I am pleased to report the publication of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon: A Complete Tour Guide & Companion (London: MX Publishing Limited).  The book was jointly authored by Brian W. Pugh, Dr. Sadru Bhanji and myself and it is dedicated to the memory of Sir George Newnes who died 100 years ago today.  Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon features a Foreword by the noted Australian Sherlockian Bill Barnes (see below) and it is now available from The Book Depository.  The book is scheduled for general release on Tuesday 15 June 2010. 

Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon is 288 pages in length and it contains over 100 plates.  The book comprises of 5 chapters as follows:  Chapter 1 provides an overview of the life and works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (hereafter ACD) and it also charts his various links with Devon.  Chapter 2 scrutinises ACD’s relationship with a Plymouth based physician called Dr George Turnavine Budd and it expands upon related comments that ACD made in his autobiography, Memories and Adventures.  Chapter 3 explores the role of ACD's publisher George Newnes in the development of both the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon and North Devon.  Chapter 4 examines ACD's friendship with Bertram Fletcher Robinson and the extent to which the pair collaborated over The Hound of the Baskervilles.  Finally, Chapter 5 presents a fully illustrated tour of those areas of Devon that are most closely connected with the four men featured in Chapters 1-4.  This tour is 155 miles long and it encompasses 30 locations and 56 points of interest.

Foreword 

This book is written by people who know their stuff.  I have known Brian Pugh by reputation and through correspondence about Arthur Conan Doyle for many years and have appreciated the diligent work he has put into examining and documenting that person’s life, particularly his chronology of events.  The significant literary legacy of Bertram Fletcher Robinson would not be as widely known today without the efforts of Paul Spiring and I had the pleasure of dinner with him one night in late 2009 at which he broached the idea of my writing this Foreword – a proposal I was honoured to accept.  I was unaware of Sadru Bhanji’s work until being introduced to it via this book but for any research into the history of the Devon area his publications would be high on my list.

It is always good to pick up a book about the lives of interesting but disparate people that are intertwined in some way and to discover and explore the connecting links.  In this case the central point is Arthur Conan Doyle and the three others, all absorbing characters in their own right, have their separate links to him.  George Turnavine Budd, George Newnes and Bertram Fletcher Robinson all had a key part to play in Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes achieving the popularity he has enjoyed ever since he first appeared in print 123 years ago and without a doubt will continue to enjoy for a very long time yet.

If George Turnavine Budd had had a more orthodox approach to treating people who came to him for a medical consultation and he and Conan Doyle had not subsequently fallen out then Conan Doyle may have had a steady and successful start to his medical career and not approached his writing of fiction with anywhere near the same level of necessity.

If George Newnes had not founded the immensely popular Strand Magazine at the time that Conan Doyle wrote his first two Sherlock Holmes short stories and then commissioned many more after their success then perhaps the Holmes adventures would have taken a lot longer to reach such a wide readership, if at all.

If Bertram Fletcher Robinson and Conan Doyle had not become such firm friends on the ship home from South Africa and thereafter Fletcher Robinson had fired up Conan Doyle’s imagination with legendary tales of huge phantom dogs and the wilds of Dartmoor then maybe The Hound of the Baskervilles might not have been written, or have been written very differently.

This book contains a wealth of information – hard facts and interesting trivia – and displays considerable research and talent upon the part of the authors to present it so as to appeal to people across a broad spectrum.  Anybody with the slightest interest in the history of Devon, the writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon or the early days of popular publishing in Victorian and Edwardian times (the ‘New Journalism’) will find this book a highly interesting read and an indispensable reference.  The expansive and comprehensive touring notes will take you to many interesting points and having this book in the car or backpack as you explore Devon will be like having the three authors along with you as knowledgeable tour guides.

‘Captain’ (president), The Sydney Passengers