"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
By Arthur Conan Doyle

Correction, commentary, and markup by Students and Staff of Marymount University, Noor Abdelhamid, Audrey Clement
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Sources

London : George Newnes, Limited, 1892Page images are drawn from The Internet Archive's copy of The Strand Magazine, under a Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal license.Text for this digital edition drawn from the Internet Archive, at https://archive.org/details/TheStrandMagazineAnIllustratedMonthly/TheStrandMagazine1892aVol.IiiJan-jun/page/n611/mode/2up and checked against page images.

Editorial Statements

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Citation

Doyle, Arthur Conan. "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches". The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, George Newnes, Limited, 1892 , IIIpp 613-628 . Literature in Context: An Open Anthology. http://anthology.lib.virginia.edu/work/Doyle/doyle-copper. Accessed: 2024-05-09T04:35:46.652Z

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614 silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the advertisement columns of a succession of papers, until at last, having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings.

“At the same time," he remarked, after a pause, during which he had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, “you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of these cases which you have been so kind as to interest yourself in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I fear that you may have bordered on the trivial."

“The end may have been so," I answered, “but the methods I hold to have been novel and of interest."

“Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his toothweaverweaver A weaver was a person who wove fabric. Although it is difficult to discern from sourcing exactly where this saying derives from, it is generally thought that a person who wove as an occupation would have worn down teeth, as they would bite or chew the yarn/thread to sever it if their hands were busy with other tasks. - [AC] or a compositor by his left thumbcompositorcompositor A compositor was a person who set the type for printing books, magazines, newspapers, etc. The compositor would use a composing stick to set the type, holding the stick in one hand (usually the left), and setting the type in with the other (usually the right). Therefore, the thumb that held the type in place was usually the left, meaning that a compositor would likely form a callus on the left thumb. - [AC], care about the finer shades of analysis and deduction! But, indeed, if you are trivial, I cannot blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering lost lead pencils, and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my zero point, I fancy. Read it! " He tossed a crumpled letter across to me.

It was dated from Montague-place upon the preceding evening, and ran thus:—

“Dear Mr. Holmes,

—I am very anxious to consult you as to whether I should or should not accept a situation which has been offered to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow, if I do not inconvenience you.

—Yours faithfully, VIOLET HUNTER."

“Do you know the young lady ? " I asked.

“Not I."

“It is half-past ten now."

“Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring."

“It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. It may be so in this case, also."

“Well, let us hope so ! But our doubts will very soon be solved, for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question."

As he spoke the door opened, and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled like a plover’s egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world.

“You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my companion rose to greet her; “but I have had a very strange experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do."

“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you."

I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids drooping and his finger tips together to listen to her story.

“I have been a governess for five years," said she, “in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the Colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to America with him, so that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little money which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wit’s end as to what I should do.

“There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West-end called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a week in order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an ante-room, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers, and sees whether she has anything which would suit them.

“Well, when I called last week

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Footnotes

newspaper_ The Daily Telegraph, originally called the Daily Telegraph and Courier, was established in 1855 as a penny paper, published daily in London. The paper is still in existence today. The word “telegraph” was included in the name due to the mode by which the paper received its news, which was the newly invented electric telegraph.
dun_ "Dun-colored” is a brownish, dark gray color (or sandy yellow) specifically, although the term can also generally mean dull or drab overall. The term derives from a particular kind of gene (the dun gene) found in horses that lightens their coat while keeping the mane, tail, and occasionally dorsal stripe, dark. The use of the term to refer to color most likely comes from a societal understanding of what a dun-colored horse looked like.
weaver_ A weaver was a person who wove fabric. Although it is difficult to discern from sourcing exactly where this saying derives from, it is generally thought that a person who wove as an occupation would have worn down teeth, as they would bite or chew the yarn/thread to sever it if their hands were busy with other tasks.
compositor_ A compositor was a person who set the type for printing books, magazines, newspapers, etc. The compositor would use a composing stick to set the type, holding the stick in one hand (usually the left), and setting the type in with the other (usually the right). Therefore, the thumb that held the type in place was usually the left, meaning that a compositor would likely form a callus on the left thumb.
winchester_ As Doyle alludes, Winchester was the old capital of England, retaining its status as such from the late 1st century (871 AD) until the 12th-13th centuries. At that point, major shifts in wealth and power (especially the relocation of the mint) established London as the premiere social and economic center.
fog_ As the Industrial Revolution took off, the already well-established air pollution problem in London increased drastically. This issue would have been a prominent one when Doyle was writing this in 1892. Here, fog does not mean naturally occurring, misty precipitation, but the smog produced by coal fires and industry.
cathedral_ The Cathedral in Winchester, one of the largest and most impressive Gothic-style cathedrals in the world, would have dominated the skyline in the 19th century era Doyle writes from. The Cathedral rests on the site of one of the first Christian churches in England, and the original building was erected in 645 AD.
mastiff_ A mastiff is a dog from a breed of large, robust dog.
keen_ Keen as mustard is an expression for describing someone or something as exciting or enthusiastic.
beeches_ A copper beech is a large, European tree with burgundy leaves that turn into a shade of copper by Autumn.
darkroom_ A darkroom is where photographers process their photos and films, as they are light-sensitive material and need to be in a room that is completely dark.
pub_A public house is a pub or tavern where alcoholic beverages are served. These establishments were started in England, originally, in the 17th century, and were distinguished from private houses. As noted in Encyclopedia BritannicaA public house was legally required to allow anyone to enter, provided they could pay their way.
seaman_ A seaman is a sailor with deep knowledge of the sea and sailing. It may also be someone who sails on a naval ship.
locus-standi_ In legal terms, it is the right for someone to stand before a court and/or be heard--someone who has standing to bring a case before the court.