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by Mark Hodder What is it like inside Sexton Blake's home? There are a great many descriptions given in various of the Blake tales but they are extremely inconsistent. Perhaps the most thorough — and the one that's adhered to by the majority of the writers — was given by Tinker himself in THE BAKER STREET MYSTERY (UNION JACK issue 761, 1918). It is reproduced here in its entirety: The guv'nor and I — or, I and the guv'nor, in order of precedence (I don't think!) — have been living for a number of years in Baker Street, as the reader doubtless knows. Our residence is a large, old-fashioned dwelling on the east side of that thoroughfare, between Portman Square and the Marylebone Road, built in the Early Victorian period, when Baker Street was more aristocratic, and less given over to trade, than it is at present. The house belongs to Sexton Blake. He bought it furnished — lock, stock, and barrel — at a time when Mrs. Betsy Bardell* was trying to run it successfully as a boarding establishment, and was over head-and-ears in financial troubles. And, with the dwelling, the guv'nor took that worthy and eccentric woman, who has ever since been our cook, general servant, and landlady as well, though Mr. Blake gives her a weekly cheque to cover our expenses, and pays the rates and taxes. Mrs. Bardell reigns supreme in the basement, where she has a bed-room — she is addicted to calling it her boodwoor — adjoining the kitchen. The ground floor is unoccupied, and the furniture which was purchased with the house are stored in those rooms. Our landlady has often wished to let them; but, of course, the guv'nor wouldn't dream of allowing strangers to live under the same roof with him. On the first floor are our big sitting-room, Mr. Blake's bed-chamber, and a bath-room, all communicating with one another, and all opening onto the hall. And on the upper and top floor are my bed-chamber, a spare one for the occasional guest, and the room which the guv'nor has turned into a laboratory. There is only one apartment which merits a close description, and that is the sitting-room, which is as snug and comfortable a place as you could find anywhere in London. Here our clients are received, and if the walls could speak they could repeat many a thrilling tale of crime and mystery, and could rattle the dry bones of many a family skeleton that lies hidden in noble and aristocratic closet. There are paintings and engravings that are worth a lot of money, and a Mirzapore carpet, that was presented to Mr. Blake by a native Indian prince, lounge and basket chairs, and a huge, deep couch by the two windows. Three or four electric lamps of bronze and silver, with shades of different colours; a couple of cabinets, that contain a lot of valuable things given to the guv'nor by admiring friends and clients; a roll-top desk; a writing table, with drawers; and a carved table of black oak, that is always littered with magazines. There are three bookcases, and in one of them are the reference volumes which Mr. Blake frequently consults, favourite classics to be read in an idle quarter of an hour, and a row of scrapbooks filled with clippings. There are numerous other things, but as I am not writing an auctioneer's catalogue, I will cut the rest out, and mention the pipe-rack that hangs on the wall by the fireplace, and the two tobacco-jars, which stand on top of a cabinet close by. In one of the jars is a rich, black quality of Latakia, and in the other is a mild mixture of Turkish, Virginia, and Hungarian tobaccos. When the guv'nor is working out deductions, or has a knotty problem to solve, he stretches himself on the couch, with cushions under his head and shoulders, and lies there for hours, now and again picking up his violin, and running the bow across the strings, and invariably and steadily smoking the strong Latakia in a big Meerschaum pipe with a curved stem of clouded amber. And when he has nothing to worry him, when he is reading or is in a talkative mood, he always sits in a lounge-chair, and always smokes the mild mixture in a charred and blackened briar-root pipe, that has been repaired in three places with silver wire. Our daily life — when we aren't engaged on a case, that is — also calls for a brief mention. We usually rise between seven and eight o'clock, have our cold tubs, and meet at breakfast, when we glance at the newspapers, and open and read our correspondence. After breakfast a stroll for me, with or without Pedro; and for Mr. Blake, who most frequently has the dog with him, a longer walk, or a canter in the park. Luncheon at two o'clock, then reading or writing — or perhaps another stroll — and tea at five. In the evening a quiet supper at home, or a visit to a theatre or a music-hall, with supper at a restaurant afterwards. * Though Mrs. Bardell's first name is here given as Betsy, in other stories she is referred to as 'Emily' or, more frequently, as 'Martha'. The second SEXTON BLAKE ANNUAL, published in 1940, provided detailed floorplans of the Baker Street house (created by UNION JACK editor, T.W. Twyman). They are reproduced on the following pages, together with additional material gleaned from various Blake tales. It should be noted, though, that these plans do not tally with Tinker's description nor with those given by the majority of Blake authors. |