September 27, 2012 10:30 am
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Went on His Own Adventures—to the Arctic
‘The Hope among loose ice, March 16th, 1880. Image: Conan Doyle Estate Ltd
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his novels about a certain Mr. Holmes, who keeps popping up in movies and TV shows. Conan Doyle’s most famous character may have inspired period-themed pilgrimages to Switzerland, but his author enjoyed a rather different kind of travel. When he was a 20-year-old medical student, Conan Doyle became the ship’s surgeon on board a whaling ship, the Hope.
Like any good writer, Conan Doyle kept notes while on board, and this week, the British Library published his journals from his voyage to the Arctic. The book contains full color images of the diary, as well as photographs from the expedition, and a few of the fiction stories that were inspired by the trip.
The diary isn’t for the faint of heart. Conan Doyle described the hunting of seals and whales in gruesome detail. From a Daily Mail review of the book:
Conan Doyle reported seeing millions of seals, and it was no exaggeration. ‘They look a sort of cross between a lamb and a gigantic slug,’ he wrote. ‘On the 3rd, the bloody work began and has gone on ever since. The mothers are shot and the little ones have their brains knocked out with spiked clubs.’
Depressing stuff. But it’s not all blood and gore: the sketches are really lovely.
More from Smithsonian.com:
Sherlock Holmes and the Tools of Deduction
Sherlock Holmes’ London
A Modern Sherlock Holmes and the Technology of Deduction
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His riveting short story “The Captain of the Polestar” was certainly inspired by his own travel to the north pole. Sherlock Holmes also went there after “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box”.
Comment by Cameron Trost — September 29, 2012 @ 11:22 pm
Dangerously Fascinating
A twenty year old medical student hired as ship’s surgeon
would become the author of the inimitable super-sleuth
probably because in small part of this high adventure
discourse. The glamour of the Arctic is experienced by a
dazzling account. A magazine article suggesting routes
to the North Pole gave him the respect of Arctic explorers.
This current publication is unbelievably fine! Dag Stomberg
Comment by Dag Stomberg — December 12, 2012 @ 11:09 am