Tuesdays in July will see a return to the Sherlock Holmes canon, with second collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) providing the material under consideration.
And this week we return to what I remembered as one of my very favourite stories featuring the great detective…
‘The Yellow Face’ (1893)
The Case
Mr. Grant Munro (it’s really not clear if his first name is Grant or if he has a two-part surname like Freeman Wills Crofts or — hey! — Arthur Conan Doyle) must contend with the odd behaviour of his new wife following some new neighbours taking possession of a cottage nearby. Why does she suddenly want the equivalent of £16,000? Why is she creeping out in the middle of the night? And what of the eerie face “of a livid chalky white, and with something set and rigid about it which was shockingly unnatural” which peers down upon Munro when he visits these unseen neighbours? At his wits’ end, he turns to Mr. Sherlock Holmes…
The Characters
Jack Grant Munro, husband; facing unpleasant possibilities.
Effie Grant Munro, wife of the above; who does she think she’s kidding?
The Timeline
“One day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the Park”– the implication is that Holmes and Watson are still living together, since Watson usually calls in at Baker Street after moving out, rather than meeting Holmes elsewhere. So I guess we’re post-A Study in Scarlet (1887) and pre-Mary Morstan marriage? Dunno, that’s the best I can do. Realistically, this could happen any time.
The Tropes
Little to report, almost as if Doyle is moving on from the infallible detective and thus not holding fast to the trappings which betoken such. A few worthless deductions about Munro’s pipe establish Holmes’ bona fides for anyone who’s been sleeping under a rock, but that’s about it.
Points of Interest
Both my editions of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, including the Penguin edition pictured above, have ‘The Yellow Face’ as the second story, yet others list ‘The Cardboard Box’ (1893) second. Inspection reveals that story as one of those included in the His Last Bow (1917) collection, despite its far earlier provenance. I’m sure I could look this up online, but does anyone know why this happened? Was ‘The Cardboard Box’ simply overlooked for two decades and then hastily shuffled in elsewhere when someone noticed?
And another thing concerning later stories. Watson refers to “the affair of the second stain” in the opening paragraph, but the story ‘The Adventure of the Second Stain’ (1904) wasn’t to appear for another eleven years. I remember the title if not the precise details, so I’m wondering if Doyle had that story planned about now and simply didn’t get round to writing it or — more likely, given his loose grasp of chronology and detail — if it’s just a coincidence. Thoughts, anyone?
“[T]he yellow fever broke out badly in the place, and both husband and child died of it” — is…is this foreshadowing? Arthur, you canny old devil, you.
I love how wide of the mark Holmes is in this, a textbook case of making bricks without clay or straw or whatever the Victorians put into their bricks. Perhaps the nadir of his faulty reasoning is the point where it seems reasonable that whoever he supposes to be blackmailing Effie Munro has asked for a large photo of her to put on their mantlepiece. As always happens when you demand money from people.
“I returned by the 2.40 instead of the 3.36, which is my usual train” — holy shit, this guy has never done a day’s work in his life, has he?
How this story isn’t more famous, I don’t know. Perhaps we’ve become too fond of the image of Holmes as the acme of the faultless, emotionless reasoner, but seeing the man fail, and fail so completely, is a magnificently humanising experience. And that ending with Munro and the child is simply divine. I knew it was coming, and I still started crying on the train while reading it.
~
The Sherlock Holmes canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on The Invisible Event
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of Four (1890)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [ss] (1892):
- ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ (1891)
- ‘A Case of Identity’ (1891)
- ‘The Red-Headed League’ (1891)
- ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’ (1891)
- ‘The Five Orange Pips’ (1891)
- ‘The Man with the Twisted Lip’ (1891)
- ‘The Blue Carbuncle’ (1892)
- ‘The Speckled Band’ (1892)
- ‘The Engineer’s Thumb’ (1892)
- ‘The Noble Bachelor’ (1892)
- ‘The Beryl Coronet’ (1892)
- ‘The Copper Beeches’ (1892)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [ss] (1894):
- ‘Silver Blaze’ (1892)
- ‘The Yellow Face’ (1893)
- ‘The Stockbroker’s Clerk’ (1893)
- ‘The “Gloria Scott”‘ (1893)
- ‘The Musgrave Ritual’ (1893)
- ‘The Reigate Squires’ (1893)
- ‘The Crooked Man’ (1893)
- ‘The Resident Patient’ (1893)
- ‘The Greek Interpreter’ (1893)
- ‘The Naval Treaty’ (1893)
- ‘The Final Problem’ (1893)
The Invisible Event 
“Cardboard Box” was controversial because of its subject matter (adultery I believe?), and not initially reprinted in Memoirs. By the time His Last Bow came out the times had changed, and it was able to be reprinted.
I’ve always thought this story was much stronger than “A Scandal in Bohemia,” so it’s a shame that’s the “Holmes’s failure” story that entered the public consciousness, especially because I find Irene Addler a lot more fascinating than other people seem to.
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And by “a lot more” I of course mean “a lot less.”
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Ah, good to know — I don’t remember the story at all, so I’ll be on the lookout for any controversial content when I (eventually…) get to rereading it.
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The Oxford Sherlock Holmes says it isn’t clear why Cardboard Box was omitted from the Memoirs when published in book form. ACD offered different excuses (it was out of place in a collection intended for boys; it was more sensational than he cared for; and that it was a weak story). These seem debatable. There is also adultery in Silver Blaze which was still included. And Yellow Face includes the suspicion of adultery. OSH floats the idea that it was the combination of adultery and murder along with the sensitivities in Doyle’s family around violence brought about by alcoholism that is behind the withdrawal.
This edition also has interesting background on Yellow Face and suggests it was inspired by Doyle meeting the black anti-slavery leader Henry Highland Garnet in 1882 (he attended him as ship’s doctor).
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Fabulous, thank-you — there’s so much scholarly writing and frank speculation around Holmes that I’d no doubt someone would have addressed this before. These additional nuggets of information about the publication, etc. are all greatly appreciated.
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Conan was a forename. ACD’s father was Charles Altamont Doyle and his father John Doyle. I think ACD used that name to distinguish himself from other writers. His children did use Conan as a surname, presumably to emphasise their connexions with him.
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Ah, yes, thank-you — good to have this confirmed 🙂
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I hadn’t read this one since I was a teenager so remembered nothing about it. As such, I pulled “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes” off the shelf and read it today.
While it was interesting seeing one of Holmes’ failures, what struck me was the progressive view of racial tolerance versus what must have been the societal norms of the late 19th century. I might have wished for this to have been explored a bit more as the build up took most of the story whilst the resolution then seemed a bit abrupt at the end. Still an entertaining read so I am pleased you highlighted this one. I should re-read more Holmes.
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It was precisely the feeling that I should read more Holmes which got me started on this project in the first place: I had no idea what the good stories were — especially as my tastes were likely to have changed since first reading them — so why not reread them all? Getting some thoughts on record for future reference, therefore, also seemed in order.
Glad I was able to reacquaint you with such a classically un-Holmesian story. Here’s hoping you’re inspired to reread more in the weeks, months, and years ahead.
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Doyle cleared George Edjali, a half-Parsee solicitor who was gaoled for mutilating animals after a prejudiced campaign against him, and had him pardoned after spending a great deal of time and money, a case which helped create the Court of Appeal. There’s a novel, Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes, inspired by it.
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There’s a number of similar adventures, all of them “minor” cases that I love. This one was special, as was “The Sussex Vampire” and “The Blanched Soldier.” I’m glad you’re showcasing some of these cases, as I’m a little tired of the red-headed snake.
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I remember loving ‘The Sussex Vampire’, and I’ve no doubt there are plenty of other stories I’ve forgotten down the years which aren’t among the celebrated cases but nevertheless deserve attention. This undertaking is going to carry on for a few years yet, so I look forward to meeting the entire canon again to discover its gems.
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