Sherlock Holmes's monographs

Cafe Society
1

We know that the great consulting detective researched and expounded upon a wide variety of topics: different types of tobacco ash, the polyphonic motets of Lassus, secret writings, the analysis of various tattoos, etc. Of course, and alas, most of these monographs are out of print nowadays.

My question - perhaps best answered by BritDopers, or by those particularly knowledgeable about Victorian and early Edwardian Britain - is, how long was a “monograph”? Would it be the equivalent of a doctoral thesis today, or a pamphlet, or something in between? Is the term still in use today?

I understand that there was probably no hard and fast rule, but generally, how long and/or detailed do you think Holmes’s contemporaries would have expected his essays to be before they would be deemed “monographs”?

2

Monographs were basically pamphlets. Often they were self-published or published with the aid of a patron. Tom Paine’s Common Sense was a monograph. Often they were presented before a society like the Geographical Society or the Royal Society. The modern equivalent would be having an article published in Lancet or Nature.

3

A monograph is just a piece of scholarly writing on one specialized subject. It’s still around and thousands are undoubtedly published each year. How much longer will they still be written? See The Specialized Scholarly Monograph in Crisis Or How Can I Get Tenure If You Won’t Publish My Book? The papers echo the light tone of the conference title and are worth, um, skimming. :slight_smile:

In theory, a monograph was distinguished from an ordinary book or journal paper by being an exhaustive compilation of all known knowledge on a subject too small or specialized to be deserving of a formal book. This usually meant a long essay. But monographs have always varied depending on the individual subject. They could be book-length; they could be essay-length.

If a monograph on “secret writings” was not a whole lot longer than one on “the polyphonic motets of Lassus” then Holmes just wasn’t trying. :slight_smile:

4

I understand his monograph on tobacco ash is still considered the last word on the subject. (Did he write one on how long bruises could be produced after death?)

5

In what fantasy world is that?

6

Fantasy world? Fantasy world??? Hmfph. Just hmfph.

See: Straight Dope Staff Report: Did Sherlock Holmes really exist?

7

I don’t know about that, but I do believe most beekeepers agree that A Practical Handbook of Bee Culture still has yet to be surpassed.

8

In modern librarian-speak, particularly in academic libraries, a monograph is something that looks vaugely like a book but isn’t a serial.

9

A friend of mine has had both some short things and some long things published. He refers to the short ones as monographs and the long ones as books. I asked him what was the difference. He said that the break between monographs and books was about 40,000 words.

10

Well, Holmes did write the memorable pamphlet titled The Heathen Empire-Traitors that live in my Walls, but scholars generally agree he was coked up at the time.