This article might never have existed if I hadn't decided at the last minute to 'pull' the article about books, reading and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in favour of one about Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. books, which was next in the queue and all ready to go.
The Conan Doyle article was originally scheduled to be published on April 7th, but I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable because two of the quotations in it had no source. They are widely attributed to Conan Doyle, but without any indication of where they originally came from.
I had a strong feeling that I should dig deeper to find the origin of these quotations: it just didn't seem right to release the article before I had done all that I could to find the sources.
I guessed that they might have come from Conan Doyle's letters, but eventually found them in Through the Magic Door (1907), a collection of essays about books, writers and reading.
I thought that this title was a good coincidence: the Magic Door leads to a world of books, and I had said in the Conan Doyle books and reading article that my first books had magical titles and opened a door to new worlds.
I took a very quick look at Through the Magic Door; I saw immediately that it contained enough coincidences, references to familiar topics and other relevant material to inspire at least one article. Some of the content would have been suitable for the books and reading article, but I decided to publish this in its original form after just adding the quotations' source and to forget the Magic Door until I had finished some work in progress.
Ever since I read that dropping existing activities when something new and exciting comes along is a sign of emotional immaturity, I have been trying not to do this!
I wanted to give Through the Magic Door my undivided attention, which meant first getting some outstanding work out of the way. I returned to the book after completing a few half-finished articles; this post is the result of giving it a much closer look.
The Magic Door is a portal to another world, one that is entered by reading. Conan Doyle gives a tour of his library to an imaginary visitor; he introduces his favourite books and authors and gives his views on many of them. Some of his comments and references stand out because they are similar to material in various articles on here, including the Conan Doyle books and reading one.
This is quite a coincidence considering that not only had I not read Through the Magic Door until after I had posted the material that we have in common, I had never even heard of it!
I mentioned the exciting adventure story Treasure Island in the books and reading article; Conan Doyle points out his copy of Treasure Island, which he says is a noble book and a good story.
I also mentioned how much I liked The Marvels and Mysteries of Science, the second book that I owned, which gives a good introduction to the various branches of general science; Conan Doyle advises people to educate themselves by reading a little about the basics of each of the fields of popular science.
I mentioned being fascinated by the pictures of the planets in my book; Conan Doyle says this:
“A very little astronomy will cause you to look more intently at the heavens, to pick out your brothers the planets, who move in your own circles, from the stranger stars, and to appreciate the order, beauty, and majesty of that material universe which is most surely the outward sign of the spiritual force behind it.”
I wrote about the Emperor Napoleon in exile on St. Helena; Conan Doyle does the same. I said that it was sad to see Napoleon living on crumbs of hope; Conan Doyle says, "Who can help pitying the mewed eagle?”
I mentioned William E. Henley's Invictus; Conan Doyle also quotes a few lines from this “noble and strong” poem.
I wrote about the Celts and mentioned the Brontës' Cornish mother; Conan Doyle discusses the Celts and says he knows that the Brontës had a Cornish mother.
Perhaps “little things please little minds” is a more appropriate heading for this section!
It certainly pleases me to see that I described some writers I like in the same terms as Conan Doyle uses for some of his favourite writers.
Where I mentioned putting Anthony Hope below Rafael Sabatini and Sabatini below John Buchan, he puts Tobias Smollett below Henry Fielding and, on balance, Fielding below Samuel Richardson.
There is more to come about Through the Magic Door.
This edition was published in 1918:
