Dr. Joe Bell
Subtitle: model for Sherlock Holmes
By: Ely Liebow.
Publisher: Bowling Green University Popular Press; Popular Press 3
Published: 1982
Place of publication: Bowling Green, Ohio
Language: eng
Number of pages: 269
Subjects: Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 -- Friends and associates.; Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930 -- Characters -- Sherlock Holmes.; Bell, Joseph, 1837-1911.; Surgeons -- Scotland -- Biography.; Detective and mystery stories, English -- History and criticism.; Holmes, Sherlock (Fictitious character)
Description: In 1892, Arthur Conan Doyle, famous almost overnight as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote to his former medical school mentor, Dr. Joseph Bell: "It is to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes." Now the first full-length biography of Joe Bell, as he was affectionately known to all of Edinburgh, has been written. It is a biography for which the world is ready. It turns out that he not only had much in common with the Great Detective, but also with Conan Doyle. Ely Liebow. Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University and former Sir Hugo (Pres.) of Sir Hugo's Companions in Chicago, had access to the good doctor's private Journal; interviewed his great-grandson; tracked down the son of Joe Bell's daughter's gardener; and spoke with a Kentish Lady (appointed a shepherdess on the Downs by the Crown in WWII) who knew Joe Bell and his family. This volume is required reading for all people interested in Victorian medicine, in Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, and in the history of detective fiction.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.