On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
A Master of Magic
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Master of Magic |
| Author(s): | Sadie Shaw (Sadie Elizabeth Shaw) |
| Date(s): | 26 December 1903 |
| Length: | 250 words |
| Genre(s): | self-insert |
| Fandom(s): | Sherlock Holmes |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
A Master of Magic is a Sherlock Holmes fanfiction (at the time called a pastiche) written by Sadie Shaw in 1903. Shaw was a 13-year old American student at Whittier School, a public school in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Her Sherlock Holmes story was published 26 December 1903 in the The Junior Journal, which was created for young people, and was a supplement to the newspaper Minneapolis Star.
Sadie's story, "A Master of Magic," was written in response to a prompt titled "An Interview With____", and it won "Honorable Mention."
Sadie's Sherlock Holmes story's prompt, was described by the newspaper as:
There are a good many people with whom you would undoubtedly enjoy a talk, and probably you already know what you would like to say to them to draw them out. Just imagine, now, that your wish is attained, and tell us the rest. Try to make us see the person you interview as you say him, and try to make him talk "in character" -- that is, in the manner that he would be likely to do in reality. The choice is unrestricted so there ought to be a great variety. [1]
"A Master of Magic" first gained visibility in August 2017 at the The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia.
Wider exposure to "A Master of Magic" occurred in July 2024 when julienbakerstreet shared the story on Tumblr to the delight of Holmes fans. Many fans who saw it on Tumblr speculated about Sadie, connecting her to their own experiences at that age, and the joy they imagined Sadie would soon experience because Doyle was beginning to write Holmes stories again.
Some Context
Sadie Shaw, and many other children, wrote essays for a supplement to "The Minneapolis Journal" called "The Journal Junior." This supplement began in 1898, and continued for fifteen years. It was edited by Mae Harris Anson and was "for the public school children of the Northwest in and above the fifth grade and is devoted primarily to their own writings. There is no expense attached, [2] and all are welcome as competitors."
Each week, the students were given a challenge topic, and the winners and honorable mentions were printed in full on Saturdays.
A sample of one of the many topic challenges: "In the Attic," and "An Ideal Street Courtesy," "A Startling Adventure," and "Your Greatest Responsibility and Why."
The rules:
They must be strictly original, written in ink on one side only of the paper, not more than 300 words in length nor less than 100, marked with the number of words and each signed with the grade, school, name and address of the writer. The papers must not be rolled.
The Story Itself
"Mr. Holmes will see you," the servant said pleasantly. "But he does not know who I am, and besides how can he tell that I came to see him without even seeing me?" I persisted. "Oh, you know he is the Mr. Sherlock Holmes, and all he said was, 'An American, so show her up.' " "How can he know I am American?" I thought as I walked up the long flight of stairs. I was shown into a small but cosy room where I saw a man sitting in a large armchair and smoking.
He looked at me a moment and then said unexpectedly, "Why, hello! How did you enjoy your trip, Sadie?" I thought I should choke, I was so astonished. "How in the world do you know I have just taken a trip, and that my name is Sadie," I asked, breathlessly. "Simple, simple," he said. "You must remember that you are wearing a brooch with your name on it and that you have a very marked American accent which you would lose if you stayed here three weeks. I suppose you wonder how I knew that you were American before I saw you. We Englishmen have a certain way of knocking which Americans never can imitate. I knew you were American by your knock." He went on to tell me many startling facts which surprised me so much that at last I became very nervous. I departed still more impressed by Mr. Holmes' wonderful deductions.
Some Other Essays by Sadie
Sadie wrote other essays for prompts in "The Junior Journal." While not fannish in nature, they do offer some insight into her writing style and emotions.
May 23, 1903 -- A sad story, which may also be a real life essay, was written for the prompt: "Your Most Unpleasant Surprise." It was titled "Best Surprise for Naughty Truants." In her story, her family is too busy to celebrate her sixth birthday, her siblings are not kind, so she goes outside and gets her clothes dirty in a pond, ate too many gooseberries which gave her a stomachache, and got spanked upon her return home. The last line: "This is the most unpleasant surprise I ever had because it came on a day when I thought I should receive something nice."
October 10, 1903 -- Sadie's short story called "A Double Dose" was written for the prompt: "When You Were Homesick." It is about being bereft, seasick, and lonely on her voyage on "the steamer La Champagne bound for Liverpool." The last line: "Here a heavy sleep fell upon me, and I dreamt I was home."
January 9, 1904 -- "The Mystic Box" was written for the prompt: "In the Attic." In it, a girl thinks there is a fabulous box in her attic and is excited to finally get her hands on it. Sadly, she is very disappointed when she discovers it is only filled with dust.
"The Mystic Box" was her last printed story.
Fan Comments: "A Master of Magic"
Tumblr
Tumblr user julienbakerstreet uploaded a scan and transcription of the story to Tumblr on 19 July 2024. The post had almost two thousand notes (1 comment, 600 reblogs, and 1350 likes) by March 2025. The responses were largely positive:
#love that we get to enjoy this 120 years later[3]
#aw cute#wait 7th grade in the us means she's what#11-13 years old?#great work![5]
#likes#this makes me so happy on so many levels[6]
#nah but she kinda cooked with that one#icon[7]
#too frigging cute#and she nailed his voice too#sherlock holmes[8]
#tumblr life is feeling retroactively pumped and happy for a victorian teen#and i would not want it any other way[9]
#the only self insert fic ive ever enjoyed![10]
Many commenters expressed shared feeling with the author, either for writing similar fic at that age or having similar experiences as those that might have inspired the fic:
#girl same#i too was a little obsessed w mr holmes in seventh grade[11]
#i used to be obsessed with sherlock holmes and also called Sadie#however i never did get around to time travelling when i was in 7th grade#what a surprise![12]
#this reminds me of when I was in 7th grade#I won a game at the carnival and the man working the booth called me by my name when he asked what prize I wanted#me and my friends were astonished--until we realized I was wearing a necklace with my name on it#then we couldn't stop laughing#sh#history#fanfic[13]
#oh my god this is absolutely delightful#the thread of creativity runs ever present and remains much the same#i love this <3[14]
#awww i love this!#people have always been the same[15]
#this is adorable omg#not me also writing self insert sherlock holmes fanfiction as a 7th grader 110 years later#sherlock holmes#fanfic[16]
I just spiritually connected to a 13 year old from over a century ago. Back in '97, I, too, was a 7th grade American girl writing myself into Sherlock Holmes stories. (Of course, he and I were also secretly dating which is probably considered some kind of self child grooming these days lol)[17]
Some critiqued the logic of the fic:
I've always loved Sherlock Holmes, but the number of people who wear their name somewhere on their person are a bit excessive. Was everyone in the Victorian Era working retail?[18]
But others felt that it fit the style of canon:
#this is adorable!#‘you’re wearing a brooch with your name on it’ is hilarious and feels very in canon[19]
Some fans reacted to or explained the historical context:
[teaspoonnebula]
Ooh also I need to point out, if this is written in 1902 then little Sadie believes that Sherlock Holmes died at the Reichenbach Falls, but fortunately in the next couple of years she's going to find out that he survived, and get to enjoy some of the best (imo) Sherlock Holme stories ever written.I love imagining 13 or 14 year old Sadie getting to read the Dancing Men and the Solitary Cyclist and Charles Augustus Milverton and The Six Napoleons...[20]
[julienbakerstreet]
#OH MY GOD i didn’t even think of that!!!#oh to be a teenager in 1903 reading about my favorite character returning from the dead#this was published a few months after EMPT was published but def v possible she wrote this before
[beekeeperspicnic]
Oh yeah whoops I misread the date.STILL - in 1903 she's in for a good time :D
30-something year old Sadie getting to read Veiled Lodger in 1927[21]
#sherlock holmes#fandom#fanfic#...yeah there were whole zines only they weren't called that of sherlock fic back in the victorian era#fandom is *older* than the 20th century - *modern* fandom *might* and i say *might* pointedly be attributable to star trek#same era a few years earlier than trek fandom existing doctor who fandom were busy archiving doctor who saving it from the mass deletions#the bbc were indulging in at the time - huge swathes of old who *only* exist thanks to those fans - piracy is archiving#and sherlock fandom was known of by acd - who infamously was very Let Them Do What They Want With the Horrible Bastard Man#*except* for that one french author who made a profit of my character without my permission so fuck him (guessing cos holmes loses?)#which... hilariously resulted in that book getting the most *minor* of edits to#Arsene Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes - brilliant choicevetinarivimesy [22]
Even fans that critiqued the story expressed approval and well wishes for the author:
#not me immediately going into teacher mode#telling her she needs to start a new line when a new person is speaking#considering the amount of seventh-grader fanfiction I was called upon to give feedback on last summer#this does not surprise me#I am delighted that we have record of this#pastiche#sherlock holmes#fanfiction#fangirls (gn)[Note 2] forever[23]
Links
- A Master of Magic on The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
- Who wants to read some Sherlock Holmes self insert fanfic written by a 7th grader in 1903? tumblr post by julienbakerstreet
- See more about Sadie's life.
Notes
References
- ^ from The Minneapolis Journal, Sat, Dec 05, 1903, Page 34
- ^ "No expense attached" means no one was paid money for their contributions.
- ^ reblog by dcbrierton posted 1 August 2024.
- ^ reblog by aimmyarrowshigh, posted 19 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by belphegor1982, posted 22 October 2024.
- ^ reblog by wilde-fun posted 1 December 2024.
- ^ reblog by identitycrisiscore, posted 24 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by favabeans-chianti, posted 22 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by chaosorganizer, posted 20 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by morethanonepage, posted 12 August 2024.
- ^ reblog by the-silsver-stone] posted 6 September 2024.
- ^ reblog by thelifeandtimesofwhatthefuck, posted 13 August 2024.
- ^ reblog by sterling-dragons, posted 5 August 2024.
- ^ reblog by blistering-typhoons, posted 19 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by msmargaretmurry, posted 3 August 2024
- ^ reblog by hot-mess-stress-express posted 24 July 2024.
- ^ reddit comment by effing_usernames2_, posted 9 March 2025.
- ^ comment by tinheart on julienbakerstreet's post, dated 24 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by asingerofdreams, posted 31 October 2024.
- ^ reblogs by teaspoonnebula and julienbakerstreet, posted 19 July, 2024.
- ^ reblog by beekeeperspicnic, posted 20 July 2024.
- ^ reblog by vetinarivimesy, poste 11 September 2024.
- ^ reblog by caityjay13, posted 19 July 2024