Conan Doyle (review)

48 The "staggering omissions" the TLS reviewer refers to do not strike me as especially "staggering." There are misprints and slips in the text which certainly should not be in an otherwise well printed attractively packaged two-volume set costing $17.50. However, these admittedly "trivial" points the TLS reviewer raises are quite trivial enough not to bring into serious question Moore's scholarship, Moore's twenty-page introduction serves its purpose well, he provides a useful "Viho's Viho in the Lawrence Letters," with about 206 entries. The brief notes identifying each person are adequate and far more useful placed in this glossary than they would be if spread out throughout the book in footnotes at the first appearance of each name. Each section of letters, grouped chronologically , is introduced by a brief headnote stating pertinent facts of Lawrence's life during the period covered by the ensuing letters. The Appendix (Volume 2) reprints Aldous Huxley's introduction to his 1932 collection of letters. Then follows an "Index to Recipients of the Letters," Among those most copiously represented are Lady Cynthia Asquith, Dorothy Brett, E. H. Brewster, Curtis Brown, Catherine Carswell, Edward Garnett, Aldous Huxley, Maria Huxley, S. S. Koteliansky, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Lady Otteline Morrel1, J. M. Murry, G. Orioli, and J. B. Pinker. The volume concludes with a quite thorough "General Index." To have nearly two-thirds of Lawrence's letters available in a reliable edition far outweighs the fact that about one-third must still be sought in scattered places and often in incomplete and inaccurately recorded form. The present arrangement and selection of letters also makes a fairly coherent and always interesting biography. What now should be done, though it is not an ideal solution, is that Mr. Moore should prepare a third, supplementary volume of the remaining known letters. Even an index locating published letters not included in Moore's edition and listing identifying data and location of the remaining still unpublished letters would be very helpful. Until this is done Moore's edition gives us the best of Lawrence in und i finitive plenty. Purdue University — H. E. Gerber 4. Hesketh Pearon. CONAN DOYLE. New York: Walker, 1961. $5.00. Hesketh Pearson's biography appeared first in 1943 (London: Methuen) with the title CONAN DOYLE: HIS LIFE AND ART. A comparison of the present edition with the earlier version shows that, except for one bit of revision, no major alteration of the original text has been made. There are minor differences between British and American spelling and punctuation; the list of acknowledgements in the 1943 edition has been dropped in this I96I reprint; a new frontispiece has been substituted and the six photographs in the earlier edition have been omitted. The only noticeable change occurs in Chapter Vl, "Sherlock Holmes." Pearson believed he had discovered an unpublished Holmes story entitled "The Man Who Was Wanted" and summarized and quoted from this story in the 1943 edition of his book. Since that time it has been proved that "The Man Who lias Wanted" was not written by Doyle.' Pearson simply deletes his discussion of this Holmes ' See "Real Author Solves Doyle Mystery Elementary Way," CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE, 17 Feb 1949, p. 1; Vincent Starrett, "Books Alive," CHICAGO SUNDAY TRIBUNE MAGAZINE OF BOOKS, 13 Mar 1949, p. 2. 49 pastiche from the new edition. He also modifies one early statement concerning the plot for another Holmes story. In the 1943 edition (p. 93) he states, "Among his [Doyle's] papers 1 discovered a scenario for an uncompleted tale which gives us a rough idea of the early stages of his work before he filled it out and pulled it together[.]" In the 1961 version (p. 131> he says, "Among his papers I discovered a scenario for an uncompleted tale which gives us a rough idea of the early stages of his work before he filled it out and pulled it together, though it is quite likely that he had bought the plot from someone else." Except for these changes the Walker edition is in no way brought up to date. Pearson's work is a popular biography with few footnotes and no bibliography. His main...