First, a few words about Monsignor Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (1888-1957). He was first a chaplain in the Church of England, and then a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. During his time as the latter, he completed his 1950 namesake Knox Bible translation fully called The Holy Bible: A Translation from the Latin Vulgate in the Light of the Hebrew and Greek Originals. It is quite the proper British rendition.
He also was a radio broadcaster whose 1926 BBC hoax of reporting on a fake revolution in London gave Orson Wells the idea for his own radio tomfoolery in 1938 with The War of the Worlds. Most importantly to anyone interested in what passes for Sherlockian Scholarship around these parts, he was a founding father of that, and this via his satirical (in The Game) 1912 essay "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes."
Moreover, he is well-regarded for creating his own detective fiction, as well as his Ten Rules of (Golden Age) Detective Fiction listicle of note. Finally, for the purposes of this abridged but glowing resume of an all-time oeuvre, he wrote this bit of Sherlock Holmes pastiche. It strikes me I have not accomplished a fraction of what Ronald Knox has, now I get to critique a bit of his work on my blog. What a time to be alive.
[SPOILERS AHEAD. 1947]
Sic vos non vobis states Holmes at this tightly and sprightly written tale's end. You work, but not for yourselves. Perhaps there is a nod there towards pastiche and, more importantly, pastiche done right. The work is not for you, but for the character, for Doyle indirectly, and as well. With this understanding, whether hinted at it in the Latin or not, Knox delivers a fine line extension to the consulting detective's portfolio.
A trick of Doyle-esque employed heavily here is in two-ways to conjure up other tales. One is to be reminiscent of prior cases, and the other is to allude in passing to unpublished stories. In the case of the latter, I miss never having read The Luminous Cigar-Box which (probably) was never written. As to the former, we see shades of The Musgrave Ritual (a riddle of a map), The Reigate Squire(s) (a torn handwritten note & handwriting analysis), and lastly in any number of identity playings and disappearings, replete with James Phillimore reference.
All this but still, there is something about this story that feels more wrong than it should, after getting so much if not all so right. Perhaps it's just Knox being almost lyrical in tone as compared to ACD and probably more-so a tick bit subversive in a hard-to-hide sardonic leaning. The twist of having Holmes' hallmark of ignoring 'class distinctions' back-fire on him or at least seem to potentially disappoint is interesting. Come to think of it the 'admirably clear' Mrs. John Hennessey reads a lot like Josiah Amberley, the lone canonical guilty party coming to Holmes for assistance.
Then there are echoes of 'kit nor kin' in 'chick nor child,' and really at times, one might think that writing excellent pastiche is something of a cut & paste fit the puzzle together sort of thing but really, really--it's more of a collage. An upcycling. In the end, Knox assembles a fantastic collage. That is other than when Holmes... well, I'll let the author tell you: "And while we stood there literally thunder-struck, he tore off the red beard from a chin marked with a scar on the left-hand side." (Yes, quite the Twisted Lip scenario.)
It's good to know that the word 'literally' has been being bastardized af since at least 1947. It reads a bit Scooby-Doo, here as it did there. Holmes as the meddling kids?
Sic vos non vobis can also be translated as You do the work, another takes the credit. This can be levied in accusations of plagiarism. I wonder if Knox was being too hard on himself. This is not plagiarism nor copy/paste. This is, in all honesty, one of the finest pastiches I've read, and ultimately, here is why--It is humble. Now here's the lone issue I have with it: Knox reports through Watson as if he is smarter by far. Doyle only had him himself a hair-bit smarter and man, it reads quite differently. Succinctly, Knox is a wit, Doyle is a grinder. A universe-building queen bee should be kept smarter than its caretaker drones.
It's up to the drones of later generations to not overstep. The good news is ACD was fairly brilliant and the bad news is this makes things here a bit silly. Incongruent. Sprightly, nonetheless. "They are sprightly--very sprightly.' Milverton answered." [CHAS]. My guess here is Knox is indeed humble as they come but also trying to find self-worth, or prove it, within this pastiche and at this time in regards to his fictional writings writ large. Let's understand that his career in fiction was cut short due to his bishop finding the practice to be beneath a Catholic priest.
Sic vos non vobis can also be translated as You do the work, another takes the credit. This can be levied in accusations of plagiarism. I wonder if Knox was being too hard on himself. This is not plagiarism nor copy/paste. This is, in all honesty, one of the finest pastiches I've read, and ultimately, here is why--It is humble. Now here's the lone issue I have with it: Knox reports through Watson as if he is smarter by far. Doyle only had him himself a hair-bit smarter and man, it reads quite differently. Succinctly, Knox is a wit, Doyle is a grinder. A universe-building queen bee should be kept smarter than its caretaker drones.
It's up to the drones of later generations to not overstep. The good news is ACD was fairly brilliant and the bad news is this makes things here a bit silly. Incongruent. Sprightly, nonetheless. "They are sprightly--very sprightly.' Milverton answered." [CHAS]. My guess here is Knox is indeed humble as they come but also trying to find self-worth, or prove it, within this pastiche and at this time in regards to his fictional writings writ large. Let's understand that his career in fiction was cut short due to his bishop finding the practice to be beneath a Catholic priest.
A wit for the ages with a subconscious chip on his shoulder.
But again, this is, beyond Sherlock Holmes pastiche, a fine case told extremely well. A short one that reads quick yet leaves the taste in your mouth of superb characters and well-kept quarters. All that, plus a train is included and I'm a sucker for trains. Nice deductions, too. A final note as to my aforementioned 'back-fire' is that another way this excels is it feels Holmes had it all figured out before you even realized he did. But when exactly? "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact" [BOSC].
Some fine canonical quotes would be equally at home in [FIRS] and easily well.
Online sources for this article include: The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia (Ronald A Knox, The Adventure of the First Class Carriage), and Wikipedia (Ronald Knox, Knox Bible).
::: very :::