The Doings of Raffles Haw (1891) is a novel by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle involving an inventor who has discovered a way to turn lead into gold.
A mysterious millionaire, Raffles Haw, comes to reside in Tamfield in Staffordshire. Even before he arrives, people start gossiping about him. As his house is being constructed, people wonder at the number of workers, their speed, and the complete disregard for the amount of money spent. When Haw arrives, he acquaints himself with the McIntyre family, which consists of Robert, his sister Laura, and their father. McIntyre senior had been a prosperous gun merchant, but has gone bankrupt and lost his sanity. Laura is engaged to Hector, the son of the vicar, Mr. Spurling. Hector is a sailor who is summoned for Naval duty at the beginning of the novel.
Disregarding McIntyre senior as a greedy beggar, Haw sets about to alleviate the misery of the people of Tamfield through the agency of the McIntyre siblings and Mr. Spurling. He saves many families and businesses with his timely financial succour. He has limitless funds, due to having discovered a process to turn lead into gold.
With the passage of time, he becomes disillusioned because his philanthropic activities—though they improve the situations of the recipients—don't improve the recipients themselves. Instead of becoming better citizens, most become parasites reliant upon alms from the millionaire. Despondent, he seeks the counsel of his fiancée, Laura McIntyre, the one person he supposes to be true to him. Unbeknownst to him, Laura has accepted his proposal of marriage without ending her previous engagement to Hector Spurling. As Raffles and Laura are talking, Hector enters the room, his service having ended earlier than expected. When Raffles discovers Laura and Hector are still engaged, he is heartbroken. The fallen millionaire locks himself in his laboratory, destroys his equipment and his immense fortune, and later is found dead. The process that he used to build his fortune is unrecoverable.
Receptionedit
Dave Langford reviewed The Doings of Raffles Haw for White Dwarf #83, and stated that "Doyle has an old and familiar tale to tell: The Well-Meaning (but Mad) Scientist who can Make Gold, yet like King Midas finds out that Wealth Is But A Curse. Fascinating for collectors and completists."[1]
doings, raffles, 1891, novel, scottish, author, arthur, conan, doyle, involving, inventor, discovered, turn, lead, into, gold, contents, plot, outline, reception, reviews, also, references, external, linksplot, outline, edita, mysterious, millionaire, raffles,. The Doings of Raffles Haw 1891 is a novel by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle involving an inventor who has discovered a way to turn lead into gold Contents 1 Plot outline 2 Reception 3 Reviews 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksPlot outline editA mysterious millionaire Raffles Haw comes to reside in Tamfield in Staffordshire Even before he arrives people start gossiping about him As his house is being constructed people wonder at the number of workers their speed and the complete disregard for the amount of money spent When Haw arrives he acquaints himself with the McIntyre family which consists of Robert his sister Laura and their father McIntyre senior had been a prosperous gun merchant but has gone bankrupt and lost his sanity Laura is engaged to Hector the son of the vicar Mr Spurling Hector is a sailor who is summoned for Naval duty at the beginning of the novel Disregarding McIntyre senior as a greedy beggar Haw sets about to alleviate the misery of the people of Tamfield through the agency of the McIntyre siblings and Mr Spurling He saves many families and businesses with his timely financial succour He has limitless funds due to having discovered a process to turn lead into gold With the passage of time he becomes disillusioned because his philanthropic activities though they improve the situations of the recipients don t improve the recipients themselves Instead of becoming better citizens most become parasites reliant upon alms from the millionaire Despondent he seeks the counsel of his fiancee Laura McIntyre the one person he supposes to be true to him Unbeknownst to him Laura has accepted his proposal of marriage without ending her previous engagement to Hector Spurling As Raffles and Laura are talking Hector enters the room his service having ended earlier than expected When Raffles discovers Laura and Hector are still engaged he is heartbroken The fallen millionaire locks himself in his laboratory destroys his equipment and his immense fortune and later is found dead The process that he used to build his fortune is unrecoverable Reception editDave Langford reviewed The Doings of Raffles Haw for White Dwarf 83 and stated that Doyle has an old and familiar tale to tell The Well Meaning but Mad Scientist who can Make Gold yet like King Midas finds out that Wealth Is But A Curse Fascinating for collectors and completists 1 Reviews editReview by Don D Ammassa 1986 in Science Fiction Chronicle 87 December 1986 Review by John R Pfeiffer 1986 in Fantasy Review December 1986 Review by Chris Bailey 1986 in Vector 135 Review by Everett F Bleiler 1991 in Science Fiction The Early YearsSee also editThe Diamond Maker an 1894 short story by H G Wells about a businessman who meets an obscure inventor of a process for making diamondsReferences edit Langford Dave November 1986 Critical Mass White Dwarf No 83 Games Workshop p 8 External links edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article The Doings of Raffles Haw The Doings of Raffles Haw at Project Gutenberg nbsp The Doings of Raffles Haw public domain audiobook at LibriVox nbsp This article about an 1890s novel is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Doings of Raffles Haw amp oldid 1096124152, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
