This hall, in which he was now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend
the doctor's;

 

It is not the form I would use, but it seems grammatical. We would say
"my friend the doctor's fancy" (not *my friend's the doctor fancy). So
if you can say "a pet fancy of my friend's," then I suppose you could
say "a pet fancy of my friend the doctor's," as RLS did.

 

Dick Veit

________________________________

Richard Veit
Department of English
University of North Carolina Wilmington

________________________________

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Woods
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 1:10 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: genitive appositive

 

List,

I found this sentence in Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde:

 

This hall, in which he was now left alone, was a pet fancy of his friend
the doctor's; 

 

I see "the doctor's" as an appositive to friend, which is genitive
showing the source of the fancy.  The appositive has been put in the
same case, hence the appostrophe. Does my analysis look right?  Was
Stevenson over Latinizing his English?  Is this the normal pattern?  Is
it considered correct?  Would anyone on the list consider it an error in
modern American usage? 

 

Thanks,

Scott Woods

  

________________________________

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