Earlier this year, Glen Miranker presented to the Red Circle on his book collecting, and one of the examples he shared was the story of his copy of the Beeton's Christmas Annual that included the very first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet. You can watch Glen's presentation at my post on that meeting: https://221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/05/why-does-glen-miranker-collect-books.html
Glen's discussion on his Beeton's captured my imagination because the Sherlockian story intersected with my Australian-ness: his copy had at one point been owned by the Coburg Mechanic's Institute & Free Library, as evidenced by the stamp of that library within the magazine.
After the presentation while I chatted with Glen, I told him I'd look into the Coburg library that originally owned his copy (and am working on this).
But as I was looking around I was prompted to try and find any references to Beeton's in Australian newspapers in the 20th Century (e.g. being for sale), or something equally naive. The best starting point for Australian newspapers is the National Library of Australia digitized newspapers initiative, called 'Trove' (trove.nla.gov.au).
There were a couple of hits, and this article from Sydneys 'The Sun' in 1933 (http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-
BOOK REVIEWS AND MUSIC NOTES
His First Bow
SHERLOCK HOLMES still holds his place in popular esteem. There have been scores of imitations of Conan Doyle's famous character. Most of the newcomers linger for a time, enjoy a brief day of fame — then give place to an ever-increasing swarm of rivals. But Sherlock Holmes outlives them all.
The present year will complete the first half-century of Holmes's fictional existence. The great man made his first bow to the public in "A Study In Scarlet," published in 1887, as the leading feature in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Curiously enough, in the light of his subsequent popularity, Holmes was slow in achieving fame, and the "Study" attracted little attention. Conan Doyle in his reminiscences mentions the disappointment this caused him, and he adds that it was two years before his publishers could be persuaded to bring out a second edition of the story Probably the great detective's notorious Indifference to the fair sex accounted for his lack of appeal to a generation which palpitated over "three-decker" romances.
The first edition of "A Study in Scarlet" was Illustrated with engravings bv one D. H Friston. It, was he who originated the type for all the subsequent delineations of Holmes's features. The reproduced illustration, which is the frontispiece from Beeton's Annual, is of Interest as including the four characters who figure in so many of the Sherlock Holmes stories. On the left, partially concealed by 'a pair of formidable moustachios, is our old friend Dr. Watson. Next to him, peering through the outsize magnifying glass, is Holmes himself. And not even the stove-pipe hat and luxuriant "side -boards" can detract from the hawk-like aspect with which so many later illustrators have familiarised us. It would probably puzzle the uninitiated to identify the two figures on the right; they are, in fact, those alert officers of Scotland Yard, Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson.
This Issue of Beeton's Annual containing the first edition of the first Sherlock Holmes story is now very rare. It is only a flimsy paper-bound volume, and naturally few copies have survived the vicissitudes of half a century. A current list of English first editions, while not quoting a price, states that the Annual is "Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found." So it may be of interest to note that the copy from which the illustration is reproduced was recently picked up for three pence on a Melbourne market stall. There are still first edition bargains available to the collector with sufficient enthusiasm — and patience— to hunt them out.
There are a couple of things to consider here.
First, the article celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first Holmes story. I'm sure there were lots of such articles across the globe in 1933. In this article is an image of Holmes et al examining the "Rache" on the wall. I'll come back to this.
Second, near the end the article says "This Issue of Beeton's Annual containing the first edition of the first Sherlock Holmes story is now very rare. It- is only a flimsy paper-bound volume, and naturally few copies have survived the vicissitudes of half a century. A current list of English first editions, while not quoting a price, states that the Annual is "Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found." . I asked Phil Bergem what the "current list" is, being referred to in 1933. Phil has written several articles on the Beeton's, including a 'census' for the 2002 Norwegian Explorers Christmas Annual. Phil suggested a book such as "Books in Print" which was being published in the early 20th century, though why it would list a 50 year-old magazine is not clear. This might be a useful mystery for the Sherlockian hivemind community to solve.
Third, note the highlighting (added my me) in the very last paragraph of the article: "So it may be of interest to note that the copy from which the illustration is reproduced was recently picked up for three pence on a Melbourne market stall." Today, Melbourne is 12 hours drive from Sydney, but clearly the Beeton's - or NEWS of the Beeton's discovery - had made it to Sydney. The image in the article is apparently made DIRECTLY from the discovered Beeton's.
The image displayed in The Sun is slightly different to that in Beeton's. Was the image really taken from a discovered copy of Beeton's (with cropping for artistic reasons for the newspaper), or from another book or newspaper version of the illustration. Perhaps someone recognizes this cropping from another publication:
Left: Illustration in 'The Sun' of 1933 purported to be from Beeton's. Right: Photo from a Beeton's facsimile (the BSI Press edition).
I wonder where this copy ended up, and the phrase 'Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found' above is actually from the sale catalog of this Beeton's or another copy in a contemporary auction listing. I can find not 'Beeton's census' published in the 1920s or 1930s.
The author of the newspaper article above was certainly in a position to hear about, and see, a Beeton's. Julian Howard Ashton has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ashton-julian-howard-5072) and was a journalist, critic and artist. His family was a well-known artist, he lived in an exclusive part of Sydney (Mosman), and was deeply engaged in the arts and immersed in the arts community there. Did he hear about the Beeton's discovery through the rare book community?
I can find no sign of any other article related to the discovery of this Beeton's. Ashton's regular column is a clearing-house for interesting tid-bits such as this piece of news, but the discovery (or sale) was not elevated to coverage in the news press.
Where did this found magazine end up? Are there any Beeton's Christmas Annuals from 1887 left in Australia? We know that Beeton's was sold in Australia (see The Passengers' Log, Vol. 10, No. 4 (7 August 2007), pp. 9-16).
There are no copies of Beeton's in Australian libraries, or listed as existing in Australia. The outstanding Beeton's census page by Randall Stock notes the 2011 sale in Victoria (where Melbourne is located) of a previously unknown copy of Beeton's (http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/australia-2011-beetons.htm).
Perhaps this copy is still out there, on a shelf in Australia, though given the recognition of it's rarity even in 1933, this is unlikely.
No comments:
Post a Comment