Sherlock Holmes, ESQ. and John H. Watson, M.D.: An Encyclopedia of their Affairs (review)

179 authors under the heading "Postwar" he includes Forster and Mansfield. Thus, out of 29 authors included, we can count 9 ELT authors. One might question Mr. Wickes' use of the word "fiction" in his title, for it is misleading. The selections are largely passages from novels, autobiographies, miscellaneous essays and books like THE HILL OF DEVI and TWILIGHT IN ITALY, theoretical statements on fiction like the section from THUS TO REVISIT, Forster's W. P. Ker Lecture on English prose, and so on. I, for one, am not entirely convinced of the usefulness of chapters and parts of chapters from works of fiction in such a book as this. Discussion of a single chapter in a novel, unless students have read the entire novel, does not seem very fruitful to me. Purdue University Helmut E. Gerber Orlando Park. SHERLOCK HOLMES, ESQ. AND JOHN H. WATSON, M.D.: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THEIR AFFAIRS. Northwestern U P, 1962. $10.00. The more than 2,500 entries in Professor Park's compilation provide a detailed index to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sixty Sherlock Holmes stories. The space devoted to any one item depends on its importance to the Holmes saga and may vary from two lines to the minute nineteen- and ten-page analyses of the Great Detective and his companion Dr. Watson. On only two points can Professor Park be criticized. He is well aware of the deficiencies of his choice of entries and says, "The present compilation is incomplete . . . ." (P. vii) The died-in-theblood Sherlockian will wonder why some names and some subjects have been omitted and others included. This Holmes index, as it stands now, Is merely a collection of pages from a hobbyist's notebook and does not serve as a complete concordance to Doyle's most memorable work. Undoubtedly Professor Park could not control the price of his book, but ten dollars seems prohibitive. Though the specialized interest in Holmes material no doubt influenced the editors of Northwestern University Press, such a price will discourage the audience toward whom the book is directed. However, despite the price every library should own a copy, as should all Baker Street Irregulars. Purdue University E. S. Lauterbach ...