This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler. [Picture: An Original Wrapper of “Edwin Drood” Designed by Charles Allston Collins. (By permission of Messrs. Chapman & Hall)] THE PROBLEM OF ‘EDWIN DROOD’ A STUDY IN THE METHODS OF DICKENS BY W. ROBERTSON NICOLL * * * * * HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO * * * * * PRINTED IN 1912 * * * * * TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF ROSEBERY K.G. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION xvii PART I.—THE MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION CHAPTER I THE TEXT OF ‘EDWIN DROOD’ 3 CHAPTER II EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES 20 NOTES FOR THE NOVEL 56 CHAPTER III THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE WRAPPER 69 CHAPTER IV THE METHODS OF DICKENS 82 PART II.—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION CHAPTER V WAS EDWIN DROOD MURDERED? 109 CHAPTER VI WHO WAS DATCHERY? 141 CHAPTER VII OTHER THEORIES 177 CHAPTER VIII HOW WAS ‘EDWIN DROOD’ TO END? 184 BIBLIOGRAPHY 203 PREFACE The first serious discussion of _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ came from the pen of the astronomer, Mr. R. A. Proctor. Mr. Proctor wrote various essays on the subject. One appears in his _Leisure Readings_, included in Messrs. Longmans’ ‘Silver Library.’ A second was published in 1887, and entitled _Watched by the Dead_. There were, I believe, in addition some periodical articles by Mr. Proctor; these I have not seen. Mr. Proctor modified certain positions in his earlier essay included in _Leisure Readings_, so that the paper must not be taken as representative of his final views. Whatever may be thought of Mr. Proctor’s theory, all will admit that he devoted much care and ingenuity to the study, and that he had an exceptional knowledge of Dickens’s books.