Gaslight digest of discussion for 97-apr-29
----------------------------THE HEADERS---------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:58:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: mysteries of London [11399]
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:25:35 -0500 (CDT)
From: AJ
Subject: Re: bodysnatching revisited [11388] [11400]
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:27:46 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Collins' true crime and Wells' uncle [11401]
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 16:48:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Technology and Craig Kennedy [11402]
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 16:24:36 -0500
From: "S.T. Karnick"
Subject: Reeve's modern alchemy [11403]
-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:58:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: mysteries of London [11399]
Hi Gassers:
Jo Ann Citron asked for bib. details of _The Mysteries of London_ and I
thought I might as well post the info to the list:
Written by George W. M. Reynolds, published in London by George Vickers,
1846? (spine has 1845, title page has 1846)
Title page says Reynolds is "author of _Pickwick Abroad_, _The Modern
Literature of France_, _Robert Macaire_," etc.
The key here is the first one, which shows that Reynolds capitalized on more
than one famous author's work. _Mysteries_ is a rip-off of Eugene Sue's
enormously popular _Mysteres de Paris_.
Bleiler calls Reynolds "The prince of the penny dreadfuls" in his
introduction to _Richmond: or, Scenes in the Life of a Bow Street Officer_,
(NOT by Reynolds) and notes that Reynolds also published something called
_Mysteries of the Court of London, First Series_ (1848-50). It was in fact a
search for this last title that led me by accident to _Mysteries of London_.
Does anyone know, by the way, if there are modern reprints of other early
detective/mystery fiction besides _Richmond_ by Dover? It's not easy to get
this kind of thing through inter-library loan, as many of the books are
fragile.
Have I mentioned on this list, by the way, that Emory University in Georgia
bought Hugh and Graham Greene's collections of detective fiction at auction a
few years ago? They are kept in the special collections department on the
top floor of their main library. The staff are very nice.
Jim St. Andre
jgs3(at)midway.uchicago.edu
===0===
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:25:35 -0500 (CDT)
From: AJ
Subject: Re: bodysnatching revisited [11388] [11400]
There is an account of a Georgia resurrection man in the 1850s at
http://www.cris.com/~Pgarber/grave.html
At least I hope the URL still works...been a while since I last visited...
so many sites, so little time...sigh....
AJ Wright//meds002(at)uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu
===0===
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 10:27:46 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Collins' true crime and Wells' uncle [11401]
CALDROIL.NON
Wilkie Collins' "The caldron of oil" is the last, that I know
of, in the series _Cases worth looking at_.
UNCLEx10.HUM
UNCLEx11.HUM
H.G. Wells' _Select conversations with an uncle_ (1895)
continues with two provocative and hilarious instalments,
joining UNCLEx01.HUM and x02
Send to: mailserv(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
the following commands:
send [gaslight]caldroil.non
send [gaslight]unclex10.hum
send [gaslight]unclex11.hum
or
send [gaslight]unclex*.hum
to get all four.
Or visit the website at:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/programs/arts/english/gaslight
===> Non-fiction ====> Wilkie Collins
and
===> Chronological ===> 1895
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
===0===
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 16:48:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Technology and Craig Kennedy [11402]
One possible objection to Reeve's stories is that they are driven
by whatever new technological or scientific discovery Reeve has been
reading about. There is sometimes a sense that the stories have been
created in order to explain or show off some dazzling new bit of
equipment or forensic technique rather than unveil the solution to
a mystery. One is tempted to say that the real hero of the tales is
Technology rather than Craig Kennedy who, smart fellow though he
might be, is primarily the instrument through which Reeve is educating
his audience.
This is quite different from, let us say, Austin Freeman's approach in
the Dr. Thorndyke stories. Dr. Thorndyke uses scientific
methods to solve his cases, certainly, but those methods really don't
impress us as much as Thorndyke's own perspicacity. Thorndyke
also looks fairly primitive in his use of "apparatuses" compared to
Craig Kennedy, and Freeman isn't in the business of carefully
explaining (as Reeve does almost obssessively in some cases) his
detective's materials.
Kennedy, I might point out, is a college professor who frequently uses his
students to haul around his equipment (I wonder if they got extra credit.)
These students are, in a sense, his Baker Street Irregulars--though they
appear pretty regularly, even if anonymously. Craig's sidekick, Walter
Jameson, is a journalist on whose contacts Craig sometimes draws but
whose essential job is to transcribe the cases and admire the intelligence of
the solver. These two gents share a fancy bachelor's flat. Another
continuing character is First Deputy Police Commissioner O'Connor, who is
always funneling unsolved cases to Craig. Craig, I should say, bears
some superficial resemblance to Jimmy Dale: the operative word is
"superficial."
Bob Champ
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 16:24:36 -0500
From: "S.T. Karnick"
Subject: Reeve's modern alchemy [11403]
Arthur B. Reeve's "The Invisible Ray" is a very good introduction to the
adventures of Craig Kennedy, the "scientific detective." It is by now, of
course, an utter cliche to complain that Kennedy's stories have dated badly
because the science, shown as so wondrous in the narratives, has become
commonplace. I certainly don't find the stories to have dated, perhaps
because we are now far enough away from the time in which they were written
to be able to read them as "period pieces" and enjoy entering the mindset
of a time when modern science was just beginning to establish itself in the
public mind.
One of the great pleasures of the stories -- indeed, significantly more
evident here than in R. Austin Freeman's excellent Dr. Thorndyke tales from
across the pond -- is the charming sense of wonder at what science and
technology could do. Reeve perfectly captures the American passion for
gadgets and scientific gizmos at its height in the early years of this
century. This passion was close to a religion, and Reeve cleverly expresses
this by repeatedly connecting the two in our minds:
"And here is where the weird and uncanny part of it comes in," commented
Craig [in
describing Prescott's theories.
[Prescott, says Craig, has] "unified the physical, the physiological, and
the psychical --
a system of absolute scientific monism." [Wow! What fun!]
We three bespectacled figures [two scientists and one reporter] lacked
only the flowing
robes to be taken for a group of medieval alchemists set down a few
centuries out of our
time in the murky light of Prescott's sanctum.
He placed his finger on the letters "Au," under which was written the
number, 197.2. I
wondered what the mystic letters and figures meant.
Haswell's speech after being "resurrected" by the pulmoter "was like a
voice from the
grave," and "it was evident that he had been saved."
"The very cleverness of your scheme will penetrate the eyes of the
blindfolded goddess
of justice."
Reeve sees no conflict between science and religion; to him the two appear
to be complementary. Reeve also nicely contrasts the idealism and
expectation of objectivity in scientific pursuits with the destructive
passions of regular people:
"He at once conceived a bitter and unreasoning hatred for Martin."
"The old man still refused resolutely to be reconciled."
"The daughter hates me and I hate her."
"I could not help wondering at the woman's apparent lack of gratitude."
"Instead of appealing to you he hated you."
Finally, the contrast between Dr. Kennedy's penetrating insights and the
blindness of Mr. Haswell is quite clear and well motivated. The latter is a
man who was truly "Blinded by Science" -- like so many people of his era.
All in all, Reeve has nicely caught a major paradox of twentieth-century
life. At the very time when our knowledge of the world and humankind has
been the greatest, the passions of human beings have been the most
destructive. This is a profoundly accurate vision of the human condition, I
think, and a wisely conservative, cautionary response to the unbridled
optimism with which scientific advances were embraced in the early years of
this century. Reeve has proven correct in the end, and that makes his
stories an even greater pleasure.
Best w's,
S.T. Karnick
End of Gaslight digest.