BAKER STREET BABBLE
  • 221B (Home)
  • About BSB
  • Links and Such
  • Sherls on Film
  • Bookshelf
  • Comments

BAKER STREET BABBLE

A home for Holmes on the Internet

Sherlock Holmes and the Mormons

2/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Anyone who's read the very first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, knows that the second half of the novel deals quite extensively with a sect that, at the time, was still somewhat in its infancy: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as the Mormons.  A Study in Scarlet was published in 1887; the Book of Mormon was first published in 1830.  So the founding of Mormonism was far closer in time to Doyle than Doyle is to modern readers.  

If you have ever met any modern day Mormons (I've met quite a few in my life), you might find the sect as described in A Study in Scarlet vastly different from the people you've experienced. Portrayed as more or less fanatical minions of Brigham Young, the Mormons in the Holmes adventure are pretty grim figures.  Hard to reconcile them with today's freshly scrubbed, shirt and tie wearing missionaries!

It's unclear to me how much research, if any, Doyle did into the sect he chose as his villains.  According to Wikipedia, Doyle's own daughter said, "... father would be the first to admit that his first Sherlock Holmes novel was full of errors about the Mormons." (One obvious example is the reference to the Angel "Merona," a misspelling of the Angel Moroni from The Book of Mormon.) However, I don't know if he was that far off base at the time, considering how different Mormons of that era were from modern Mormons. I've done a pretty considerable amount of study of Mormon history, and it's pretty clear that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, et al, were a great deal more fanatical than their modern descendants. Smith, after all, was killed by a lynch mob, after being imprisoned for his political activity. Brigham Young led a dedicated group of Saints out to the frontier country which later became Utah, a trip on which many died.  And we've all heard about the polygamy that was common among Mormon leaders of the time.  (To be fair, the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has declared that polygamy is completely incompatible with modern Church doctrine.) Doyle himself is reported to have said: "all I said about the Danite Band and the murders is historical so I cannot withdraw that, though it is likely that in a work of fiction it is stated more luridly than in a work of history." Debate still continues over A Study in Scarlet, and its depiction of Mormons.  

Picture
The article linked below is an interesting piece on the controversy, written from an ex-Mormon's point of view:
Mormons believe A Study in Scarlet is inaccurate.
According to some reports Doyle later was repentant about his treatment of the sect in his novel.  This article from The Salt Lake Tribune talks about Doyle's later dealings with the Mormons. Overall, I suppose the depiction of Latter-day Saints in A Study in Scarlet should be taken with a grain of salt. His treatment of the KKK in "The Five Orange Pips" still stands, though...

0 Comments
    Picture

    About Me

    I'm a stay-at-home dad, and Director of Music Ministries at a United Methodist Church in Mt. Juliet, TN. And a longtime fan of Sherlock Holmes.



    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    June 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014


    Categories

    All
    20th Century Fox
    Adaptations
    Adapt Or Perish
    Amy H. Sturgis
    Animated
    Animated Films
    Annotated Sherlock Holmes
    A Series Of Unfortunate Events
    A Study In Scarlet
    Audible.com
    AV Club
    Basil Rathbone
    BBC
    BBC Radio
    BBC Sherlock
    Benedict Cumberbatch
    Ben Kingsley
    Canon
    Carl L. Heifetz
    Christmas
    Chronology
    Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints
    Cloudydayaway.tumblr.com
    Comic Books
    Complete Sherlock Holmes
    Conan Doyle Estate
    Copyright
    Costume Design
    Cover Art
    Crossovers
    Dave Ex Machina
    David Burke
    Edward Hardwicke
    Elementary (cbs)
    Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana
    Encyclopedia Sherlockiana
    Fan Fiction
    Film Review
    Gnomeo And Juliet
    Granada Adaptation
    Granada Tv
    Guy Ritchie
    Hamlet
    Holmes & Watson
    Holmes Watson Friendship
    Howard Marion-Crawford
    I Hear Of Sherlock Everywhere
    IHOSE
    Irene Adler
    Jeremy Brett
    John C. Reilly
    John Gielgud
    John Watson
    Jonny Lee Miller
    Jude Law
    Jumping The Shark
    Lemony Snicket
    Leslie Klinger
    Lucy Liu
    Martin Freeman
    Michael Caine
    Miss Sherlock
    Moriarty
    Mormons
    Mr. Holmes (2015 Film)
    Mrs. Hudson
    Musical
    My NEW Top 5
    NBC News
    Netflix
    New Yorker Magazine
    Nigel Bruce
    Oxford Sherlock Holmes
    Parody
    Pastiche
    Patricia Hodge
    Peter Cushing
    Photo Montage
    Podcast
    Podcasts
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio Adaptations
    Ralph Richardson
    Reference Books
    Robert Downey Jr.
    Ronald Howard
    Scandal In Bohemia
    Science Fiction
    Season 4
    Series 3
    Shakespeare
    Sherlock
    Sherlock (bbc)
    Sherlock Gnomes
    Sherlock Hemlock
    Sherlock Holmes Actors
    Sherlockian
    Social Media
    Solitary Cyclist
    Spoof
    Stephen Fry
    Studio C
    Style
    Sunny Baudelaire
    The Abominable Bride
    The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes (1939 Film)
    The Final Problem
    The Great Game
    The Great Mouse Detective
    The Missing Three-quarter
    Thenorwoodbuilder.tumblr.com
    The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library
    Top 5
    Universal
    Vincent Starrett
    Watson
    Watson Actors
    Watson & Holmes
    Will Ferrell
    Without A Clue
    W.s. Baring-gould

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • 221B (Home)
  • About BSB
  • Links and Such
  • Sherls on Film
  • Bookshelf
  • Comments