He tends to double up on consonants (“Millitary,” “assylum,” “dissappeared,” “duett,” “wittnessing,” “untill,” “litterary”); confuse “affect” and “effect” (no. 2); and occasionally succumb to mild dyslexia (“villiany,” “gaurd,” “Christain”). On occasion he spells a word correctly—“ceiling”—only to misspell it in the very next line, “cieling” (no. 31). Most delightful (and revealing) are the magnificent mash-up in “manoevere” (no. 20), the hint of insanity in the footman of “brief demensions” (no. 39), the dig at the parish authorities who incorrectly “assertain” the time of Father Mathew’s temperance rally (no. 42), and the Keatsian contretemps, “rediculous” (no. 4; no. 18, etc.). None of these missteps hinders the readability of the letters, and all are meaningful enough in psychological terms to be well worth preserving.
NOTES
1. I have tracked down three letters of this time from the eldest son, James, to his father, two at the Toronto Public Library (November 12, 1843, and undated) and one at the Folger Library (July 30, 1842).
2. The Morgan purchased the collection from the New York dealer Lew David Feldman, whose firm, House of El Dieff, specialized in mystery and “Sherlockiana.” The letters were submitted to the Morgan “for examination and approval,” indicating that the collection was offered to the Morgan directly and had not appeared before in an auction or sale catalog.
3. Peter Quennell, “A Note on Richard Doyle,” Cornhill Magazine 161 (November 1944), 224, and “Richard Doyle—II: A Note by the Editor,” Cornhill Magazine 161 (April 1945), 275. From April 1861 to October 1862, Doyle had published his series, Bird’s Eye Views of Society, in the Cornhill Magazine, then under the editorship of William Thackeray.
4. Daria Hambourg, Richard Doyle: His Life and Work, English Masters of Black-and-White, gen. ed. Graham Reynolds (London: Art and Technics, 1948).
5. Rodney Engen, Richard Doyle (Stroud, Glos: Catalpa Press, 1983). He also edited and contributed to the exhibition catalog Richard Doyle and His Family (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1983). None of the letters was featured in this exhibition because at this time they were still bound in the album and hence could not have been properly displayed.
6. For a recent article treating the letters, see Kathryn Shattuck, “Dear Dad, Went to an Exhibition. Wish You Were Here,” New York Times, May 14, 2006, 33. Shattuck annotates the final page of Doyle’s letter of July [2], 1843, describing his visit to the Westminster Hall Cartoons. See also Carolyn Vega, “‘Punchification’ Keeps Richard Doyle from His ‘Christmas Things,’” Huffington Post, December 22, 2011, which reproduces most of the letter of December 17, 1843. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carolyn-vega/richard-doyle-christmas-letter_b_1163719.html.
7. A curator penciled in call numbers for the two letters at the Folger Library, which are also labeled, “1” and “2.”
8. August [14], 1842.
9. July 3, 1842.
10. See letter nos. 11, 35, and 42.
11. Only one letter is formally dated Wednesday (no. 10, September 27, 1842), though it actually falls on a Tuesday in 1842. Might this have been his birthday?
12. Three letters after this time begin simply, “Dear Father.”
13. A handful of letters do not carry the Hyde Park address but imply it. They are directed to “J. Doyle Esqre” or “J. Doyle Esqre / & & &.” Richard abbreviated this address when he was rushed, especially toward the end of 1843. For more on the issue of addressing and “mailing” the letters, see the introduction.
14. Given his career as a political caricaturist and the necessity of his propinquity to the seat of government, it is likely that John Doyle returned to Cambridge Terrace earlier than his children, and that he commuted back and forth several times during their stay in Blackheath.
15. See Doyle’s sketch of the brothers working on their collective cartoon in the letter of August [13], 1843 (no. 41).
Acknowledgments
My first debt is to the Morgan Library and Museum, New York, where I spent many pleasant hours admiring and studying Richard Doyle’s letters. It was during the museum’s reopening exhibition in 2006 that I first encountered one of Doyle’s letters. After studying material by Joseph Severn and Richard Monckton Milnes for several hours, I decided to stretch my legs and see the Morgan’s exhibition of illustrated letters. There, lo and behold, I found Doyle, spectacularly modest in a corner, deferring to Emily Brontë, Carroll, and Wilde. His single letter, however, was by far the most detailed and imaginative of the group. Since I was fortunate enough to have access to the manuscript collection, I asked the curator if the Morgan owned any additional Doyle material. As it turned out, they did. Fifty more letters! And thus began one of the most delightful digressions of my career. I thank Christine Nelson for introducing me to the letters, providing helpful information about their provenance, and fielding my inquiries over the past few years.
My second and far more lasting debt is to Daniel and Carol Wilson, whose fund has made possible the color publication of a number of these facsimile letters. I owe them, John Ramsay and Mike Huber, who also contributed precious funds from the Provost’s Office at Muhlenberg College, my sincere gratitude for their belief in the project and their continuing generosity. Without their enthusiasm and support this book may never have seen the light of day.
For their superb genealogical detective work on the Doyle family, I thank Phillip G. Bergem and Georgina Doyle; for his advice, Rodney K. Engen; and for reading the manuscript and offering superb critical commentary, Juliet McMaster. It’s a much better and more accurate edition for her knowledge of the Doyle family and her discerning eye. At Muhlenberg, Kristin Brodt helped in procuring hard-to-find volumes through interlibrary loan; Grace Gardella provided preliminary transcripts; Dave Huber printed crisp reproductions of Doyle’s letters; and Rudi McCauley lent her expertise (and patience) in creating individual electronic files of Doyle’s letters from the Morgan’s CD. At Penn State Lehigh Valley, Judy Mishriki facilitated my access to the London Times and other databases, and at Lehigh University Diana Toolan wheeled in many volumes of Punch for my perusal (ungrudgingly). Along with Mark Canney and Sharon Wiles-Young, she was also very kind in generating multiple scans of the magazine’s covers and cartoons. For their careful archival work I also thank Elizabeth Scudder at the London Metropolitan Archives and Georgiana Ziegler at the Folger Library. As always, Markéta and Oliver provided their bemused endorsements of my esoteric labors. “You’re working on a dude named Dicky?” Yes, quite happily. “Cool.”
Abbreviations
| Baker | Michael Baker, The Doyle Diary: The Last Great Conan Doyle Mystery (New York and London: Paddington Press, 1978) |
| Bergem | Phillip G. Bergem, The Family and Residences of Arthur Conan Doyle, 3rd rev. ed. (St. Paul, MN: Picardy Place Press, 2007) |
| Booth | Martin Booth, The Doctor, The Detective and Arthur Conan Doyle (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1997) |
| DFR | Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789–1799, ed. Samuel F. Scott and Barry Rothaus (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985) |
| G.
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