The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes: 'The Field Bazaar' (Illustrated)

Abstract

Would The Strand Magazine have published “The Field Bazaar” — that odd little 1896 Sherlock Holmes and John Watson vignette — if Arthur Conan Doyle had opted not to give it to The Student magazine at Edinburgh University? I am pretty sure The Strand would have taken the story, gladly. Herbert Greenhough Smith, editor-in-fact of The Strand, liked tales of Sherlock Holmes. But in fact, “The Field Bazaar” did not appear anywhere other than The Student until the mid-1930s. Since then it has floated on the margins of the world of Holmes and Watson, denied not only canonical status, but also original illustration. It has been, really, an orphan work. Canonizing is outside the scope of the Green Bag’s authority (and interest, and competence), but illustrating and publishing are not. So, having both some sympathy for “The Field Bazaar” and some appreciation for the story it tells — whether canonical or comical, it is fun to read — the Green Bag has enlisted an excellent modern illustrator to illuminate it — David Hutchinson.

Keywords: Arthur Conan Doyle, Edinburgh University, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, The Field Bazaar, The Strand Magazine, The Student