The Quotation Mark Puzzle: An Imperfection of “The Field Bazaar”
- Author(s):
- Ross E. Davies
- Posted:
- 3-2016
- Legal Studies #:
- 16-11
- Availability:
- Full text (most recent) on SSRN
ABSTRACT:
The rare, and until now rarely seen, first printing of "The Field Bazaar"-that odd little 1896 Sherlock Holmes and John Watson vignette-has an intriguing defect of punctuation. Or is it a feature? The original story, which ends with Holmes speaking about violins, lacks a closing quotation mark. It is a small defect, but one with contradictory yet possibly significant implications for the proper reading of the story.