Synopses & Reviews
A distinguished physician and professor of medicine at Edinburgh University, and a forensic expert for the British Crown, Joseph Bell was well known for his remarkable powers of observation and deduction. In what would become true Sherlockian fashion, he had the ability to deduce facts about his patients from otherwise unremarkable details. In one instance recounted by Arthur Conan Doyle himself—and similar to Sherlock Holmes's own observations in "The Greek Interpreter"—Bell took little time to determine that one of his patients had recently served in the army, a non-commissioned officer discharged from his Highland regiment stationed in Barbados:
“The man was a respectful man, but did not remove his hat. They do not in the army, but he would have learned civilian ways had he been long discharged. He has an air of authority and he is obviously Scottish. As to Barbados, his complaint is elephantitis, which is West Indian and not British.”
Based on extensive research into the life of Bell and including tantalizing accounts of the connections between Bell and Conan Doyle, this biography is required reading for anyone interested in Victorian medicine, in the history of detective fiction, and in Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Review
“Thoroughly researched, fully illustrated, and enthusiastically written, [Liebow’s] biography paints a splendid portrait of the man Doyle once called ‘the most notable of the characters whom I met’ at Edinburgh.”—The Baker Street Journal
Review
“[Tells] us much about the man who indirectly has been responsible for as much pleasure as almost anyone who ever lived.”—Marvin Lachman, author of The Heirs of Anthony Boucher
Synopsis
In 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, famous almost overnight as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote to his former medical school mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell: It is to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes.
Now the first full-length biography of Joe Bell, as he was affectionately known to all of Edinburgh, has been written. It is a biography for which the world is ready.
It turns out that he not only had much in common with the Great Detective, but also with Conan Doyle. Ely Liebow. Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University and former Sir Hugo (Pres.) of Sir Hugo's Companions in Chicago, had access to the good doctor's private Journal; interviewed his great-grandson; tracked down the son of Joe Bell's daughter's gardener; and spoke with a Kentish Lady (appointed a shepherdess on the Downs by the Crown in WWII) who knew Joe Bell and his family.
This volume is required reading for all people interested in Victorian medicine, in Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and in the history of detective fiction.
About the Author
Ely M. Liebow is professor emeritus of English at Northeastern Illinois University.