked, as you can see below:
I do not know the illustrator yet - and neither did the owner selling this on Ebay. It simply is stated as "H.D." for illustrator. The Ebay write up was: This is a hardbound collection of several, original issues of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, beginning with the very first appearance (February, 1890) of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Sign of the Four (his second mystery featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson).
The book starts with its front flyleaf, and the 2nd leaf is the unique, black and white frontispiece, shown in Picture #2 below (by "H.D." -- I don't know this illustrator -- if you do, please contact me), which I don't think shows up in later editions (which were illustrated by Charles Kerr).
It sold in 2012 for $339. (U.S. dollars)
I'd love to get my hands on an original first edition Sherlock Holmes story some day. And, actually, I'd love to have, or at least hold, any of the much older editions of Holmes stories - not just an original, although that would be incredibly special.
Got to admit "The Problem of the Sholtos" doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it? ;)
Yes, it was very common at the time and no, it doesn't have the same ring to it ;)
Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece and his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case. With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff. For some little time his eyes rested thoughtfully upon the sinewy forearm and wrist all dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks. Finally he thrust the sharp point home, pressed down the tiny piston, and sank back into the velvet-lined arm-chair with a long sigh of satisfaction.
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
With this amazing paragraph starts the second adventure of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson and what a great start! Dr. Watson describes Holmes' worst habit, that of injecting himself with a 7% solution of cocaine. This is the darkest side of Holmes, his depressive self, bored to death for lack of mental stimulation. Dr. Watson, worried over his friend's health warns him of the consequences of his addiction but Holmes is clearly well aware of it and, while explaining to his friend, we are presented with one of the most brilliant quotes from the canon:
"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world."
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Holmes continues talking about the science of deduction (which is the very name of the initial chapter), the minutia required to solve a crime, and to exemplify tells Watson where and what he has done that morning just by looking at him. And then we have another iconic scene, when Watson shows him his watch and Holmes deduces it used to be from his father, passed on to his older brother who was an alcoholic, and then passed on to the good doctor. Ah, Holmes is in top shape despite the drug use! Luckily a case comes forward and one that will require all the talents of Sherlock Holmes. Ms. Mary Morstan is here to consult with him on an intriguing and singular case.
Miss Morstan entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner. She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste. There was, however, a plainness and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. The dress was a sombre grayish beige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion, but her expression was sweet and amiable, and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents, I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her, her lip trembled, her hand quivered, and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation.
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Well, well Dr. Watson, aka Lady Killer, “experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents”! How far from the way the Dr. has been portrayed so many times (you all know what I am talking about). It's good that the more recent adaptations have chosen to show Watson in a different light. I find this [url="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff28/beatonna/watsonsm.png "]cartoon [/url]absolutely brilliant. But back to the story. Ms. Morstan, a governess, presents her case and Holmes finds it very interesting. Her father was Captain Morstan, an officer of an Indian regiment. Her mother died and she was sent back to Britain still a child. Mystery #1: her father had obtained a leave of 12 months to come home then years earlier and called his daughter to meet him at London in a hotel. However he mysteriously vanished before meeting her. Despite the efforts at the time Captain Morstan was never found. Mystery #2: 6 years earlier, an announcement in a newspaper asked for Ms. Morstan's address, she published it in the same journal and received in the mail a precious, rare pearl and every year, in the same date, she would receive a similar one. Mystery #3: that very morning she received a letter in the mail, and that is the reason why she went to see Holmes. The letter stated:
"'Be at the third pillar from the left outside the Lyceum Theatre to-night at seven o'clock. If you are distrustful, bring two friends. You are a wronged woman, and shall have justice. Do not bring police. If you do, all will be in vain. Your unknown friend.'"
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Holmes and Watson will be accompanying her that evening but for now she leaves 221B leaving the good doctor to his considerations, of which I give you some examples:
"Au revoir," said our visitor, and, with a bright, kindly glance from one to the other of us, she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. Standing at the window, I watched her walking briskly down the street, until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the sombre crowd.
"What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed, turning to my companion.
He had lit his pipe again, and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. "Is she?" he said, languidly. "I did not observe."
"You really are an automaton,—a calculating-machine!" I cried. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times."
(…)
I sat in the window with the volume in my hand, but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. My mind ran upon our late visitor,—her smiles, the deep rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung her life. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now,—a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. So I sat and mused, until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account, that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit, a factor,—nothing more. If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination.
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
What an effect this woman had in Dr. Watson's mind, and what dangerous thoughts were those that made the doctor plunge into pathology one can only guess. One thing is sure, there is Watson before Mary and after Mary.
Ms. Morstan, together with Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes follow the instructions on the letter and are afterwards taken to a house where a strange man awaits them. He tells them all about the story, of which I will only make a short summary. This man, Thaddeus Sholto, is the son of a friend of Captain Morstan's. His father confessed in his dying breath that Captain Morstan died while having an argument with him and he disposed of the body afraid someone might suspect him, and moreover kept to himself a treasure that should have been divided between himself and Morstan. The treasure was lost for some years, still Thadeus managed to send Mary, every year, a valuable pearl that was originally part of the treasure. Now the treasure had been found by Bartholomew, Thadeus twin brother, and they should go to him so that Mary could have her deserved share. They reach the house but a tragedy had occurred, Bartholomew is dead inside a room locked on the inside and the treasure is gone! The story then turns into finding the responsible for the murder and the treasure. Sherlock Holmes will be aided not only by Watson but also by a dog named Toby, with a prodigious sense of smell. After a great deal of work, involving the Baker Street Irregulars, and an exciting boat chase along the Thames Sherlock finds the track of the assassin and catches him as well as the arc containing the treasure. Watson is secretly sad, he is hopelessly in love with Mary by now and knows that the treasure will make her one of the richest heiresses in Britain, while he is only a poor doctor with nothing to offer... he thinks he has lost her forever. In the meanwhile Holmes hears the story from the man they just arrested, Jonathan Small. And what a story it is! After a series of misfortunes in life he saw himself involved in a murder conspiracy in India. In order to gain a great treasure (the Treasure of Agra), he and three Indians formed a pact (the Sign of the Four) involving the murder of a man. The plan didn't go as planned and they were discovered, however the treasure remained hidden. Small and his three fellows were send to the prison Adaman Islands and Small finds a small chance for them to escape involving Morstan and Sholto. However, Sholto runs away to England with the treasure and leaves empty handed Morstan and the Four. But Small didn't forget and, when he befriends one of the island's peculiar inhabitants, Tonga, he sees a chance to get his revenge. He eventually gets to England but Sholto dies before he can get anything out of him. So he waits until the treasure is found so that he can regain his treasure and free his comrades, a man true to his word this Small, in spite of being a criminal. Small never wanted any harm to Bartholomew, his problem was with his father, but Tonga threw a poisonous dart at him and the poor fellow died instantly of a cruel death. Tonga died during the chase in the Thames while trying to blow a dart at Sherlock and Watson and in that moment Small knew he had no chance to escape and did something daring, he threw away the treasure, unnoticed, to the river. If the Four were not to have the treasure then nobody would. This story is full of twists right until the end, no doubt. What about the romance of this story? Now there is no longer an obstacle between Watson and Mary Morstan:
"The treasure is lost," said Miss Morstan, calmly.
As I listened to the words and realized what they meant, a great shadow seemed to pass from my soul. I did not know how this Agra treasure had weighed me down, until now that it was finally removed. It was selfish, no doubt, disloyal, wrong, but I could realize nothing save that the golden barrier was gone from between us. "Thank God!" I ejaculated from my very heart.
She looked at me with a quick, questioning smile. "Why do you say that?" she asked.
"Because you are within my reach again," I said, taking her hand. She did not withdraw it. "Because I love you, Mary, as truly as ever a man loved a woman. Because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you. That is why I said, 'Thank God.'"
"Then I say, 'Thank God,' too," she whispered, as I drew her to my side. Whoever had lost a treasure, I knew that night that I had gained one.
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Oh yes, the lady killer is to settle down. The development of Mary and Watson's romance is truly well handled, I must say. Throughout the story we see how they are drawn closer and closer together and small clues are left all over the place telling us that they were to be together, it is delightful to read. Of course, Holmes is not that happy with the fact although he saw it coming:
"Well, and there is the end of our little drama," I remarked, after we had set some time smoking in silence. "I fear that it may be the last investigation in which I shall have the chance of studying your methods. Miss Morstan has done me the honor to accept me as a husband in prospective."
He gave a most dismal groan. "I feared as much," said he. "I really cannot congratulate you."
I was a little hurt. "Have you any reason to be dissatisfied with my choice?" I asked.
"Not at all. I think she is one of the most charming young ladies I ever met, and might have been most useful in such work as we have been doing. She had a decided genius that way: witness the way in which she preserved that Agra plan from all the other papers of her father. But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment."
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Holmes will always be Holmes, I wouldn't expect it any other way. And it ends in the way that it started, with Holmes turning again to addiction:
"For me," said Sherlock Holmes, "there still remains the cocaine-bottle." And he stretched his long white hand up for it.
in The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
And now, to the review:
Holmes – In great shape, this case is a difficult one and almost gets him to the limits of his brain and body. We also see his darker side, when he is not in a case he requires chemical stimulation, the good doctor is right to be worried about him.
Watson – He is great in this story, he is both involved in a crime investigation and a romance. Some of the things he says while distracted looking at Miss Morstan are truly priceless, love affects him more than a little bit, looking at things this way there is no wonder Holmes has no interest in romance for himself.
Villain – Small and Tonga, but also Sholto as well. Small was involved in a crime but he remains true to his word. I found myself fascinated by Small and I would not call him a true villain despite his actions. Sholto on the other hand takes advantage of the rest, his thirst for money is revolting. The nature of little Tonga is evil, I guess. He does what he has done all his life so I'm not sure if he is a villain.
Supporting characters – Mary Morstan, a delightful character, is an important character for many good reasons, will be a recurring character. She is a very well described character and we can understand how Watson fell in love with her, she seems lovely. DI Athelney Jones from Scotland Yard, although not very smart, is a truly enjoyable character, and ends up being useful to Holmes. Thadeus Sholto is a strange character but kind at heart and with a deep sense of justice. The Baker Street Irregulars make another appearance and are their usual, reliable but slightly chaotic selves. Then there are the servants of the Sholto twins, nothing notable to say except for McMurdo, a champion boxer, who recognizes Holmes as the amateur who beat him in a fight (go Holmes!). Mr. Sherman, a naturalist, is a very funny addition to the story which brings us to Toby. Yes, he is a dog, but a prince amongst canidae in talents if not in appearance. We also get the “villains”, Small and Tonga but I already talked about them. We meet other characters but I don't much to say about them. All in all a good bunch, they in my opinion make one of the best ensembles in the Holmes canon.
Atmosphere – We get to see different parts of London including, this time, the Thames. We also get a glimpse of tumultuous times in India and life in the Adamans.
Suspense – Top notch. We even get a river pursuit using boats!
Violence – There is a lot of cruelty in this story, more so than violence. However, there are several murders, injustices, etc. so I would say there is more than enough.
Humour – Provided by DI Jones and Thadeus Sholto, although not on purpose. We also get some humorous moments from Watson who, distracted by Ms. Morstan, manages to say some very stupid things indeed... Oh, love!
Cleverness – The case is very clever but it requires more than brains this time.
Case – Intriguing, part revenge although we don't know why until almost the end. What begins as a similarly simple case turns into a complex web of characters and actions that have implications not only to those involved but to the next generation.
Doyle – He did a great job, as usual. I would also like to point how well he dealt with the romantic side of the story. The reader can see through the hearts of both Watson and Mary, can see them falling in love and it feels so natural, so not forced. And again he creates a very interesting female character. Although she is a perfect example of a woman of her time she shows a stamina and intelligence (even Holmes gives her credit for that) that make her much more than the typical damsel in distress. She is independent, courageous, smart, no wonder Watson was madly in love with her.
Final verdict – this is probably my favourite Sherlock Holmes adventure. It is once again a very complex story in which we get to understand the motives of the villain and sympathize with him in a way, nothing is black and white here. There is some talk about the racist tone of a part of the book but I think it is a product of its time and has been greatly exaggerated. It mainly concerns the description of Tonga, the cannibal native of the Adamans. On the side we get a beautiful and believable love story and we delve once again into the darkest habits of Sherlock Holmes. For him there was always the 7% solution of cocaine, for us remain many good adventures to read and review in the next installments of A Study in Sherlock.
I love that you started your review with the opening of the story, because it is one of Doyle's best! It draws the reader in immediately and gives us this other side of Holmes straight away and brings the good doctor's own personal strength and conviction to the fore (in the sentences following that particular opening), not just his medical training. Who could resist this story after reading that?
And how I also love your concluding sentence:
For him there was always the 7% solution of cocaine, for us remain many good adventures to read and review in the next installments of A Study in Sherlock.
That's just perfect! And so true for us Holmes fans.
Cheers! You deserve a nice long hot toddy by the fire, my dear. Outstanding work, Sandy.
Just want to post this picture again since I really like it):