The Quotation Mark Puzzle: An Imperfection of “The Field Bazaar”

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.