I believe, in the 18th century, the idea of an amateur
detective was one who did not work for a police force or an
agency. Holmes, not surprisingly as he was modeled closely in
DuPin, was also referred to as an amateur detective although
he clearly received payment for his work, too. This is all
before the concept of
"private detective." Consider too Horning's books about
Raffles 'the amateur cracksman.' Actually, Raffles was an
amateur cricket player, which meant he was hired for private
cricket matches as a sort of ringer, but he didn't play for a
specific team. Today we consider an amateur a hobbyist,
someone not good enough to be a professional. In the 18th
century an amateur was highly skilled but chose to, or due to
his class and upbringing, had to do something else for a
livlihood. For example, Louis XVI was an amateur watchmaker.
By all accounts he was a better watchmaker than he was a
king, but there was not question of a person born a monarch
becoming a tradesman. As is true today, being an amateur did
not preclude a person from being paid, it just did not
guarantee pay as being a professional does.
Patrick King
--- Michael Robison <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Well, thought I'd write a quick post before I
head
> up
> to Chicago for some meetings Monday and Tuesday.
I
> got a new hardboiled criticism book called
Cracking
> the Hardboiled Detective. By a fellow named
Moore.
> It looks like it might be readable. At least
he
> hasn't decided to entertain some ridiculous
thesis
> like hardboiled is all a variation on the
Prodigal
> Son
> story, or that hardboiled is only relevant when
it
> deals with "crimes of state." All Moore's going
for
> is following recurrent themes from its
origin
> through
> to the present. Page two and he makes a mistake
by
> declaring Poe's Dupin to be a "pure amateur." If
I
> recall correctly, Dupin demands and gets
payment
> from
> the police on at least one of his jobs.
>
> I have been reading nonfiction almost
exclusively
> for
> the last few months, but since there's been a lot
of
> praise for Bruen, I've packed The White Trilogy
in
> my
> bag. I read the first a while ago. I'll give
the
> second a go. I read a few pages last night. I
also
> threw Goodis's Cassidy's Girl in for good
measure.
>
> miker
>
>
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