Joseph Bell
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Joseph Bell | |
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Born | |
Died | 4 October 1911 Milton Bridge, Midlothian, Scotland[1] | (aged 73)
Resting place | Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland |
Education | University of Edinburgh Medical School |
Spouse | Edith Katherine Erskine Murray |
Children | Benjamin Bell |
Joseph Bell
Early life
Bell was the son of Cecilia Barbara Craigie (1813–1882) and Benjamin Bell (1810–1883), and a great-grandson of Benjamin Bell, considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. Bell studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and received an MD in 1859 presenting the thesis "Epithelial cancer: its pathology and treatment".[4] During his time as a student, he was a member of the Royal Medical Society and delivered a dissertation which is still in possession of the society today.
Career
In his instruction, Joseph Bell emphasized the importance of close observation in making a diagnosis. To illustrate this, he would often pick a stranger, and by observing him, deduce his occupation and recent activities. These skills caused him to be considered a pioneer in forensic science, (forensic pathology in particular)[citation needed] at a time when science was not yet widely used in criminal investigation. He served as personal surgeon to
Bell wrote the book Manual of the Operations of Surgery, published in 1866.[7]
Personal life
In 1883, Bell bought 2 Melville Crescent, a large townhouse, previously the home of the engineer
Joseph Bell died on 4 October 1911. He was buried at the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh alongside his wife Edith Katherine Erskine Murray (1840–1874) and their son Benjamin, and next to his parents' and brother's plots. The grave is mid-way along the north wall of the northern section to the original cemetery.
Inspiration of Sherlock Holmes
Dramatization
The BBC television series
In 2006, Stone Publishing House published a book, written by historian Dr. Robert Hume, aimed at schoolchildren titled Dr. Joseph Bell – the Original Sherlock Holmes.
In the
The comic book Les dossiers du Professeur Bell by Joann Sfar is about the (fictional) supernatural adventures of Dr. Bell.
In episode 11, Season 5, of the Fox TV show House M.D., Wilson presents House with Joseph Bell's Manual Of the Operations of Surgery as a Christmas gift. The character of House is based on Holmes, who, as noted, was based in turn on Bell. In episode 14 of the show's eighth and final season, House briefly comes to believe that his biological father is a man named Thomas Bell, played by prominent Scottish actor Billy Connolly.
The novel Mr. Doyle & Dr. Bell (1997) by Howard Engel is a fictionalized account of Joseph Bell and his influence on Conan Doyle.
In Elementary, an American procedural drama television series that was introduced as a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of Sherlock Holmes, Holmes and Watson often work with a Detective called Marcus Bell, which is likely a nod to the real-life Joseph Bell.
Memorial
A bronze plaque memorial was erected to Joseph Bell at 2 Melville Crescent in Edinburgh, his home for his final decades, on 8 October 2011, the centenary of his death. The plaque explains Bell's connection to Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and was organized and funded by the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. The building is now the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by the several people involved in the erection of the plaque (principally Takeshi Shimizu) and representatives of various Sherlock Holmes clubs and societies. All present gave a short speech on their connections to either Holmes or the project, and a speech from Professor Owen Dudley Edwards. The plaque was created and cast by Powderhall Bronze of Edinburgh.
Grave
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Bell family gravestone
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Closeup of the inscription regarding Joseph Bell
References
- ^ a b "Sherlock Holmes, The Original, Dead - Dr. Bell, Scottish Surgeon, Was Reputed Prototype of Conan Doyle's Famous Detective". The New York Times. 4 October 1911. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37175. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- .
- ^ Bell, Joseph (1859). "Epithelial cancer: its pathology and treatment".
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(help) - ^ Watson Wemyss, Herbert Lindesay (1933). A Record of the Edinburgh Harveian Society. T&A Constable, Edinburgh.
- ^ Minute Books of the Aesculapian Club. Library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
- ^ Bell, Joseph (1883). A manual of the operations of surgery. MacLachlan & Stewart.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1885–6
- ^ Hume, Robert (4 November 2011). "Fiction imitates real life in a case of true inspiration". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
External links
- Joseph Bell: An Appreciation by An Old Friend 1913. (Jessie M. E. Saxby)
- The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Joseph Bell
- Joseph Bell Centre for Forensic Statistics and Legal Reasoning
- Works by Joseph Bell at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Joseph Bell at Internet Archive
- A manual of the operations of surgery By Joseph Bell at Internet Archive
- Google Map showing location of Bell's grave