Ellis Parker Butler

Philo Gubb: Correspondence-School Detective Ellis Parker Butler

A hilarious parody of the detective genre - Gubb emulates Sherlock Holmes and maintains an office for his two occupations: correspondence-school detective and wallpaper hanger. One of the first and best detective parodies. "Detecktating is my aim and my profession." Thus speaks Philo Gubb in this classic volume of criminally silly comic exploits; with irresistible period illustrations by Rea Irvin. Philo Gubb: Correspondence-School Detective was picked by none other than Ellery Queen (Queen's Quorum #61) as one of the most important detective books ever written. Ellis Parker Butler (1869- 1937) was a native of Muscatine, Iowa. Dropping out of high school to help support the family he worked in a number of jobs including ones in a spice mill, an oatmeal mill, a china store, and a wholesale grocery. Moving to New York City in 1896, he began writing for trade magazines such as the Tailor's Review, the Wall Paper News, and The Decorative Furnisher. In 1905, his humorous short story, Pigs is Pigs appeared in the American Magazine, and the following year it was published in book form. Its phenomenal success allowed Butler to give up editing trade papers and turn to full-time authorship.