SERENDIPITY Part 2

by Steven Steinbock

I knew it was coming, so I can’t call it serendipity. But in today’s mail I received a used copy of Serendipity and the Three Princes: From the Peregrinaggio, edited by Theodore G. Remer. This purchase was motivated a week and a half ago, when I couldn’t find my notes about the origin of the word “serendipity.” I’ve subsequently found my notes, and I have an entire book devoted to the subject.

As James Lincoln Warren pointed out in a comment last week, Walpole coined the term “serendipity” based on an ancient Persian story about three princes of Serendip.1 According to Britannica, “Sarandib” is the Arabic name for Sri Lanka, adapted from the Sanskrit name, Simhaladvipa.

Since the book just arrived today, I haven’t had a chance to delve into the details. But it appears that in 1557, Michele Tramezzino, a Venetian printer, published what purported to be a translation of an ancient Persian story. Theodore Remer includes a translation (into English) of the entire Peregrinaggio di tre giovani figliuoli del re di Serendippo, as well as extensive background to it, to Walpole, and to the concept of serendipity. Among other things, Remer points out the “controversy over whether or not there existed a Persian document from which the translation was made.”

Thus, Walpole may have based the brilliant notion of serendipity on a Persian story that never was!

But serendipity surely exists.

Last week I said that I’ve often fallen down the rabbit hole of serendipity by finding mystery novels and short stories with Carrollian themes or elements. Granted, some of these connections are tenuous. Some of the titles I’ve listed below have no connection to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass aside from their titles. You’ll notice that a couple of the titles are borne by more than one book.

The Mad Hatter Mystery by John Dickson Carr
Malice in Wonderland by Nicholas Blake
Malice in Wonderland by Rufus King (anthology of short stories)
Mysteriouser and Mysteriouser by George Bagby (I love this one; which opens in Central Park at the bronze statue of Alice on the giant mushroom);
Snark by William DeAndrea
Alice in La-La Land by Robert Campbell
Death Through the Looking Glass by Richard Forrest
Murder Through the Looking Glass by Robert George Dean
Murder Through the Looking Glass by Andrew Garve
Murder Through the Looking Glass by Michael Venning (AKA Craig Rice)
Cabbages and Crime by Anne Nash
The March Hare Murders by E.X. Ferrars
Mad Hatter’s Holiday by Peter Lovesey
White Rabbit by David Daniel
The Frumious Bandersnatch by Ed McBain
The Looking Glass War by John le Carre
Jabberwocky Thrust by Bruce Elliott (writing as “Maxwell Grant” in The Shadow magazine)
“The Mad Tea-Part” by Ellery Queen
“The Vorpal Blade” by Edward D. Hoch
“The Jabberwocky Murders” by Fredric Brown (the basis for his 1950 novel)

Last week I also mentioned Frank Beddor’s young adult fantasy, The Looking Glass Wars. At that point, I was only a few chapters into the book, and while intrigued by the premise of the novel, I found the characters to be faceless and paper thin (and I’m not talking about the “card soldiers”). Now two-hundred pages in, the characters haven’t gotten any better, and I doubt I’ll venture into book 2 of the series, but the book has been holding my interest enough that I haven’t dropped it.

A lot has been written about the scientific discoveries made serendipitously, from Rogaine to microwave ovens, from dynamite to Post-It notes. As a writer and a teacher, I freely admit that I owe many of my successes to serendipity. How about you?

And so, Criminal Brief Readers, I know there are titles that I’ve missed, either because I can’t see them from my desk or because I don’t know about them. So, dear readers, during your wanderings, be they among princes in Sri Lanka or perusing your own library shelves, should you serendipitously run across other worthy titles to add to my list, please pass the information my way.

And perhaps next week I’ll tell you the tale of the Three Princes of Serendip and the Camel.

1. Actually, the Gentle Reader will recall that Steve provided the etymology in his column; I simply provided the reference. –JLW [↩]