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| Holmes, Watson, two Americans, and a not-so-noble bachelor |
“It is always a joy to meet an American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone years will not prevent our children from being someday citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.”
As
we celebrate Independence Day in the American colonies, Holmes’s prediction in "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"has
not yet come true. But interest in Holmes has always been strong in America,
and rightly so.
The
first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, and the last, The Valley of
Fear, each have big flashbacks that take place in America. Perhaps that feature
of A Study in Scarlet helped to attract the American publisher who commissioned
The Sign of Four for Lippincott’s magazine.
Six
of the short stories also have American roots – “The Five Orange Pips,” “The
Adventure of the Noble Bachelor,” “The Yellow Face,” “The Adventure of the
Dancing Men,” “The Adventure of the Red Circle,” and “The Problem of Thor
Bridge.”
Nobly
sacrificing two years of his retirement, Holmes worked as a spy in America
before the Great War. In the story that tells that tale, “His Last Bow,” he is
described as looking like Uncle Sam. No wonder the question has long been
asked, “Was Sherlock Holmes an American?”
Whether
you are an American or not, happy 4th of July!
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