My Sherlock Holmes Chronology list

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello, Curt, and welcome to Sherlock Forum!  

11 hours ago, CurtTheGamer said:

I remember being so confused by this back when I read the books in my spare time back in my school years, as the copies in the school library had the butchered version of The Resident Patient.  At the time, I just assumed that maybe that the canon explanation was that Dr. Watson was throwing random events from his notes into stories where they didn't necessarily happen at that time, and accidentally put this one into two separate stories.

You were a very observant (and inventive) kid!  I'm not sure which version of "Cardboard Box" I've read (though probably the unbutchered one), but kinda wonder whether I would have noticed a duplicated passage, regardless of my age at the time.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

19 hours ago, CurtTheGamer said:

When I bought the Barnes and Noble edition back a month or so ago, this was actually the very first thing I checked in the book. I was kind of disappointed that they placed The Cardboard Box as part of His Last Bow, but very happy that it had the original version of The Resident Patient. The former is a minor point as I can easily flip to Cardboard Box and read that it the order it should be placed in. The latter is the more important point.

I agree with you on the relative importance, so I checked my copies.  The Baring-Gould annotated set (inherited from my father) is arranged according to B-G's own chronology rather than by the usual collections, but he does have the deduction only in "The Cardboard Box."

The BBC Books paperback editions (with Cumberbatch and Freeman on the covers) have "Cardboard Box" in Last Bow AND have that same anecdote in both stories (although in "Cardboard Box" it takes place on "a blazing hot day in August," whereas in "Resident Patient" it's "a close, rainy day in August").  Seems odd that Moffat & Gatiss, who pride themselves on being Holmes addicts, would have put their stamp on a modified version.

HOWEVER -- I see online [in "Leslie Klinger's Notes" from sherlockian.net] that omitting "Cardboard Box" from Memoirs seems to have been ACD's own idea.  He mentioned in a postcard, "There was a certain sex element in The Cardboard Box story and for this reason I discarded it when I published in book form."  That being the case, it seems likely to me that splicing Holmes's nifty deduction into "Resident Patient" was ACD's own idea.

Then of course he later decided (or was persuaded) to publish "Cardboard Box" after all.  If he even remembered having borrowed its lead anecdote, I doubt that it bothered him much, since he claimed [here] that writing about Holmes "takes my mind from better things."

 

[Chronologist]

Happy Holidays, everyone!

How's your holiday season been so far? Good? I spent part of mine realizing that the chronology list I put up here nearly two full years ago has a couple of serious flaws in it.

Years ago I had checked out from the library a book, Holmes & Watson, by June Thomson, published in 1995. It's a lively fanfiction biography of our two heroes and it's a fun read. Recently, I checked it out again on a lark. Thomson has her own chronology list, one very different from mine. I feel she tries a bit too hard to tie in the chronology to Real Life historical events and is a little too eager to throw out many of the precise dates Watson provides when the only ones that are truly impossible are in "The Five Orange Pips" and "Wisteria Lodge". But re-reading it, I discovered much to my chagrin, that there were a couple of indicators in a couple of the stories for the dates that I missed. In "The Red Circle", Watson mentions (late in the story, which is why I missed it) that story takes place in "winter". And in "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax", the year "'89" is mentioned as a past year.

I tried so hard in reading these stories to keep an eagle-eye for any reference to the date, and yet I missed these two! ARGH! The "Carfax" one doesn't really effect much, but the reference to winter in "The Red Circle" effects a lot. With my publication order bias, I'm inclined to date any story like this that doesn't have a mentioned year, and was published after the publication of the full anthology The Return of Sherlock Holmes to sometime after the story with the latest date in that anthology, "The Priory School", set in May, 1901, but within the same year. And being set in winter, after May, 1901, but within that year, confines "The Red Circle" to December, 1901, making it the last story I set in that year. This effects no fewer than NINE stories in my chronology that are now going to have to be revised. Although, for "The Mazarin Stone", the only thing that needs to be revised is the Comments section. And the only reason I'm including the last one, "The Retired Colourman", is because that's where the final full chronology is.

So coming up, nine revised posts, one for each story, one right after the other.

 

[Chronologist]

The Red Circle - Revised

Date: “winter”. Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at Baker Street full time. Takes place sometime after Watson used to be a practicing doctor.

Comments:

No date is mentioned. The only hints as to when this takes place is that Watson narrates that it’s “winter”  and that Holmes asks Watson about a time in Watson’s past “when you doctored”. Since the only time we’re aware of where Watson was ever a practicing doctor outside the Army was during his marriage to Mary Morstan, that seems to date this story very definitely after Holmes’ Return, which is where I’d be inclined to date this story anyway due to my publication order bias.

And speaking of my publication order bias, from here on, any story like this, with no date given, where Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms, and the story was published after the publication of the full anthology, “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”, I date this story after the story in “Return” with the latest date. That would be “The Priory School”, set no earlier than 1900, and which I chose to date as taking place in 1901. Therefore, I date this story taking place sometime after “Priory”, in the same year, 1901. And since it’s set in winter, I place it near the end of that year, most likely December.

 

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Priory School”. Also, the most recent story to date.
 

[Chronologist]

The Bruce-Partington Plans - No Revision Needed

The Dying Detective - No Revision Needed

 

The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax - Revised

 

Date: Sometime after “’89”. Holmes and Watson appear to be sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street full time. Watson refers to “feeling rheumatic and old.”

Comments:

“’89” is when Holy Peters “was badly bitten in a saloon-fight at Adelaide”. The facts that “’89” was during Watson’s marriage to Mary Morstan, Holmes and Watson seem to be sharing rooms full time, and Watson’s remark on “feeling rheumatic and old,” all suggest a later date for this story and more definitely places it in the third time period rather than the first. And with my publication order bias, and with a story with no date given, where Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms, and this story being published after the publication of the full anthology, “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”, I date this story after the last published story in that anthology, “The Priory School” in the same year of 1901, but before “The Red Circle”, which has all the same characteristics, but is specified to be winter, so I place “The Red Circle” at the end of 1901 while setting this story sometime before.

 

Current Canon Placement: 

After “The Priory School”, and before “The Red Circle”.
 

[Chronologist]

The Devil’s Foot - No Revisions Needed

 

His Last Bow - Revised

 

Date: “the second of August”, “1914”

Comments:

The third person narration tells us right at the start the day and month. “1914” is the numbered combination in the dual combination lock on Von Bork’s safe where the lettered combination is “August” confirming the year this story takes place in, as if there’d be any doubt to anyone with a general knowledge of the history of the early 20th Century.

 

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Red Circle”. Also, from here on, will always be the last story in the chronology.

 

Full Chronology after His Last Bow

 

I.    1882-1887, Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street as bachelors.

1.    A Study in Scarlet. March 4, 1882
2.     The Resident Patient. October, 1882
3.    The Speckled Band. Early April, 1883
4.     The Beryl Coronet. February, 1884
5.     Silver Blaze. 1884
6.    The Yellow Face. Early Spring, 1885
7.    The “Gloria Scott”. Winter, late 1885
8.    The Musgrave Ritual. Winter, early 1886
9.    The Reigate Squire. April 25, 1887
10.     The Noble Bachelor. Autumn, 1887
11.     The Sign of the Four. September, 1887

II.    1888-1891. Watson’s marriage to Mary Morstan

12.      A Scandal in Bohemia. March 20, 1888
13.      A Case of Identity. April 14, 1888
14.      The Boscombe Valley Mystery. June 3, 1888
15.      The Stock-Broker’s Clerk. June, 1888
16.      The Crooked Man. Summer, 1888
17.      The Greek Interpreter. Summer, 1888
18.      The Second Stain. July, 1888
19.      The Naval Treaty. Late July, 1888
20.      The Five Orange Pips. Late September, 1888
21.     The Valley of Fear. January 7 – June, 1889
22.      The Man with the Twisted Lip. June 19, 1889
23.      The Engineer’s Thumb. Summer, 1889
24.      The Hound of the Baskervilles. Late September – late November, 1889
25.     The Dying Detective. November 30, 1889
26.      The Blue Carbuncle. December 27, 1889
27.      The Copper Beeches. Early Spring, 1890
28.      The Cardboard Box. August, 1890
29.      The Red-Headed League. October 9, 1890
30.      The Final Problem. April 24 – May 4, 1891

III.    1894-1902. Holmes and Watson are once again sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street, Holmes as a bachelor, Watson as a widower.

31.     The Empty House. April, 1894
32.     The Norwood Builder. August, 1894
33.     The Golden Pince-Nez. Late November, 1894
34.     Charles Augustus Milverton. December 4-14, 1894
35.     The Six Napoleons. 1895
36.     Wisteria Lodge (except for the last scene). Late March, 1895
37.     The Solitary Cyclist. April 23, 1895
38.     Black Peter. July, 1895 (The last scene of Wisteria Lodge takes place after this story at the earliest, late September, 1895)
39.     The Three Students. 1895
40.     The Bruce-Partington Plans. November, 1895
41.     The Missing Three-Quarter. February, 1896
42.     The Abbey Grange. Winter, early 1897
43.     The Devil’s Foot. March 16, 1897
44.     The Dancing Men. Late July – August, 1898
45.     The Priory School. May 16, 1901
46.      The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax. 1901
47.     The Red Circle. Winter, late 1901

IV.  1902-1914. Watson’s second marriage.

48.     His Last Bow. August 2, 1914
 

[Chronologist]

THE CASE-BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

The Illustrious Client - Revised

 

Date: “September 3, 1902”

Comments:

With a day, month, and year, we’re given a fully precise date. Of even greater interest to this chronology is that Watson is no longer sharing rooms with Holmes, the story with the earliest date where Watson stopped living with Holmes after Holmes’ Return and before Holmes’ retirement.
 

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Red Circle” and before “His Last Bow”.
 

[Chronologist]

The Blanched Soldier - No Revisions Needed

 

The Mazarin Stone - Revised

 

Date: “summer”, sometime after “February 13, 1892” and “The Empty House”. Watson is no longer sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street with Holmes.

Comments:

We’re told near the start of this story that it takes place in “summer”. “February 13, 1892” is the date Holmes sites of a robbery in the train de-luxe to the Riviera that Count Sylvius was apparently involved in. When Billy points out the lifelike dummy of Holmes placed by the window, Watson remarks, “We used something of the sort once before,” an unnamed, yet unmistakable reference to “The Empty House”.

The story doesn’t provide a more precise date, and normally I would rely on the publication order for when I’d place this story in the canon. But there’s a problem with that. 

All the Sherlock Holmes stories were initially published in magazines before being published as books, all of them in the Strand Magazine after “The Sign of the Four”. For the first three Holmes anthologies, “Adventures”, “Memoirs”, and “Return”, all the stories were initially published in the Strand at three regular intervals of a new Holmes story once a month for 12-13 months, from July 1891 to June 1892 for “Adventures”, from December 1892 to December 1893 for “Memoirs”, and from October 1903 to September 1904 for “Return” with the last story “The Second Stain” published a couple months later in December of that year. For these first 37 short stories, the order in which they were published in the Strand and the order in which they appeared in the book anthologies were all exactly the same (except for “The Cardboard Box”, which was kept out of most early editions of “Memoirs” due to Victorian squeamishness, a bit of pointless trivia I chose to ignore). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would continue to write and publish Holmes stories for the next 23 years until 1927, but intermittently, a couple stories in one year (often several months apart from each other), just one story in another year, and so on. The interval was often several years apart from each other. When it came time to publish them in book form in the anthologies “Bow” and “Case-Book”, the order in which they were first published in the Strand and the order in which they appear in the book anthologies are not the same. In “Bow” this never became a problem because there were enough stories there with precise enough dates that they didn’t risk contradicting each other. 

But that’s not the case with “Case-Book”. “The Mazarin Stone” was first published in 1921, the earliest published story in “Case-Book” (as well as the earliest story to indicate there came a time after Holmes’ Return and before his retirement where Watson stopped sharing rooms with him) but it’s the third story in the book anthology. The first story, “The Illustrious Client”, is also set after Watson stopped living with Holmes, and has the earliest precise date for this fourth time period, September 3, 1902, and was first published in 1924. The second story, “The Blanched Soldier”, has the only mention of Watson’s second wife (the most likely reason Watson stopped living with Holmes), is set in January 1903, and was published in 1926. If I was only going by magazine publication order, and since the only date given in “Stone” is “summer”, I’d be dating “Stone” in the summer before Client in 1902.

But there are problems with this. “The Three Garridebs” is set in late June 1902 and indicates Holmes and Watson are still living together. In “Stone”, Holmes deduces that Watson now has an active, busy medical practice, which would take some time to establish. Given these facts, I suspect it’s no accident that “Stone” is placed in the book anthology after “Soldier” the only story that mentions Watson’s second wife. I feel that by placing “Stone” after “Soldier”, the publisher (and possibly Doyle himself) was actively encouraging the reader to think of Watson’s wife mentioned in “Soldier” as the reason why he’s no longer living with Holmes in “Stone”.

From here on, if there’s a story in “Case-Book” with an imprecise date, where the publication order and anthology order are not the same, I will go with the anthology order. Therefore, I’m placing “Stone” in the summer after “Soldier” in 1903.

 

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Blanched Soldier” and before “His Last Bow”.

[Chronologist]

The Three Gables- No Revisions Needed

 

 

The Sussex Vampire- Revised

 

Date: “Nov. 19th.” to “Nov. 21st.” Sometime after Holmes related to Watson, and possibly after the publication of, the story of “The ‘Gloria Scott’” (which was published in April, 1893). Holmes and Watson appear to be sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street full time.

Comments:

Here we’re given a day and month, but not the year. “Nov. 19th.” Is the date of the letter the attorneys of Robert Ferguson sent to Holmes. “Nov. 21st.” is the date of the letter Holmes sends back to the attorneys at the end of the story. Holmes mentions “The ‘Gloria Scott’” and notes that Watson “made a record of it”. “The ‘Gloria Scott’” was Holmes’ first case that he related to Watson during the first time period. Holmes comment that Watson “made a record of it” implies that this story takes place after “The ‘Gloria Scott’” was published (April, 1893), during the time when Watson thought Holmes was dead, which makes it more likely this story is set in the third time period. Watson comments upon seeing his old friend, Robert Ferguson, “There is surely nothing in life more painful than to meet the wreck of a fine athlete whom one has known in his prime. His great frame had fallen in, his flaxen hair was scanty, and his shoulders were bowed. I fear that I roused corresponding emotions in him.” The fear Watson expresses at the end is confirmed when Ferguson remarks to him, “You don’t look quite the man you did when I threw you over the ropes into the crowd at the Old Deer Park.” Which suggests that by the time of this story, Watson is noticeably aging and that this story is at a late date.

Like I’ve said, when a story like this published after the publication of the full anthology “The Return of Sherlock Holmes”, where there’s no indication of a year, and where Holmes and Watson appear to be sharing rooms full time, I choose to date it sometime after the latest story in my chronology published in “Return”, “The Priory School”, which I set in 1901, and set this story later in that same year. And with Nov 19-21 being fairly late in the year, I place this story after any other story that meets all of the above criteria, but doesn’t have a month or season mentioned.
 

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax” and before “The Red Circle”.
 

[Chronologist]

The Three Garridebs - Revised

 

Date: “the latter end of June, 1902”

Comments:

We’re given a month and a year and are even told it was late in the month, fairly close to a precise date. Of greater interest is the fact that this story has the latest explicit date where Holmes and Watson are still sharing rooms together at 221B Baker Street. “The Illustrious Client”, with the precise date of “September 3, 1902,” just a little over two months after “Garridebs”, is the story with the earliest explicit date where Holmes and Watson are no longer living together. In “The Blanched Soldier”, set in January 1903 and narrated by Holmes, Holmes’ states that “Watson had deserted me for a wife,” the most likely explanation for why Watson finally moved out. So, judging by this story and “Client”, Watson probably married in either July or August of 1902.

Current Canon Placement:

After “The Red Circle” and before “The Illustrious Client”.
 

[Chronologist]

The Problem of Thor Bridge - No Revisions Needed

The Creeping Man - No Revisions Needed

The Lion’s Mane - No Revisions Needed

The Veiled Lodger - No Revisions Needed

 

 

Shoscombe Old Place - Revised

 

Date: “May”, Holmes and Watson appear to be sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street full time.

Comments:

Midway through the story Watson tells us that he and Holmes reach Shoscombe on a “May evening”, but never gives a year. When a story published after the publication of the full anthology “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” doesn’t mention a year, and where Holmes and Watson appear to still be living together, I place the story after the latest story in my chronology published in “Return”, “The Priory School” which I set in the year 1901. As it happens, “Priory” is also set in May, starting on May 16. That still leaves enough time in May to place “Shoscombe” after- very shortly after- “Priory” but before any other story I set in 1901.
 

Current Canon Placement: 

After “The Priory School” and before “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”.

[Chronologist]

The Retired Colourman - Revised

 

Date: “summer”, “within two years” after “Early in 1897”.

Comments:

“Early in 1897” is when Josiah Amberley married, and Holmes states that the present is “within two years” of that. If I had nothing else to go on, I would date this story in late 1898. But a little later, Watson tells us that it’s “summer”. Summer isn’t generally regarded as late in the year, and if it was summer, 1898, Holmes would more likely have said “within a year and a half”, so it’s more likely the year is 1899.

Although which of these years this story takes place in is kind of a moot point for this Chronology due to the scarcity of published cases set in this period. Without placing this story in 1899, there’d be no other published story that can be definitely set in 1899. And with all 60 stories now published, there can still be no story that can be definitely set in 1900. So, whether this story was set in 1898 or 1899, its Canon Placement in the Chronology would be exactly the same either way: after “The Dancing Men” and before “The Priory School”.

 

Current (and Final) Canon Placement:

After “The Dancing Men” and before “The Priory School”.

The Final Full Sherlock Holmes Chronology

I.    1882-1887, Holmes and Watson are sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street as bachelors.

1.    A Study in Scarlet. March 4, 1882
2.     The Resident Patient. October, 1882
3.    The Speckled Band. Early April, 1883
4.     The Beryl Coronet. February, 1884
5.     Silver Blaze. 1884
6.    The Yellow Face. Early Spring, 1885
7.    The “Gloria Scott”. Winter, late 1885
8.    The Musgrave Ritual. Winter, early 1886
9.    The Reigate Squire. April 25, 1887
10.     The Noble Bachelor. Autumn, 1887
11.     The Sign of the Four. September, 1887

II.    1888-1891. Watson’s marriage to Mary Morstan

12.      A Scandal in Bohemia. March 20, 1888
13.      A Case of Identity. April 14, 1888
14.      The Boscombe Valley Mystery. June 3, 1888
15.      The Stock-Broker’s Clerk. June, 1888
16.      The Crooked Man. Summer, 1888
17.      The Greek Interpreter. Summer, 1888
18.      The Second Stain. July, 1888
19.      The Naval Treaty. Late July, 1888
20.      The Five Orange Pips. Late September, 1888
21.     The Valley of Fear. January 7 – June, 1889
22.      The Man with the Twisted Lip. June 19, 1889
23.      The Engineer’s Thumb. Summer, 1889
24.      The Hound of the Baskervilles. Late September – late November, 1889
25.     The Dying Detective. November 30, 1889
26.      The Blue Carbuncle. December 27, 1889
27.      The Copper Beeches. Early Spring, 1890
28.      The Cardboard Box. August, 1890
29.      The Red-Headed League. October 9, 1890
30.      The Final Problem. April 24 – May 4, 1891

III.    1894-1902. Holmes and Watson are once again sharing rooms at 221B Baker Street, Holmes as a bachelor, Watson as a widower.

31.     The Empty House. April, 1894
32.     The Norwood Builder. August, 1894
33.     The Golden Pince-Nez. Late November, 1894
34.     Charles Augustus Milverton. December 4-14, 1894
35.     The Six Napoleons. 1895
36.     Wisteria Lodge (except for the last scene). Late March, 1895
37.     The Solitary Cyclist. April 23, 1895
38.     Black Peter. Early July, 1895 (The last scene of Wisteria Lodge takes place after this story at the earliest, late September, 1895)
39.     The Three Students. 1895
40.     The Bruce-Partington Plans. November, 1895
41.     The Missing Three-Quarter. February, 1896
42.     The Veiled Lodger. Late 1896
43.     The Abbey Grange. Winter, early 1897
44.     The Devil’s Foot. March 16, 1897
45.     The Dancing Men. Late July – August, 1898
46.     The Retired Colourman. Summer, 1899
47.     The Priory School. May 16, 1901
48.     Shoscombe Old Place. May, 1901
49.     The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax. 1901
50.     The Problem of Thor Bridge. October 3, 1901
51.     The Sussex Vampire. November 19-21, 1901
52.     The Red Circle. Winter, late 1901
53.     The Three Garridebs. Late June, 1902

IV.  1902-1914. Watson’s second marriage.

54.     The Illustrious Client. September 3, 1902
55.     The Blanched Soldier. January, 1903
56.     The Mazarin Stone. Summer, 1903
57.     The Three Gables. 1903
58.     The Creeping Man. September 6-13, 1903
59.     The Lion’s Mane. Late July, 1907
60.     His Last Bow. August 2, 1914
 

[Carol the Dabbler]

18 hours ago, Chronologist said:

Years ago I had checked out from the library a book, Holmes & Watson, by June Thomson, published in 1995. It's a lively fanfiction biography of our two heroes and it's a fun read. Recently, I checked it out again on a lark. Thomson has her own chronology list, one very different from mine. I feel she tries a bit too hard to tie in the chronology to Real Life historical events and is a little too eager to throw out many of the precise dates Watson provides

Doesn't Watson admit (somewhere?) that he sometimes fudges dates in order to keep it from being obvious who a client really was and that sort of thing?  Whereas real-life dates are pretty well verified, so I can understand her bias.

But I can't really argue with your approach either, and I'm impressed by your diligence.  Welcome back!

 

[CurtTheGamer]

On 2/10/2022 at 8:25 PM, Chronologist said:

THE SIGN OF THE FOUR

Date: “July 7”, “nearly ten years” after “the third of December, 1878”, “About six years” after “the fourth of May, 1882”, also “September” (a contradiction)

Comments:

“July 7” is the date postmarked on the envelope of the letter sent to Mary Morstan on the day she consults Holmes. “[T]he third of December, 1878” is the date of Captain Morstan’s disappearance (and as it turns out, his death). “[T]he fourth of May, 1882” is the date an advertisement appeared in the Times asking for the address of Miss Mary Morstan. 

Later in the story, Watson states that it was a “September” evening, a contradiction. I would prefer to go with “July 7”, since for this chronology I prefer precise dates over imprecise dates, but “The Noble Bachelor”, which is said to take place shortly before Watson’s marriage, takes place in autumn. So, I’m going with September as the more accurate date.

 

The Barnes and Noble edition actually corrects this so that the letter says "September 7" instead. I sort of wonder whether this correction was made solely by this publisher, or if there does exist some kind of earlier text edition that does the same thing.

[Carol the Dabbler]

15 hours ago, CurtTheGamer said:

I sort of wonder whether this correction was made solely by this publisher, or if there does exist some kind of earlier text edition that does the same thing.

My guess would be that, like Chronologist, they figured that Doyle/Watson must have meant September, but absent-mindedly wrote July (perhaps because he was writing in July).

Which title does the B&N edition have for this story?  The phrase within the story is consistently "The Sign of the Four," but apparently the original publication omitted the second "the" (perhaps simply to make the title fit the space allotted), and so a certain breed of purist has doggedly perpetuated that truncation, despite it being inconsistent with the body of the story, and despite it not making much sense.

I can usually read right over date inconsistencies, but that title has always bugged me.

 

[CurtTheGamer]

5 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

My guess would be that, like Chronologist, they figured that Doyle/Watson must have meant September, but absent-mindedly wrote July (perhaps because he was writing in July).

Which title does the B&N edition have for this story?  The phrase within the story is consistently "The Sign of the Four," but apparently the original publication omitted the second "the" (perhaps simply to make the title fit the space allotted), and so a certain breed of purist has doggedly perpetuated that truncation, despite it being inconsistent with the body of the story, and despite it not making much sense.

I can usually read right over date inconsistencies, but that title has always bugged me.

 

It says "The Sign of *the* Four."

It's certainly possible that the correction was exclusive to this edition, but B&N in general kind of is hit-and-miss with their publications of classics (even their Sherlock Holmes edition has a few misspellings here and there). But, on the other hand, they do appear to make a conscious effort to actually "fix" things in quite a few cases. Off the top of my head, their publication of the Ewing translation of The Nutcracker corrects the one mistake towards the end where the protagonist is called "Mary" when she's called "Marie" through the entire rest of the book (they've corrected it so that it says "Marie" there), their edition of The Complete Grimms' Fairy Tales uses the Margaret Hunt translation for all the stories except for one story (The Golden Goose), which uses the Lucy Crane translation instead (which seems to indicate to me that somebody in the publishing company must have known that Hunt shortened that story for some reason, and so sought out a more accurate translation of that particular story to put into the book, though, on the other hand, they also have a smaller edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales that uses the notoriously inaccurate Edgar Taylor translation), and they also have certain title names/character names changed to their more traditional ones when compared to how Hunt translated them (eg. "Little Red Cap" is retitled "Little Red Riding Hood" for the B&N edition). And of course, using the original opening for The Resident Patient rather than the altered one (though this could have simply been on accident as the text file/source text that they used might have had the original already). It's all highly interesting.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The ensuing discussion of the title "Little Red Cap" vs. "Little Red Riding Hood" has been moved to "The Language (and travel) Thread" [here].

[Brontodon]

On 2/9/2022 at 8:02 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

One point where I heartily agree with you already is the title "The Sign of the Four."  Apparently the story was first published under the shorter title "The Sign of Four," which according to certain protocols makes that the official title -- however the longer phrase is consistently used within the story itself, implying that Doyle meant that to be the title.

It makes sense in the context of the story, as "the Four" are the four men who were to share in the division of the treasure.

[Carol the Dabbler]

That too!