In this issue: Re: Today in History - Jan. 8 Wells question Re: Wells question Classic Images Today in History - Jan 11 Re: History & The Man in Grey Re: History & The Man in Grey CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested RE: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Today in History - Jan. 12 Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Today in History - Jan. 13 Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger Edwards' A Service of Danger Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger Re: Today in History - Jan. 13 Lady M obit revised Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger Today in History - Jan. 14 Johnson impeachment A little mystery, a little history Re: A little mystery, a little history Today in History - Jan. 15 Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger -----------------------------THE POSTS----------------------------- Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 13:00:28 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)gloaming.com> Subject: Re: Today in History - Jan. 8 This from Victoria: >>Today 8 January 1999 is the 175th anniversary of the birth of Wilkie Collins. Happy birthday Wilkie! Wilkie Collins site. http://www.deadline.demon.co.uk/wilkie/wilkie.htm Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 21:39:13 -0600 From: Mattingly Conner <muse(at)iland.net> Subject: Wells question Perplexed, she invokes the Gassers. Any thoughts as to what HGWells might say... "By Jove!" "By God!" By what? Lovelace would say, "By perdition..." or "By my soul." Perry White would say, "Great Caesar's ghost!" Robin, "Holy (your word here)!" But any thoughts on what Wells might say? With heart, Deborah Mattingly Conner muse(at)iland.net http://www.iland.net/~muse "Love is the burning point of life, and since all life is sorrowful, so is love. The stronger the love, the more the pain." ~Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth
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Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 21:47:13 -0600 From: smdawes(at)home.com Subject: Re: Wells question Great Scott! Marta Mattingly Conner wrote: > > Perplexed, she invokes the Gassers. Any thoughts as to what HGWells might say... "By > Jove!" "By God!" By what? Lovelace would say, "By perdition..." or "By my soul." > Perry White would say, "Great Caesar's ghost!" Robin, "Holy (your word here)!" But > any thoughts on what Wells might say? > > With heart, > Deborah Mattingly Conner > muse(at)iland.net > http://www.iland.net/~muse > "Love is the burning point of life, and since all life is sorrowful, so is love. The > stronger the love, the more the pain." ~Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth
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Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 14:56:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Classic Images
Just returned from three weeks in the western suburbs of Chicago--
three weeks of being snowbound and cold-pierced (windchill factors
were well below 0). In fooling away the time, I did manage to find a
magazine that I thought might interest some of our members. _Classic
Images_ consists of photographs and articles about the stars and movies of
Hollywood's Golden Era. It contains numerous interviews, bios, film
stills, and book reviews in a tabloid format. and is available in both six
month ($19) and one year ($32) subscriptions. The emphasis is on nostalgia
rather than artistic considerations of the films, so that _Classic
Images_ often reads like an old fashioned move magazine, save that all the
stories are ended.
If you'd like to take a look at the offerings and sample some of the
articles, go to
http://www.classicimages.com
There is a nice "reminscence" in the current issue about Mary Philbin,
the actress who played Christine to Lon Chaney's Erik in _Phantom of
the Opera_.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 10:33:03 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Jan 11
1843
Francis Scott Key, poet of "The Star-Spangled Banner," dies
in Baltimore.
1861
Alabama secedes from the Union.
1862
Lincoln accepts Simon Cameron's resignation as Secretary of
War.
[Cameron's definition of an honest politician - today he
would be called a statesman with character -
was that when he was bought, he'd stay bought. Lincoln once
said that Cameron wouldn't steal a hot
stove, although there's some doubt about that. &8-{) ]
1887
At Fort Smith, Ark., hang man deluxe George Maledon
dispatches four more victims in a
multiple hanging.
1904
British troops massacre 1,000 dervishes in Somaliland.
1916
Russian General Yudenich launches a WWI winter offensive and
advances west.
Born on January 11
1737
Alexander Hamilton, first U.S. Secretary of Treasury who was
killed in a duel with Aaron
Burr.
1864
H. George Selfridge, founder of the British store Selfridge
and Co., Ltd. and first said
"the customer is always right."
1903
Alan Patton, South African novelist who wrote Cry, the
Beloved Country.
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Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 12:31:09 -0500 From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU> Subject: Re: History & The Man in Grey My PC is in the shop getting upgraded (longest upgrade in history, I think), and I'm just getting started on the Man in Grey stories. I didn't realize there are so many of them, but I'm printing the first one, plus the Amelia B. Edwards story we are scheduled to read this week. Man in Grey looks like it will take quite a bit of time to complete, so I'll do it in fits and jumps and try to complete the Edwards story quickly. Over Christmas I read The Maul and the Pear Tree, by P.D. James and T.A. Critchley. It is a nonfictional account about a sensational 19th C. murder that predated Jack the Ripper, but seems to have prepared the public for the murders to come. It really emphasized the lack of professional law enforcment/criminal investigation techniques available at the time. Anyone read this one? Richard King, ready to read Patricia Teter wrote: > Re: > Born on January 6, 1856- Sherlock Holmes, noted English apiarist. > > Deborah replied: << > Really, I had no idea we had an exact date. I wish I'd known and I'd have > planned a dinner from the Sherlock Holmes Cookbook. Wait...maybe it's not > too late to at least have some eggs, kippers, scones and a little tea?>> > > And we forgot to plan a Gaslight birthday party for the dear chap! > > Anyone reading the Man in Grey? I have enjoyed the first few > chapters. The Man in Grey is an intriguing fellow, sort of a > Napoleonic James Bond, but I find myself more sympathetic to > the Chouans, who are tracked down and eliminated with fierce > determination. > > Happy 1999 to one and all! > Patricia
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Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 11:07:12 -0700 (MST) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Re: History & The Man in Grey Yes, I've read "The Maul & The Pear Tree (P.D. James & T.A. Critchley 1971, The Mysterious Press, ISBN 0-89296-152-X) - actually it's one of my collection of true crime books. After reading it, the logical conclusion seems to be that, as the authors say, the "murderer" Williams was in fact the eighth victim (he was found hanged in his cell at Coldbath Fields Prison). As to who the actual murderer or murderers were, we know no more today than did Regency England. As was said of the Ripper murders seventy-five years later, when on the Day of Judgment the killer's name is at last revealed, all we will say is "Who?" I have read the Man in Grey stories, and find it interesting to note that they date from the end of WW1. It crosses my mind that Baroness Orczy - a professional writer who wrote for her market - may have decided that her public had seen the well-deserved end of three empires, and a general drop in the market valuation of Kings as a group. Thus an anti-royalist series might be saleable, and indeed, it was. I am not sure of when the Scarlet Pimple (sorry, Pimpernel) stories were written, but I shall always regret that Orczy did not confront the Man in Grey with Sir Percy Blakeney (one of whose offspring would seem to be "Sapper's" "Bulldog Drummond"). In my days as a school librarian, I once suggested to a student he wrote an esay for a "popular literature" assignment comparing these two. His verdict was that that they were both "****ing Fascists"; I suppose by modern-day standards that is their political orientation. Both of them are, I suppose, politically incorrect by all standards. Peter Wood
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 12:27:35 -0500 From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU> Subject: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Hello Everyone! I've going to lead a book discussion for our local public library in March. My book will be Colin Dexter's THE WENCH IS DEAD, which involves 20th C. Inspector Morse solving a crime that was committed during the Gaslight period. I wonder if anyone can help me come up with a list of similar books I can use as a handout for my participants. These books would not be strictly historical mysteries, but rather be books in which an old mystery resurfaces in our times to have impact upon us. I suppose this could include historical settings in which earlier crimes impact the historical setting (such as a civil war era detective trying to solve a Revolutionary era crime, for instance). The only other one I know about is Josephine Tey's THE DAUGHTER OF TIME (involving a historian trying to solve the mystery of King Richard III's alleged crime against the boys). According to the wonderful interractive mystery book finder called Troutfinder (I posted the information in December to Gaslight about this website at http://www.troutworks.com ) My WENCH IS DEAD BOOK is similar to the following: 1. The Wood Beyond by Hill, Reginald 2. Seneca Falls Inheritance by Monfredo, Miriam Grace 3. A Test of Wills by Todd, Charles 4. The Daughter of Time by Tey, Josephine 5. Shuttlecock by Swift, Graham The Tey book is similar to: 1. Death and the Chapman by Sedley, Kate 2. The Daffodil Affair by Innes, Michael 3. The Death of a King by Doherty, P.C. 4. The Investigation by Lem, Stanislaw 5. The Wench is Dead, by Dexter, Colin And so on. I find this website very fascinating as I click on books that are similar to the ones I already know about. Of course, many of these are stricktly historical mysteries and not in the category I am seeking. I would appreciate any suggestions anyone on Gaslight might be able to offer me as to other similar books. I would be happy if I could obtain six or seven, at least. Thanks. Best wishes, Richard King rking(at)indian.vinu.edu
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 14:10:03 -0500 From: "Roberts, Leonard" <lroberts(at)email.uncc.edu> Subject: RE: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Richard, I suggest you check the books of John Dickson Carr. He did a number of historical mysteries. The one that springs to mind as being closest to what you want if THE DEVIL IN VELVET. But it may not be the only one. Also Sharyn McCrumb's book often contain a mystery from the past, THE BALLAD OF FRANKIE SILVER being the only title that occurs to me right now. P.C. Doherty writes historical mysteries but the investigator is usually a contemporary of the period. If you can use that type of book look at Lillian de la Torre's stories that feature Sam Johnson as the investigator. I believe one title is SAM JOHNSON: DETECTOR. Hope this helps (or at least doesn't hinder), Len Roberts lroberts(at)email.uncc.edu > Hello Everyone! > I've going to lead a book discussion for our local public library in > March. My book will be Colin Dexter's THE WENCH IS DEAD, which involves > 20th C. Inspector Morse solving a crime that was committed during the > Gaslight period. I wonder if anyone can help me come up with a list of > similar books I can use as a handout for my participants. These books > would not be strictly historical mysteries, but rather be books in which > an old mystery resurfaces in our times to have impact upon us. > > I suppose this could include historical settings in which earlier crimes > impact the historical setting (such as a civil war era detective trying > to solve a Revolutionary era crime, for instance). > > Richard King > rking(at)indian.vinu.edu
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 12:28:39 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Jan. 12
1872
Russian Grand Duke Alexis begins a gala buffalo hunting
expedition with Gen. Phil
Sheridan and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. [And guided
by Buffalo Bill Cody.
Hmm ... if I went out and shot a lot of elephants, might I be
referred to as "Elephants
Gerald"? &8-{) ]
1908
A wireless message is sent long-distance for the first time
from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
1913
Kiel and Wilhelmshaven become submarine bases in Germany.
1915
The U.S. Congress establishes Rocky Mountain National Park.
[Frequently visited by the Carlson
family - as in every time we have family out from back east.
One of my prize possessions is a pictorial
pamphlet from RMNP that was published in 1915 or shortly
afterwards. One of the photos
provided me with the model for a leather carving I did of
Long's Peak as a wedding present for one
of my volunteers; he and his bride had probably climbed it
about as many times as we had driven within
sight of it. &8-{) ]
Born on January 12
1876
Jack London, American writer best known for _The Call of the
Wild_.
1893
Hermann Goring, Reichmashall of the Third Reich and commander
of the Luftwaffe who
committed suicide before he was to be hung for war crimes.
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 13:31:51 -0600 From: Ann Hilgeman <eahilg(at)seark.net> Subject: Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Paul Doherty(writing as Anne Dukthas) has a series of "time travel" mysteries in which an immortal and a modern solve actual historical mysteries (Mayerling, the lost Dauphin, etc.) Usually the setting is modern, but the crime is old. The titles are A TIME FOR THE DEATH OF A KING(was Mary Queen of Scots involved in Lord Darnley's murder?) THE PRINCE LOST TO TIME (what happened to the last Dauphin of France?) THE TIME OF MURDER AT MAYERLING (did the Austrian Crown Prince commit suicide?) IN THE TIME OF THE POISONED QUEEN (was Mary Tudor murdered?) Many contemporary mysteries use the idea of solving a decades old mystery. Gaslight's own Lucy Sussex has written a marvelous book, THE SCARLET RIDER, in which a modern researcher tries to discover who actually wrote an 1860's mystery novel. There are lots more, and I'll try to think of some of them and reply again later. Ann Hilgeman
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 14:03:57 -0700 (MST) From: "p.h.wood" <woodph(at)freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> Subject: Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested May I request that when this correspondence concludes, a full bibliography is made available as a Gaslight Resource, similar to the Napoleonic List? I have found it fascinating, and am considering suggesting a similar series of book discussion meetings to our local library. With thanks to all involved, Peter Wood
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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 16:06:20 -0500 From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU> Subject: Re: CHAT: Historical Mystery Book Assistance Requested Peter: I'll be glad to post to all of you what I end up with. I've been getting some ideas from people off-list, so I'll be sure to include them all. Thanks and best wishes (I'm still mulling over your comments about MAUL AND PEAR TREE). Richrad p.h.wood wrote: > May I request that when this correspondence concludes, a full bibliography > is made available as a Gaslight Resource, similar to the Napoleonic List? > I have found it fascinating, and am considering suggesting a similar > series of book discussion meetings to our local library. > With thanks to all involved, > Peter Wood
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 10:17:29 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Jan. 13
1846
President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and
4,000 troops to the Texas
Border as war with Mexico looms.
1862
President Lincoln names Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War.
1900
To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph of
Austria-Hungary decrees that
German will be the language of the imperial army.
1919
California votes to ratify the Prohibition amendment.
Born on January 13
1808
Salmon P. Chase, U.S. Treasury secretary during the American
Civil War and sixth Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court.
1832
Horatio Alger, Jr., American author of boys books including
_Ragged Dick_ and _Tattered
Tom_ [Famous for his "rags-to-riches" stories - as opposed to
mummy stories, which are "riches-to-rags"
&8-{) ].
1919
Robert Stack, actor best know for his role as Elliot Ness in
the T.V. series "The
Untouchables."
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 09:40:08 -0800
From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu>
Subject: Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger
Jerry writes: <<... "rags-to-riches" stories - as opposed to
mummy stories, which are "riches-to-rags" &8-{) ]. >>
I needed a laugh this morning! Thanks, Jerry!
This week's story is "A Service of Danger" a ghost tale
by Amelia Edwards. Anyone read it? How do you ghost
story experts rate it?
Patricia
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 10:56:32 -0700
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Edwards' A Service of Danger
I found the ghostly element very effective in this story; all the more
so for being a limited commodity.
I found the story even more interesting as a vivid depiction of
military life during the continental war. The story is very immediate, but
gives a lot of detail incidentally which explains how the officers
functioned and took on assignments.
Stephen
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 12:51:45 -0500
From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger
Well, I finished the story last night and it was okay, kind of light and
readable. It combines the concept of the martial spirit (concerning, as
it does, two young idealistic soldiers seeking glory on the battlefield)
with the type of ghost story where the dead soldiers return to their
friends once more. The latest All-Hallows ghost story journal (wonderful
periodical well worth subscribing to--I'm glad I did, anyway) has a
similar story in which a sailor comes back from the dead (I *think* he
is dead at that time, anyway) to tell his tale of woe in a
storm-battered tavern at night to his old compatriots.
I think I would much rather have spent my time in one of the tents with
a fire outside than seeking glory on the battlefield, but that's just
me.
So, another story worth a look, but nothing all that special, in my
personal opinion.
Best wishes,
Richard
Patricia Teter wrote:
> Jerry writes: <<... "rags-to-riches" stories - as opposed to
> mummy stories, which are "riches-to-rags" &8-{) ]. >>
>
> I needed a laugh this morning! Thanks, Jerry!
>
> This week's story is "A Service of Danger" a ghost tale
> by Amelia Edwards. Anyone read it? How do you ghost
> story experts rate it?
>
> Patricia
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 13:05:28 -0500 From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU> Subject: Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger That's true, Stephen. We seem to get some details of Army life (from the point of view of officers, mainly, I would say) at the time, and the names of famous generals and statesmen are spoken as if they would be familiar to readers, though I confess I have hardly heard of any of them (except for General Ney, of course). "The grass covers all," if I may paraphrase a Sandburg poem. We also see a description of what it is like to be on the losing side of a great, catastrophic battle, though the realism of grim realism of battle life does not come through in this story, does it? I got a sense that there would be no arguments against the idea that battlefield glory should be a proper goal for any well-brought up young man (or maybe I'm reading too much into things). Richard sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote: > I found the ghostly element very effective in this story; all the more > so for being a limited commodity. > > I found the story even more interesting as a vivid depiction of > military life during the continental war. The story is very immediate, but > gives a lot of detail incidentally which explains how the officers > functioned and took on assignments. > Stephen
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 14:08:18 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: Today in History - Jan. 13 Also born today, in 1850 - Charlotte E. Ray, first African-American female lawyer, admitted to the DC bar in 1872. phoebe Snow again here!
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Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1999 17:16:25 -0500 (EST) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Lady M obit revised While I'm glad to see that this has been sent to the list, the report seems to have a number of inaccuracies: >Her first novel, ``The Conquered,'' was published in 1923 and was >based on her wartime experiences. It's set in Roman Gaul, and according to NM's autobiographies, was deeply rooted in childhood fears and fantasies (and the brother-sister relationship possibly owes something to her own relationship to her brother, JBS Haldane) rather than anything that happened in WWI > >In 1935, Lady Mitchison published her most controversial work. ``We >Have Been Wanted'' explored sexual behavior, including rape, seduction >and abortion. The book was rejected by leading publishers and >ultimately censored. _We Have Been Warned_: and, as she pointed out in the 'Essay on Censorship' published in her autobiographical volume _You May Well Ask_, she had happily and uncensored been dealing with all these topics with protagonists clad in togas, chitons, wolfskins, etc: but to deal with them as contemporary issues among 'ordinary people' was a no-no. > >Born in Edinburgh in 1897, she began a science degree at Oxford >University, but gave up her studies to become a nurse She could not have been registered for a degree at Oxford at the time, as the University did not admit women to degrees until after the war, the grant of the suffrage, etc, but she did undertake study at one of the women's colleges. Like many other young women of the period (e.g. Vera Brittain), she gave up her studies to undertake VAD work as part of the war effort (rather than choosing nursing as a career) >Lady Mitchison was also made a life peer in 1964 for her literary >contributions. Her _husband_ was made a Life Peer in 1964 for his political contributions (long career in Labour politics), and according to Lena Jeger's obit in today's _Guardian_, NM thought it 'funny, as long as nobody called her Lady Mitchison. Lesley Hall lesleyah(at)primex.co.uk
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Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 13:48:49 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Today & Edwards' A Service of Danger
It's interesting that Amelia Edwards provides for the possibility of a
naturalistic explanation. Our narrator and his orderly are eagerly
expecting the return of Graf von Lichtenstein, hoping against hope that he
and his troop will arrive back in camp safely--but not much believing in
that eventuality. Under those circumstances, it is easy to see how the
two might create in their own minds possible incidents that mirror their
hopes and fears and project these onto the environment as hallucinations.
It is also possible that they are magnifying, and otherwise distorting,
actual events to the point where these "fit" their inner thoughts
- --in the manner of that other brave soul and frail madman, Don Quixote.
We should consider, too, the powerful impression made upon the narrator by
his friend's intution, his positive conviction, that he was not long for
this world. The conclusion that the narrator draws about the return of the
ghostly troop exactly fits this impression: he believes that the troop has
returned and that Graf von Lichtenstein has died fighting.
Whichever idea we tend toward--hallucinations or real ghosts--Edwards does
a fine job of showing both the attraction and the awfulness of war.
Btw, I think this would have made a fantastic "Twilight Zone" episode! It
has that Rod Serling feel about it.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 13:16:46 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Jan. 14
1858
Emperor Napoleon and Empress Eugenie escape unhurt after an
Italian assassin throws a
bomb at their carriage as they travel to the Paris Opera.
1864
Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes to General
Johnson, observing that troops
may need to be sent to Alabama or Mississippi.
1911
The USS Arkansas, the largest U.S. battleship, is launched from
the yards of NY
Shipbuilding Company.
1915
The French abandon five miles of trenches to the Germans near
Soissons.
1916
British authorities seize German attach? von Papen*s financial
records confirming espionage
activities in the U.S.
1917
The Provisional Parliament is established in Poland.
Born on January 14
1875
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, French theologian who set up a native
hospital in French Equatorial
Africa in 1913.
1919
Andy Rooney, American humorist, author and television
personality who appears on the
T.V. program *60 Minutes.*
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 00:50:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Johnson impeachment
A good webpage on the impeachment and trial of Andrew Johnson can be
found at
http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/
Reportage is from _Harper's Weekly_.
Bob C.
_________________________________________________
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 14:15:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: A little mystery, a little history
Karen Haltunnen's book _Murder Most Foul_, although
occasionally becoming bogged down in the mire of feminist
and New Historicist terminology, offers some interesting
historical background for anyone interested in the development
of the detective story in the 19th century. I have typed up
the following three-paragraph excerpt in the hope that it
will, in some instances, be as enlightening to Gaslight
members as it was to me.
I should add that one of Professor Haltunnen's theses is that
the detective story owes much to the popular "true-crime"
pamphlets and books of the time; this is her subject here.
<<
Literary historians have traced the origins of detective fiction to
three short stories by Edgar Allan Poe--"The Murders in the Rue
Morgue" (1841), "The Mystery of Marie Roget" (1842-43), and "The
Purloined Letter" (1845)--and cited the remarkable range of
connections invented by Poe in these stories: the character of the
brilliant, eccentric detective and his admiring, less sharp-witted
companion; the blunderings of the police; the locked-room murder;
the wrong suspect to whom all evidence seems initially to point;
concealment by means of the obvious and solution by mean of the
unexpected; the aphorism that once all possibilities have been
eliminated, whatever remains,however improbable, is the truth; the
aphorism that the more bizarre the case, the easier it is to solve.
Poe's stories appeared in the historical context of the
professionalization of law enforcement in the early nineteenth century.
Eighteenth-century American communities...were largely self-policing:
though constables often helped keep the peace, communities still
depended on the volunteer night-watch and the hue and cry or _posse
commitatus_ for the arrest of criminals. By 1821, when Officer Cherry
investigated the Lagoardette murder, somne American cities had added
a day-watch to their night-watch force, but these policemen remained
untrained, often unsalaried, and understandably reluctant to take
on criminal cases that offered no reward money. The model for the
modern metropolitan police was established by Sir Robert Peel (whose
name provided members of that force with their nickname), in the
London Metropolitan Police Act of 1829, which assigned officers to
regular patrols or "beats" as a deterrent to crime and urban unrest.
London's example was imitated by Philadelphia in 1833, Boston in
1837, and New York in 1845. But the primary concern of these new
police forces was the prevention, not detection, of crime. Though
they gradually introduced detective divisions in the 1850s, detectives
continued to operate on the tradional model of the eighteenth-century
"thief-taker," who did not actually arrest thieves but rather returned
stolen property, acting as the middleman between the criminal
and the victim, for a private fee.
But the murder-mystery narrative that was reshaping tales of
murder in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries actually
anticipated both the appearance of the professional detective and
Poe's "invention" of detective fiction. Indeed, in at least one case,
the murder-mystery narrative mandated the invention of the detective,
rather than vice-versa: the unsolved murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers
in New York in 1841 proved a major factor in the formation of the
New York police department in 1845. The more important factor in
the emergence of this new narrative was the growing dominance of
the legal discourse of crime. Significantly, the editorial prefaces
to some trial reports enlisted the murder-mystery format for a
preliminary version of the story. The introduction to the report of
Alfred Fyler's trial offers a case in point. The subsection entitled
"The Murderer's Work" described the "blood-smeared apartment"
and "mangled corpse" as they had first been discovered. "First
Rumors and Suspicions" threw out the red herring of Alfred Fyler's
hired men, upon whom he had tried to cast suspicion. "Effects
upon the Public" reported the "thrill of horror" that swept the
community when the murder became known. At length, "Suspicion
Resting against Fyler" revealed that "The deep mystery that at
first enveloped the bloody transaction, speedily gave way to
strongly grounded suspicions against Fyler, the husband, as the
perpetrator of the murder" after which "Investigations Commenced"
reported the thorough investigations made before Fyler's indictment.
Only then, after the reader had been led through the maze of murder-
mystery narrative to arrive at a point clearly indicated in the title
of the work ("A Full Report of the Trial of Albert Fyler"), did the
trial report commence.<<
Bob C.
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Those who are alive receive a mandate from those
who are silent forever. They can fulfill their
duties only by trying to reconstruct precisely
things as they were and by wresting the past
from fictions and legends.
--Czeslaw Milosz
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
_________________________________________________
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===0===
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 14:23:35 -0500
From: "Richard L. King" <rking(at)INDIAN.VINU.EDU>
Subject: Re: A little mystery, a little history
Well, Bob, I've just had to add MURDER MOST FOUL to my ever-growing list of
books to read! Thanks for this one!
Richard
By the way, your Czeslaw Milosz quote is taped to my wall next to your old
Goethe one ("...speak a few reasonable worlds.").
RK
===0===
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:25:25 -0700
From: Jerry Carlson <gmc(at)libra.pvh.org>
Subject: Today in History - Jan. 15
1811
In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East
Florida.
1865
Union troops capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
1913
The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is
inaugurated.
1919
Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.
Born on January 15
1823
Matthew Brady, Civil War photographer.
1906
Aristotle Onassis, Greek tycoon, who married Jackie Kennedy.
1908
Edward Teller, Hungarian born, U.S. physicist known as the
"Father of the H-bomb."
===0===
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 12:06:07 -0800 From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu> Subject: Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger I have enjoyed the comments posted on this week's story. It has been what seems like many months since I read the story, however vivid images still remain, particularly the scene near the end, of the young soldier watching the mounted troops return. Brrrr. Bob wrote <<Btw, I think this would have made a fantastic "Twilight Zone" episode! It has that Rod Serling feel about it.>> Yes, it does has that small touch of horror mingled with pervasive poignancy. best regards, Patricia
===0===
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 19:07:48 -0500 From: "S.T. Karnick" <skarnick(at)INDY.NET> Subject: Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger Like Richard, I found the story rather slight albeit enjoyable. Like Stephen, Bob, and Patricia, I thought that it had a nice atmosphere. I don't think that the story is particularly deep nor innovative, but it is nice the way the author sneaks the supernatural revelation in when you're least expecting it. The reader is cruising along through a rather misty but basically realistic narrative, and then is suddenly plunged into the shadows when the story takes a quick turn into the supernatural. That, I think, is rather nice, if only in the way it reflects how it must feel to have seemingly supernatural events suddenly intrude into one's comfortably materialistic life. That's a story worth telling, and I think that Ms. Edwards succeeds at it. Best w's, S.T. Karnick - -----Original Message----- From: Patricia Teter <PTeter(at)getty.edu> To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA <gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA> Date: Friday, January 15, 1999 3:15 PM Subject: Re: Edwards' A Service of Danger > >I have enjoyed the comments posted on this week's >story. It has been what seems like many months since >I read the story, however vivid images still remain, >particularly the scene near the end, of the young >soldier watching the mounted troops return. Brrrr. > >Bob wrote <<Btw, I think this would have made a >fantastic "Twilight Zone" episode! It has that Rod >Serling feel about it.>> > >Yes, it does has that small touch of horror mingled with >pervasive poignancy. > >best regards, >Patricia > > ------------------------------ End of Gaslight Digest V1 #35 *****************************