In the summer of 1889, J.M Stoddart sat down at the Langham Hotel in London with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. Stoddart had traveled from Philidelphia and hoped to add two new pieces of work of fiction for Lippincott's monthly magazine. By the end of the meal, Stoddart had secured both Doyle and Wilde for two new works of fiction. Doyle's work would be the second appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, The Sign of Four, which was originally called The Sign of Three until he added one more character. Wilde was given a 200 pound advance for the promise of a 30,000 word-long piece, but first sent Stoddart a fairy tale called, The Fisherman and His Soul, but Stoddart wrote back and asked for a piece twice as long, resulting in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Today, there is a memorial inscription at The Langham Hotel that commemorates that meeting between Stoddart, Doyle, and Wilde.

FUN FACT- This infamous encounter inspired Gyles Brandreth, a current English writer, broadcaster, actor, and former politician, to write a six series book centered around Victorian murder mysteries that featured both Oscar Wilde and Conan Doyle, the first of which is titled Oscar Wilde and the Candlelit Murders.