#letters from watson

[anza-redstar]

Further discoveries in the the early P.G. Wodehouse files include the time he heard Sherlock Holmes would be coming back from the dead, and wrote a song parody about it:

When Sherlock left his native Strand, such groans were seldom heard; With sobs the Public’s frame was rent: with tears its eye was blurred.     But the optimists reflected     That he might be resurrected: It formed our only theme of conversation. We asked each other, Would he be? And if so, How and where? We went about our duties with a less dejected air.     And they say that a suggestion     Of a Parliamentary question Was received with marked approval by the nation.   And Sherlock, Sherlock, he’s in town again,   Sir Conan has discovered him, and offers to explain.     The explanation may be thin,     But bless you! we don’t care a pin,   If he’ll but give us back our Sherlock.

[jackofacetrades]

So we stood hand in hand, like two children, and there was peace in our hearts for all the dark things that surrounded us.

— Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four

[un-monstre]

By the time your child is twelve they should have one piece of classic literature they are deeply abnormal about

[quill-of-thoth]

Letters from Watson, the Engineer's Thumb

Crimes in Context: Counterfeiting, circa 1889

What coins were the Stark-Becher gang trying to make, anyway? And did they actually need a person squishing hydraulic press to do it?

Most of the cash in circulation in Victorian England would have been coins, so it's time to refresh our memories on what they all are, since I last addressed currency smaller than a pound in The Man with the Twisted Lip. We will be restricting ourselves to denominations that the Stark-Becher gang may have been minting, based on the comment that the hydraulic press was necessary to make coins that were previously minted in silver.

Imperial Currency Definitions

Pound/Quid/Sovereign: Not applicable, the Sovereign coin is gold, but it's the base unit of the currency we're dealing with. It also would have been hard to pass as genuine just because it's a large denomination - the era's equivalent of a hundred dollar bill. Indeed, our Bank of England inflation calculator returns a modern value of £107.

Crown: Five shillings / a quarter pound. Represented by a silver coin. Probably the largest coin you'd make change for without being annoyed by it.

Shilling: 1/20th of a pound. A silver coin. Crowns and Shillings are our most likely candidates, as they're in common use in 1889 and is the kind of cash an average man might have on hand. I personally think shillings are the most likely coin to counterfeit, as a lot of accounting of people's wages, expenses, etc. in this time period is written as pounds / shillings / pennies (L/s/d) and silver pennies (And their horrible spawn of sixpence, twopence, etc) are probably not worth the effort. Also, while there were silver pennies in circulation, the fact that things like silver twopence were minted for maundy money makes the timeline and consistency of their minting beyond my pay grade as a blogger. And probably confusing for a coiner to get exactly right, given the payoff. Hydraulic press:

Modern (paper*) money is printed with several aspects that make it harder to reproduce: the exact fiber content of the paper, the multi layered and detailed design (with parts that can only be seen under UV light, parts that can only be seen with a magnifying glass, etc.), the embossed parts of the print design, and the exact chemical components of the ink can be analyzed to see if a note is authentic. The ink in US dollars also contains a smattering of heavy metals that aren't great for human health, so I don't recommend consuming money in any way - don't lick it, don't snort things off it, don't put it in your blender for a science fair project. It would be chemically somewhat dangerous to counterfeit modern currency at home, assuming you got anywhere close to the right ink.

*Some countries use polymer, but same difference. It will kill your blender, though.

The Victorians did... none of that, really. The idea of designing money to be harder to fake was already around, but metal coins can only be produced to a certain degree of precision with the tools that were available in the 1800's: you essentially heat a disk of the correct metal (a blank) and press it with a stamp. The hydraulic press would, of course, squash blanks between two plates of stamps precisely, and with great force.

Both silver and gold have relatively low melting points (under 2,000 degrees F / close to 1,000 C) and are malleable at lower temperatures than the iron or steel of a hydraulic press. Silver amalgam (a silver/mercury alloy) has an even lower melting point, so it would be even easier to fit to a mold.

Essentially, anybody who knew much about molding metal and could get a precise-ish model of the coin in question would make pretty convincing money. A hydraulic press large enough to fit three grown men between the plates of may have been overkill.

[dathen]

“It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land—Heaven will not let such wickedness endure.”

Tbh I don’t think Arthur Conan Doyle gets enough credit for featuring domestic abuse survivors in his works, to the point of overlooking or justifying murder, in a time when it was seen as a Private Matter that outsiders shouldn’t be nosey about. Giving voice to a woman to call out the lack of a woman’s rights to be freed from an abusive marriage is a pretty big deal, and Holmes validating and supporting it each and every time is a purposeful authorial choice.

Others have posted about how it’s very likely that, as a doctor, ACD would be privy to all sorts of ugly secrets from “those isolated country manors” as described in The Copper Beeches—but even if he weren’t, there’s certainly a statement being made via his stories.

[224bbaker]

important reminder that holmes and watson transitioned from polite roommates to friends because watson read one of holmes's articles, called it and the writer a hack piece of shit, and holmes went "tell me more. btw i wrote that--no don't stop" and proceeded to call all watson's favorite detectives hack pieces of shit in return

[lesbianliutana]

the problem of thor bridge

he hates this guy so much i'm crying

[gilgamushroom]

VICTORIANS WHEN BLORBO FROM THEIR COMMUTER'S MAGAZINE COMES BACK FROM THE DEATH AFTER A DECADE LONG HIATUS THEY THOUGHT WOULD BE PERMANENT

[granadaholmesdaily]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERLOCK HOLMES —6th January 1854—

[kubo-kubo]

Watson *desperate, tears in his eyes*: "ARE YOU A FLAT EARTHER MR HOLMES???"

[beekeeperspicnic]

Let's play... Bella or Watson?

While waiting for the next Letters from Watson email to arrive, fancy joining me in a little game of BELLA OR WATSON?

Some of these statements were written by Dr John H Watson about his friend Mr Sherlock Holmes. Some were written by Bella Swan about Edward, the hot teenage vampire from Twilight.

[IMG Silhouettes of Dr Watson and Bella Swan, text reads Watson or Bella]

(This was inspired by a tumblr post, but I'm afraid it's lost to the mists of ancient dash for me by now. Answers are under the cut!]

With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted [REDACTED], and [REDACTED].

glanced sideways at the beautiful [REDACTED], who was [REDACTED], [REDACTED] with long, pale fingers

His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence

I turned and he was leaning toward me, his pale, glorious face just inches from mine.

In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon.

In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing Watson or Bella?

His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. 

An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fingers which clutched me were shivering.

It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. 

ANSWERS UNDER THE CUT

Question 1 - Watson

With his long, white, nervous fingers he adjusted the delicate needle, and rolled back his left shirt-cuff.

Question 2 - Bella

I glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers

Question 3 - Watson His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust for the chase

Question 4 - Bella His eyes were gloriously intense as he uttered that last sentence

Question 5 - Bella

I turned and he was leaning toward me, his pale, glorious face just inches from mine.

Question 6 - Bella

In the darkness he looked much more normal. Still pale, still dreamlike in his beauty, but no longer the fantastic sparkling creature of our sunlit afternoon

Question 7 - Watson

In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing

Question 8 - Watson

His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. 

Question 9 - Watson

An instant later he pulled me back into the blackest corner of the room, and I felt his warning hand upon my lips. The fingers which clutched me were shivering.

Question 10 - Yup, still Watson

It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. 

[johnlockifconvenient]

Holmes: Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Watson

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: Watson, it makes me nervous to bring you on this dangerous adventure, but I know you well enough to know you’d never let me go alone

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: Watson, do you want to go to a concert with me? And then maybe a nice walk and a night cap?

Watson: 👍🏻

Holmes: If this guy had killed you, I would have straight-up murdered him in cold blood

Watson: oh my god he loves me

[doingbad]

The thing is, you read the stories written by Dr Watson and you think “this is the most down bad a narrator has ever been” and then you get to the stories written by Sherlock Holmes from his perspective and he’s somehow worse.

[holmesiansource]

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986) dir. John Musker, Dave Michener, Ron Clements

[teaspoonnebula]

Enjoy receiving emails from besotted biographers about their genius associates?

Then have I got some email bookclubs starting in 2024 for you!

[IMG A cartoon of Holmes and Watson running side by side, dressed in country tweeds. Holmes is pointing. Lettering reads Letters from Watson, the Novels]

Letters from Watson is reading through the Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle throughout 2023.

In 2024 we'll be reading the novels starting January 1st, with A Study in Scarlet. Hold on for more mystery and adventure with the Great Detective and his dashing doctor.

[IMG A cartoon of Raffles and Bunny running side by side, dressed in formal suits and top hats and wearing masks. Raffles is clutching some pearls and has jewels in his pockets. Lettering reads Letters from Bunny]

But perhaps you'd rather take a little trip to the other side of the law?

Letters from Bunny will be reading the Raffles stories by EW Hornung, featuring gentleman thief (and cricketer) AJ Raffles and his burglar companion Bunny Manders, from the Ides of March (March 15th)

[IMG A cartoon of Jeeves and Wooster walking side by side, Wooster dressed in colourful clothes and a boater, Jeeves in a monocrome suit. Lettering reads 'Letters Regarding Jeeves']

For something a little lighter, Letters Regarding Jeeves will be reading the uproarously funny public domain stories featuring chap about town Bertie Wooster and his bulging-brained valet Jeeves, starting February 14th.

Reblogs appreciated to spread the word!

[dathen]

I think if you put Van Helsing and Sherlock Holmes in the same room they’d actually kill each other.