The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet
by Vincent Starrett
A Sherlock Holmes Pastiche Booklet Review
TITLE: (The Adventure of) The Unique Hamlet
(A Hitherto Unchronicled Adventure of Mr. Sherlock Holmes)
AUTHOR: Vincent Starrett
GENRE: Pastiche, Mystery, Bibliomystery, Satire
PUBLISHER: privately printed
RELEASE: Christmas 1920
PAGES: 40
We begin in quite a familiar territory, with an at wits' end soon to be client misread by Dr. Watson and summed up perfectly, then welcomed genteelly by Sherlock Holmes. So much so that Holmes, before knowing fully remarks in partly: "His line is Caxtons, Elzevirs, Gutenberg Bibles, folios..." A collector of all that, not of tobacconist debts as Watson believed (if not a mad man let out thru a door left-open). Folios... foreshadowing. The bay window and wicker chair perturb me for perhaps no great reason(s).
Then the display, almost if not entirely, comedically done of the portly collector tumbling-spilling onto the rug's center in Holmes' sitting room. We then get the story. The man is Mr. Harrington Edwards and furthermore "You must know, then, that I am the greatest Shakespearean commentator in the world." The immense trouble he bears is that of a stolen folio that was entrusted to him on loan. An inscribed in Shakespeare’s own hand first folio of Hamlet. One almost satirically decked-out and bedazzled beyond belief.
Beyond belief. You see, Edwards had it on-loan from a fellow and good friend named Nathaniel Brooke-Bannerman as to better study its contests and, between their neighboring houses--he gets jumped & jacked for and of said priceless folio by a couple of thieves... Two men supposedly sent by the book's keeper to protect against exactly that sort of occurrence. How intriguing and barely-cloaked. The mystery then is left to unfold with a slight deft Holmesian hand on the strings of the matters.
It's not jaw-dropping, the mystery involved, nor shall it be spoiled here. Nor, will it be belittled (too much). This pastiche reads like a thing not deemed recording-worthy by Watson but having existed nonetheless. A case between cases, say. But one which serves well to flesh things out after the really important stuff is first-gen told. Not "A perfect copy, and with four lines in his handwriting! Unique! Extraordinary! Amazing! Astounding! Colossal! Incredible! Un--" but definitely more worthy than a mere forgery flung into a fireplace, for no particular instance.
Pastiche and not simply just that--but also a satirical look at book collecting and perhaps collecting & collectors in general. The dialog is crisply excellent, the mood is right and perhaps a bit light(er) than a typical bit of casework--although that sort of adds to the case-between-cases vibe. There truly is little at stake here and even less than it seems at first blush. I will say that the unfolding mystery does-so somewhat flatly and into the tale's precariously amicable end, it does whimper not roar.
An extra half-star will be given on account of the booklet's well-deserved place in Sherlockiana lore. To non-Sherlockians, begin with canon--then branch out further beginning precisely here. Then maybe Adrian's work, Conan's youngest son.
3.5/5 stars.
Vincent Starrett (October 26, 1886 - January 5, 1974) was born over his grandfather's Toronto bookshop and raised in Chicago. In the Windy City, he became a writer, newspaperman, and bibliophile. His other Sherlockian contributions include perhaps his more famous "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1933) Starrett was also one of the founding members of The Hounds of the Baskerville (sic), a Chicagoan scion society of The Baker Street Irregulars.
As to this Unique Hamlet, just a couple more trifles of interest. Satiric becomes ironic, as its first edition is now quite rare and thus quite 'pricey,' we'll say. The book was (as noted) privately printed during the Christmas season of 1920 and it would seem, to merely be gifted to those scant few interested in Holmesian pastiche before there even was such a thing or even such (or enough) people.
@kaplowitzmedia
Twitter | Instagram
Twitter | Instagram