Michael Harrison (1)Besprekingen

CAGLIOSTRO

Breve referencia :

José Bálsamo, universalmente conocido bajo el nombre de Cagliostro, nació en Parma.
El se hizo iniciar en Alemania en los tres ritos masónicos de la Estricta, de la Tabla de
la Lata y de Exacta Observancia. Fueron los principios que le abastecieron los
materiales necesarios para su reforma, instituyendo su alta Masonería egipcia y
haciéndose nombrar ser el Gran Copto.

Cagliostro había sacado también una parte de sus doctrinas de un manuscrito que había podido conseguir, en Inglaterra, a Jorge Coston; Swedenborg le abasteció también de materiales en el Museo alemán, el periódico en el cual dice que una revolución religiosa se preparaba sobre la tierra, que la de los patriarcas sería la dominante y que sería revelada en Cagliostro cuyo cuerpo es ceñido por el triángulo, por el Sublime Arquitecto del universo.
Cagliostro fundó su rito egipcio y lo llevó en Polonia, en Alemania y en Francia, dónde tuvo muchos adeptos y Logias en las principales ciudades de estos reinos. La madre Logia egipcia estuvoestablecida en Lyón bajo el título distintivo “de la Sabiduría Triunfante”.

Durante su estancia en París, la Logia filosófica de Philaletes y otros establecieron un
convento para recibir allí las luces de Cagliostro, pero esquivó su petición, paseó a sus
enviados, y acaba por una ocurrencia; envió a la Logia de Philaletes un manifiesto en el
estilo de un inspirado por el gran Jehová, diciéndoles que asistiría al convento
propuesto, y que les comunicaría su ciencia y su arcana hierophantis, con la condición
de que la antedicha Logia de Philaletes quemaría su biblioteca rica, sus manuscritos y
sus archivos, esperado que sus documentos contenían sólo falsedades y mentiras, y que
después de este acto de sumisión establecería sobre las ruinas de la torre de Confus
ión el templo de la Verdad.

Su rito es una mezcla de ciencia hermética, de adivinación, de evocación, de moral, con
los oficios usados por los cristianos. Cagliostro se había propue
sto la r

Great resource and a must read for Holmes fans. The author's style meanders in places but this doesn't detract from the knowledge imparted.

Curious but not very interesting

The "Facts" are here, but I've had more fun reading the biographical footnotes in "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes", or the masterly biography of Horatio Hornblower by C. Northcote Parkinson. Feel no shame in giving this book the go-by.½

Contains line drawings. Concise history of hats, caps, hoods from around the world from early times to the 20th century and by subjects : ecclesiastic, and military. Short description of wigs.

I remember some rather gruesome photographs in this book of charred and semi-incinerated body parts, which I ghoulishly used to enjoy showing to my school friends. I recall sneaking it out of my school bag to read during a rather tedious rehearsal in the sport's hall for some gala or other.

I can't now remember the author's conclusions as to the causes of SHC, which he did accept as actually occurring, but it was another book that piqued my interest in supernatural and macabre fiction making it significant to me by its influence, rather than due to any belief in its subject matter.

A fictionalised account of a journey on a troopship from England to Port Tewfik via Durban, recorded by a Royal Engineer.

In the pantheon of legendary Sherlockians, Michael Harrison ranks at the very top with luminaries and giants such as Christopher Morley, Vincent Starrett, Edgar W. Smith, Lord Donegall, Michael Hardwick, S. C. Roberts, etc. Ever the prolific author, Harrison wrote over 50 books in his life, at least 10 of which were concerned solely with The Master and his world - the major Sherlockian publications being: 'In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes', 'The London of Sherlock Holmes' and 'The World of Sherlock Holmes'.

And like many Sherlockians who released books via major publishing houses, Harrison also fired off the occasional small/private press gem which is rare enough to make acquiring a copy a bit of a (often times pleasant) challenge but common enough where by one can be bought for under $100.

So it is with Michael Harrison's 'Cynological Mr Holmes: Conanical Canines Considered'; a 60 page Magico Magazine publication celebrating canines found frolicking throughout the canon along with a smattering of dog drawings. If you're interested, Harrison cites 12 significant 'dog-mentions' in The Canon: Trevor's bull-terrier, Mrs. Hudson's ailing terrier (euthanized by Holmes in STUD), the dog that did nothing in the nighttime, the missing guard-dog (very telling), the lovable Toby, the ill-fated 'hound' from HOUN, vicious Carlo (the Mastiff), sad Carlo (the Spaniel), Pompey, the grieving Spaniel from Shoscombe, Wolf-Hound Roy (natural enemy of the monkey) and the poor Airedale Terrier whose fate was sadly sealed by the Lion's Mane (p. 37). A perfect little book for a dog day afternoon.

A far-reaching study of the social and economic conditions in England and France during the half-century from 1861 to 1911 which allowed "les grandes horizontales" to amass fortunes and assume acknowledged places in high society.

Fascinating book with enough "oomph" to make me want to check out more books on the subject. The author comes across as brilliant, but scatter-brained and after a while, some of the tangents he goes off on become tedious and confusing, causing a re-read of what the original subject was for clarity. One has to remember that this book was published in England in 1973, so the language is rather archaic and the memory of WWII is still rather fresh on the author's mind, leading to some unfortunate comments about Germans as a race...

1332 Clarence: Was He Jack the Ripper? by Michael Harrison (read 8 May 1975) This is an unbelievably poorly written book. It is supposed to be a biography of Edward VII's eldest son, Albert Victor Christian Edward, who was born Jan 8, 1864. He apparently wasn't quite as dim-witted as I had imagined, but this book claims he was addicted to vice. He died Jan 14, 1892, of influenza. The author says he was not Jack the Ripper but--an awfully conjectural suspicion--says Jim Stephens was. The book is surely an amateurish mish-mash.½

One of those "Footsteps" books that describes the milieu -- London at the time of SH. Find out what a pint of beer cost then, and how much you had to pay to have a housemaid. Excellent.

Review: This pseudo-autobiography of Sherlock Holmes is a somewhat elliptical tale that orbits between Holmes’ youth and the Great Hiatus more by topic than chronology. It is an interesting book, but makes for heavy reading, especially for modern readers not used to the density of Dickens or Hugo. Like Dickens, Harrison will often wander off to give additional historic details right in the middle of a particular story... I was disappointed to note that although Harrison borrows heavily from William S, Baring-Gould’s Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, especially in the details of Holmes’ youth, no credit is given to Baring-Gould in the book. I guess that speaks to how well Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street has infiltrated into the Sherlockian/Holmesian consciousness. Sometimes people confuse what Baring-Gould appended to the Canon with the Canon itself. But I think it is important to give credit where credit is due.
The narrator is a likeable and interesting person, but I could not quite bring myself to believe that it was in fact Sherlock Holmes himself who was writing this rambling tale.
Whether you agree with Harrison’s characterizations of Holmes or Watson, the book is chocked full of details of the late Victorian era including many scandals of the day. Those make for interesting reading and in the end you may come away knowing more about Victorian scandals than about either Holmes or Watson.
Reviewed by: Darlene Cypser, June 2005