I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

The Daily Beast Skewered Sherlock Holmes With Poor Logic

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<span style="text-align: start;">"Some monstrous beast" [HOUN] </span></h4>
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In his recent lambasting of Sherlock Holmes, art historian Noah Charney got in over his head. According to Charney, Holmes makes faulty assumptions and jumps too hastily to his conclusions. But if anyone in the January 26th Daily Beast pan "<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/26/is-sherlock-holmes-a-good-detective.html" target="_blank">Is Sherlock Holmes a Good Detective?</a>" is guilty of this, it must be Noah Charney, along with his principal source, Dr. Robin Bryant. When it comes to Sherlock Holmes, they see, but they do not observe.<br />
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After muddling about with the curious incident of the dog in the night-time from "Silver Blaze," and reaching the sort of conclusions that only faulty analysis can produce, Charney further snipes at Holmes's analytical abilities by means of a numeric puzzle. <br />
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"Based on the following numbers, what would you guess comes next in this sequence: 2, 4, 8, 16, X. Most people guess that the next number, X, will be 32, each number doubling. That’s a fair guess. But the answer to this particular question is not 32. The next most common estimate is 8, respondents concluding that the sequence will reverse itself. This is also reasonable, but incorrect. The correct answer is 31."</blockquote>
Charney opines that Holmes, like most people, would have guessed 32, but this is hasty generalization – he can have no inkling what Holmes may or may not have concluded [<i>Silly - Holmes is not like most people. - <b>Ed.</b></i>]. And why, according to Charney, is the answer 31? Because this is a question about the number of points on a circle, also known as Moser's Circle Problem.  The explanation, I suggest, is an attempt to validate a foregone conclusion – the very thing Charney accuses Doyle of doing on behalf of Holmes. Nothing in the evidence militates in favor of 31 as a better solution. <br />
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An equally likely answer is 28, which we arrive at by skipping the intervening even numbers, increasing the gap by a factor of one odd number each time. (Begin with 2. Skip 0 even numbers. Skip 1 even number. Skip 3 even numbers. Skip 5 even numbers, and so on.)  The resulting series of numbers is 2, 4, 8, 16, 28, 42…<br />
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Here's another option: XX, assuming the letter X was not a variable, but a part of the sequence hiding in plain sight. We add the first and third numbers in the series and express the sum as a Roman numeral (10 = X). We then do the same with the second and fourth numbers (20 =  XX). The series is 2, 4, 8, 16, X, XX…<br />
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The answer could be 9, if we surmise the first four numbers correspond directly to letters of the alphabet. In that case, they spell "BDHP," obviously (by Charney's brand of logic) an abbreviation for Browning Detective Hi Power, a short-barrelled semi-automatic pistol made in the 1990s, in 9mm caliber – a BDHP9. Then again, if numbers stand for letters, letters could stand for numbers, yielding BDHP serial number 24. But perhaps this explanation is flawed, and BDHPX stands for Brian's De Havilland Philharmonic 10th symphony.<br />
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But I've played the Moffat-and-Gatiss game with you long enough: the true solution is 34, because the numeric sequence is based on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number" target="_blank">Fibonacci</a>. Begin with 2, a Fibonacci number. Double it to get 4. Take the third Fibonacci number from 2, which is 8. Double it to get 16. Take the third Fibonacci number from 8, which is 34. Double it to get 68. Take the third Fibonacci number from 34, which is 144, and so on. The sequence revealed is 2, 4, 8, 16, 34, 68, 144…  Such an explanation does violence to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_razor" target="_blank">Occam's Razor</a>. <br />
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Charney declares 31 is the right answer because, "the answer we're looking for is 31." A finer example of <a href="http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/begging-the-question.html" target="_blank">begging the question</a> might be difficult to imagine, and it comes from the man who accuses Doyle of unfairly setting Holmes up for success. "Because Holmes' fate was in the hands of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle," Charney criticizes, "he was set up to always succeed." Unless you count the multiple occassions when Holmes failed. And what of the real-life cases of George Edalji or Oscar Slater, wherein Doyle proved the innocence of two falsely accused men? Who are we to believe set Doyle up to succeed -- the pre-incarnate Benedict Cumberbatch?<br />
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What would Sherlock Holmes do?</h4>
How would Holmes have replied to Charney's number puzzle? Possibly he would have commented on "how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data." [SPEC] Holmes, according to Charney and Bryant, should consider "all the various ways in which a theft could occur without the guard dog barking." Was this kind of reasoning foreign to the detective who said, "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would cover the facts as we know them"? [COPP] After all, Holmes's theory about the dog's behavior is supported by a host of other clues that fairly shout "Inside job!" Notable among them are the curry, the cataract knife, the sheep, and the receipt in Straker's pocket, but these conveniently go unmentioned.<br />
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Says Charney: "Look at the problem from one angle only, and you risk getting it wrong. That is the most frequent logical pitfall into which Sherlock Holmes falls."<br />
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Says Watson: "Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his data were insufficient." [TWIS]<br />
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Next time, Charney should try the Sherlockian method. I've practiced it myself for years, admittedly with mixed results, but this much I have noticed: it tends to make one not only a stronger reasoner, but also a sharper observer of details. For example, I have observed that "Silver Blaze" is a short story, and not, as Charney asserts, "a novel."<br />
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"Is Sherlock Holmes a good detective?" Let's consider: he invented the exchange principle, offender profiling, forensic gait analysis, physical matching of typewriters, spatter pattern analysis, forensic aerodynamics, gunshot residue analysis, bite mark analysis, crime scene investigation via optical magnification, questioned document examination, forensic acoustics, tracking devices, geographical profiling, and the crime lab. <br />
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Holmes was a pioneer in detection's use of ballistics, fingerprints, osteology, geology, biology, chemistry, disguise, inter-agency networking, man-trailing with dogs, analysis and preservation of footprints and tire tracks, scientific handwriting analysis, crypto-analysis, criminal psychology, photographic identification, surveillance, wear pattern analysis, undercover operatives, informant networks, crime scene preservation, evidence collection, disinformation, and microscopy. <br />
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In light of even half those accomplishments, "good" seems like an understatement.<br />
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<i>Image credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61676142@N00/5906483868/in/photolist-9ZWgSL-bhUN3K-8ZREsW-9pFiEy" target="_blank">josecamoessilva (Flickr)</a></i><br />
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$The Daily Beast Skewered Sherlock Holmes With Poor Logic$ The Daily Beast Skewered Sherlock Holmes With Poor Logic

"Some monstrous beast" [HOUN] In his recent lambasting of Sherlock Holmes, art historian Noah Charney got in over his head...

+ Read more »

by Tim Greer

Benedict Cumberbatch Signs Deerstalker for Charity

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"he had a reputation for kindness and charity" [GLOR]</h4>
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St. Mungo’s is one Britain’s largest charity, helping the homeless since 1969. Named for the patron saint of Glasgow, they started with a house and soup kitchen in Battersea and are now throughout London and in the south of England with the mission, as their <a href="http://www.mungos.org/about/values_and_objectives">website</a>
states, “support and care for vulnerable and excluded people who either have been, or are at risk of, sleeping rough and <b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">homelessness</span></b>.” </div>
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In 2011, they started the <b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.mungos.org/woollyhatday/celeb_hat_auction">Woolly Hat Day Celebrity Hat Auction</a>  to help raise money and awareness. This year’s charity auction includes a deerstalker signed by Benedict Cumberbatch. Laura Pulver (interviewed <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2012/04/episode-41-woman.html#.UuXFiMQo5w0" target="_blank">here on Episode 41</a>), who made a cameo appearance in Season Three’s “The Sign of Three”, went on Twitter to give her support to Cumberbatch and the charity:</span></b><br />
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Come on people. Let's combine raising our hats to Mr Cumberbatch's genius & raising some serious £££ for a good cause <a href="http://t.co/ToQeAlmsmn">http://t.co/ToQeAlmsmn</a><br />
— Lara Pulver (@larapulver) <a href="https://twitter.com/larapulver/statuses/427149222320697346">January 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If you <a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BENEDICT-CUMBERBATCH-Signed-Sherlock-Deerstalker-St-Mungos-Woolly-Hat-Day-/281249900734?pt=UK_Hats&hash=item417bcce8be" target="_blank">head over to eBay</a>, you can check out the item and determine if you'd like to have the satisfaction of helping out a great cause while getting a piece of entertainment memorabilia. But don't tarry! The auction ends on February 2, 2014 at 19:59 pm GMT.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Who will grab this piece of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sherlock</i>-iana?
While at last listing it was at some £1200, it is safe to say that it is an
investment that will only go up in value, although its value in helping those
who need the help is priceless.</span></b><br />
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Benedict Cumberbatch Signs Deerstalker for Charity

"he had a reputation for kindness and charity" [GLOR] St. Mungo’s is one Britain’s largest charity, helping the homeless s...

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by James C. O'Leary

Weekly Sherlock Links Compendium (January 11 - January 24, 2014)

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<b>"I am somewhat exhausted; I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor?" [DYIN]</b></h4>
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<b>BSI Weekend 2014 has come and gone and though I have enough personal reminiscences and links to fill multiple posts, I've been given the tremendous honor of writing the review of BSI Weekend for the Spring 2014 issue of <i><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a></i> - and if you don't already, <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/subscriptions.html">subscribe to the BSJ</a> immediately!</b><br />
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To tide you over until then, here's a wealth of Sherlockian news from the last two weeks including: a new website dedicated to Vincent Starrett, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere celebrates their 60th episode with an engrossing overview of the first sixty years of Sherlockiana, a Sherlock-themed video segment on Mo Rocca's <i>Sunday Morning</i> on CBS, a transportation expert criticizes Sherlock's inability to identify trains, the new Russian Sherlock adaptation has been subtitled in English, a roundup of articles on China's obsession with Curly Fu and Peanut, Sherlock Holmes as the ultimate superhero, a familiar face appears on the cover of <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, join the Homeless Network on your smartphone, Charlotte Anne Walters published a new pastiche collection of short stories, an argument for why Nicol Williamson's Holmes is the best Homes ever, who is Michael Stone and why would his conviction "cause the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories to choke on his pipe" and more in this information-packed, post-BSI Weekend, Weekly Sherlock Links Compendium by <b>Matt Laffey</b>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.vincentstarrett.com/"><b>Studies in Starrett</b></a>, as regular readers can well imagine, is quickly on its way to becoming my new favorite blog. Maintained by Ray Betzner, the editor of Gasogene Books' 75th Anniversary Edition of <i><a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/html/privatelife.html" target="_blank">The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>, I have no doubt that VincentStarrett.com will soon be the go to source for all things related to Autolycus of Chicago. To date, the site features articles on: Starrett's connection to Poe's almost mythical book <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamerlane_(poem)"><i>Tamerlane</i></a>, a <i>Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine</i> article from 1969 celebrating VS's 82nd birthday, an analysis of Michael Kean's recent <i>Baker Street Journal</i> (Winter 2013) article ""And It Is Always..." Eighteen Eighty-nine", a little known VS short story “The Menace of Mars” (1922) co-authored with Otto McFeely and the Starrett connection to Betzner's inscribed copy of <i>The Last Egyptian</i> by <i>Wizard of Oz</i> author <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Frank_Baum">L. Frank Baum</a>. When not researching the life and work of Starrett, Ray Betzner writes about <a href="http://news.temple.edu/writer/raymond-betzner">campus news at Temple University</a> in Philadelphia where he is the Assistant Vice President of University Communications. In the Sherlockian world, Betzner has been an invested member of the Baker Street Irregulars ("The Agony Column") since 1987, maintains "The Sherlockian Societies" section of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i> and has published numerous articles in Sherlockian journals such as the <i>BSJ</i>, <i>Baker Street Miscellanea</i>, etc. Most recently Betzner was quoted in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/19/sherlock-sherlockians-gather-bbc-series"><i>The Guardian</i></a> waxing philosophical about what it means to be a Sherlockian and why critics should lighten up regarding BBC <i>Sherlock</i>. You can follow Betzner on Twitter via <a href="https://twitter.com/BooksandBipeds">@BooksandBipeds</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[Ray Betzner, proprietor of </span><a href="http://www.vincentstarrett.com/" style="text-align: start;">Studies In Sherlock</a><span style="text-align: start;">, toasting Dr John Watson by noting Watson's transformation from The War Doctor to the doctor we know and love at the Baker Street Babes' Second Annual </span><a href="http://bakerstreetbabes.com/tag/daintiest-thing-under-a-bonnet-charity-ball/" style="text-align: start;">Daintiest Thing Under a Bonnet Charity Ball</a><span style="text-align: start;"> during BSI Weekend 2014.]</span></span></td></tr>
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I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/01/episode-60-sherlock-holmes-first-60_10.html" target="_blank">celebrated their 60th podcast episode</a> by surveying the first sixty years of Holmes' existence, starting in 1887 with the publication of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Study_in_Scarlet"><i>A Study in Scarlet</i></a> and pausing in 1947, one year after the founding of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>. Scott and Burt do an excellent job charting and contextualizing the rise of a new kind of popular literature - serialized fiction in nascent publications like <i>The Strand</i> - and the unlikely success of a new kind of detective. Though the story of ACD's love/hate relationship with Sherlock Holmes is familiar to some, newcomers to the Sherlockian world will be shocked at how inconsequential Holmes was to the young Edinburgh doctor-turned-author and how frighteningly close the world came to losing the Great Detective forever in 1891 to the falls of Reichenbach. The onset of the 20th century not only saw Holmes rise from the dead but also saw the rise of Sherlockian scholarship. Three decades later ACD, never quite having made peace with Holmes, would be dead and buried (with a tombstone that read "<a href="http://probaway.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/conan_doyles_grave.jpg">Steel True, Blade Straight</a>"), while his problem child (and I don't mean Denis or Adrian) achieved immortality in the form of small gatherings dedicated to the study and propagation of the sixty stories documenting the friendship and adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. By the 1940s these informal groups had evolved into full blown societies replete with formal dinners, journals, traditions and the inevitable growing pains experienced by the maturation of an ever growing subculture. You couldn't ask for more knowledgeable or affable guides to the intertwined worlds of Sherlock Holmes in print and the people and culture that celebrate the Great Detective's adventures.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[In the beginning there was...<i>A Study in Scarlet</i> published in 1887.]</span></span></td></tr>
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CBS Sunday Morning aired "<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/deducing-the-timeless-popularity-of-sherlock-holmes/" target="_blank">Deducing the Timeless Popularity of Sherlock Holmes</a>" on January 19, 2014 which also just happened to coincide with the final day of BSI Weekend 2014 in NYC. What better treat could a Sherlockian ask for - regardless of whether or not they attended the NYC Sherlock festivities - than to watch a Holmes-centric news segment that essentially 'got it right'. Watch the joy (though some might call it insanity) in the face of Don Hobbs explaining the pleasure of collecting translations of the Canon in 92 languages: ""What doesn't he have? Tajikistan? He's got it. Uzbekistan? "I do," [Hobbs] replied."" Listen to Michael Dirda, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/On-Conan-Doyle-Storytelling-Writers/dp/0691151350"><i>On Conan Doyle</i></a>, describing the historical and literary significance of Holmes as the first serialized character. Enjoy the pageantry of the <a href="http://221bcon.com/index.php/news/41-221b-con-2013-photos-are-up">221B Con 2013</a> costume contest where you'll find outfits that could only emerge from the brains of devoted Sherlockians. Let loose a little <i>Elementary</i> snark as Jonny Lee Miller talks about his tattoos and fails to comprehend why someone might collect the Canon in a billion languages, while Lucy Liu reassures viewers that she won't be undergoing sex reassignment surgery to placate those critical of the casting of a female Watson. Finally, once the segment is over, sit back and ponder the multi-faceted world of The Sherlockian in all its glory: the strange and sometimes counter-intuitive diversity, "the unrestrained enjoyment of the present" (MAZI) and the rigorous dedication to a timeless friendship between an anti-social genius and a gregarious doctor with romantic tendencies - then give thanks to the personal confluence of events which led you to Baker Street. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfV9RrsUtXUzo-XtXvpE2Bl9umJA28pBKtTtUNU9YugPnLyfaneoCRYbqxfgY1oI5c9Fr_hihbH_B0meVF7OCcmVa2_ZciUh0RXxDbFMxLHXawdSg02PNmKzZ5awEAi0LI8tvQUDAytQ/s1600/DonHobbs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfV9RrsUtXUzo-XtXvpE2Bl9umJA28pBKtTtUNU9YugPnLyfaneoCRYbqxfgY1oI5c9Fr_hihbH_B0meVF7OCcmVa2_ZciUh0RXxDbFMxLHXawdSg02PNmKzZ5awEAi0LI8tvQUDAytQ/s1600/DonHobbs.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[Above, Don Hobbs discusses what drives a man to collect 92 translations of the Canon. Towards the end of the piece Always1895 and a few of my other favorite Sherlockian sites are mentioned: "[Sherlock] fans met in cyberspace, on sites like the </span><a href="http://bakerstreetbabes.com/" style="text-align: start;">Baker Street Babes</a><span style="text-align: start;">, </span><a href="http://always1895.net/" style="text-align: start;">Always1895.net</a><span style="text-align: start;">, </span><a href="http://betterholmesandgardens.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: start;">Better Holmes and Gardens</a><span style="text-align: start;">." While I don't think any fans actually 'met' on my site, I certainly do appreciate CBS mentioning it and if I had a hit counter I'm sure it would be at 1,895,000 by now.]</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://stephenrees.wordpress.com/2014/01/20/sherlock-holmes-and-the-lack-of-perception/"><b>Stephen Rees's Blog</b></a>, concerned primarily with transportation in urban environments, recently commented on a seemingly minor detail from the season three premiere of BBC <i>Sherlock</i>. While many fans and critics took issue with plot holes such as how exactly the villain managed to detach an entire train car and reroute it to the abandoned station or un/under-explained situations like how exactly Sherlock survived the St. Barts fall, Mr. Rees was "severely disappointed" by Holmes' inability to distinguish between two types of London trains: "Throughout ["The Empty Hearse"] the abilities of the great detective are demonstrated. He can, for instance, conduct a forensic examination of human hair inside a toque without even a magnifying glass. But he cannot apparently tell the difference between a tube train on the Jubilee Line and the subsurface stock on the District Line." (Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnBaesch">John Baesch</a>, BSI ("State and Merton County Railroad") for the tip!)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvmdPPLks0tUh11acedQ_9KOCmZHIiID32tw8WAD_epIBcUXHoX1gtuvWOmh78kg8tYhxF7rPKk6UOKiEBAkEaDtO0UCBqny34lB7AYtWxMu0eHDQ62zyq5koKJrFxqdqVrpIAr58x5o/s1600/TrainDistrict.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvmdPPLks0tUh11acedQ_9KOCmZHIiID32tw8WAD_epIBcUXHoX1gtuvWOmh78kg8tYhxF7rPKk6UOKiEBAkEaDtO0UCBqny34lB7AYtWxMu0eHDQ62zyq5koKJrFxqdqVrpIAr58x5o/s1600/TrainDistrict.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[Example of the </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_rees/4832795901/" style="text-align: start;">Jubilee Line tube train</a><span style="text-align: start;"> - which you can compare to the </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryantaylorphotography/7086384079/" style="text-align: start;">District Line train</a><span style="text-align: start;"> for yourself.]</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.themillions.com/2014/01/one-fixed-point-sherlock-sherlock-holmes-and-the-british-imagination.html" target="_blank">The Millions contrasts the current hullaballoo</a> surrounding the recent premiere of BBC <i>Sherlock</i> with various historical high points in the Sherlockian world : "Holmes booms have come and gone over the decades - the last major influx of adaptations was in the seventies - and though most are set amongst the old ‘swirling-fog-and-hansom-cabs’, they manage to tap into the anxieties of the ages in which they were conceived." Below is a graph of instances of "Sherlock Holmes" mentioned per year (1887 - 2008) within a corpus of 5 million digitized books which paints a rough picture of the high and low points of Holmes' popularity over the last 120 years.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlMLEF-JdZZPNhX53EJM3yXNZ46HjUnWvUX2CBLewYYPTNGHphnFNqR7u2OXTkJY-eLduZCfBgkPseReV8BmduNgjy7KkzrpjShcGb6UP-ShCnkPI6HLECgmjjcZ93eKEOZp3hK_qSow/s1600/Ngram-SherlockHolmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMlMLEF-JdZZPNhX53EJM3yXNZ46HjUnWvUX2CBLewYYPTNGHphnFNqR7u2OXTkJY-eLduZCfBgkPseReV8BmduNgjy7KkzrpjShcGb6UP-ShCnkPI6HLECgmjjcZ93eKEOZp3hK_qSow/s1600/Ngram-SherlockHolmes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[Ngram view of "Sherlock Holmes" mentions from 1887 to 2008 in Google's book corpus. Click the image to interact with the Viewer or </span><a href="http://twitpic.com/dt5mi6" style="text-align: start;">here for a larger version</a><span style="text-align: start;"> of the above image. For those unfamiliar with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Ngram_Viewer" style="text-align: start;">Google Ngram Viewer</a><span style="text-align: start;">, it's a "phrase-usage graphing [which] charts the yearly count of selected n-grams (letter combinations)[n] or words and phrases, as found in over 5.2 million books digitized by Google Inc (up to 2008)"]</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/VzwBIvVwuOg"><b>Russian Sherlock Holmes</b></a> (2013), the newest Holmes incarnation to hit the small screen, can now be viewed with English subtitles! At the time of this post <i>Russian Sherlock Holmes</i> episode 1x01 is available <a href="http://youtu.be/VzwBIvVwuOg">on YouTube with subtitles</a> that can be toggled on or off. For more information about the series, <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/01/new-russian-sherlock-holmes-tv-show.html">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</a> posted an overview of the first few episodes. And the <a href="http://bakerstreetbabes.com/tag/russian-sherlock-holmes/">Baker Street Babes</a> reviewed a few individual episodes, having exclusive access to a Russian speaking roommate (whom I assume also helped "solve the problem as to whether it is possible to get comfortable rooms at a reasonable price").<br />
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<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-25550426" target="_blank">BBC News China reports on the latest 'craze'</a> to sweep China's TV watching public: ""I tore myself away from bed early this morning just to watch 90 minutes of my Curly Fu and Peanut," said one online comment. "The gay-citement has finally returned. PS: Thank you, Prime Minister Cameron, for visiting China." "Curly Fu" and "Peanut" are the names given by Chinese fans to Sherlock and his sidekick, Dr Watson, because they resemble the Chinese pronunciation of their names. The "gay-citement" tag? Well, that is used to describe the excitement of seeing what Chinese fans like to think of as the love between the two characters." The Internet seems fascinated with the, in truth rather endearing, Curly Fu and Peanut monikers and the 'strange' Chinese obsession with BBC <i>Sherlock</i> (cf. <a href="http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/01/never-mind-sherlock-holmes-say-hello-curly-fu/">Anglophenia</a>, <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/19/the-chinese-have-fallen-in-love-with-sherlock-and-benedict-cumberbatch-whom-they-call-curly-fu-4268744/">Metro</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2542198/BBCs-Sherlock-unlikely-sensation-China-Benedict-Cumberbatch-known-Curly-Fu-millions-online-fans.html">Mail Online</a>, <a href="https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dvw-TdNJXMNTOeMBuSCcdtWd28oLM&q=sherlock+china+%22Curly+Fu,%22&lr=English&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0jXeUp6DPNXSsATzzIHoBA&ved=0CDMQqgIwAA">etc</a>.).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMv8mqYgreQszc2Uc1SKa789H_WsIh0eE6GGrWLpEsVaXVpvrNBt3HGlcKEZOmAj71nevijZwh0VYTqkKcnNXpivOdJ8fhW7loAz2u9tJD0cAX_0sFFBoW6qwd3hmnZo02VuWndnN_Lg/s1600/ChinaSherlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGMv8mqYgreQszc2Uc1SKa789H_WsIh0eE6GGrWLpEsVaXVpvrNBt3HGlcKEZOmAj71nevijZwh0VYTqkKcnNXpivOdJ8fhW7loAz2u9tJD0cAX_0sFFBoW6qwd3hmnZo02VuWndnN_Lg/s1600/ChinaSherlock.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[A typical headline proclaiming the Chinese fascination with Curly Fu and Peanut's (Sherlock and John respectively) bromance.]</span></span></td></tr>
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Scientific American in "<a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/2014/01/07/why-you-should-envy-but-not-worship-sherlock-holmes/" target="_blank">Why You Should Envy, But Not Worship Sherlock Holmes</a>" makes an extremely interesting case for why Holmes should be considered the ultimate superhero: "Despite the flaws, we want to think like Sherlock Holmes, we want to be a superhero of the mind. Why? Why has Holmes endured for so long in the public’s own thinking? Why can everyone, not just the nerdy, embrace the movies and TV shows that feature the detective? I think it’s because Sherlock Holmes is the most realistic superhero of them all." </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCTvGKgZbRlOA36-LBcavezt5rZ-_cFvGbrxobWAt2HQC_pxaLiR6SyQRg0W3OnjN1l8AF2ekN52MATQK219faMABhbwYtoMgCbgoyLC96n6JadsXPPLsPgbh9c2Pkt3F2gmyoq2GzCU/s1600/Hat-Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCTvGKgZbRlOA36-LBcavezt5rZ-_cFvGbrxobWAt2HQC_pxaLiR6SyQRg0W3OnjN1l8AF2ekN52MATQK219faMABhbwYtoMgCbgoyLC96n6JadsXPPLsPgbh9c2Pkt3F2gmyoq2GzCU/s1600/Hat-Man.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[Screenshot from BBC <i>Sherlock</i> - and here is the obligatory </span><a href="http://www.qwertee.com/product/hatman-and-robin" style="text-align: start;">t-shirt version at Qwertee</a><span style="text-align: start;">, which I kind of think looks pretty cool.]</span></span></td></tr>
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<i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, in the <a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/01/16/sherlock-benedict-cumberbatch/" target="_blank">January 24, 2014 issue</a>, features the very familiar face of Benedict Cumberbatch on it's cover along with the tagline: "How the British cult hit starring Benedict Cumberbatch became the whole world's cup of tea." The article begins with a surprising revelation on what could have been: "Cumberbatch thought twice when Sherlock co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss originally offered him the part....Why? "My reservation was 'Well, this is a very iconic character, there will be a lot of attention on it,'" says Cumberbatch. "This was before I had had any significant success [but] I knew there would still be a lot of focus on it. And while I had done work, it wasn’t stepping into the populist limelight like playing a character like Holmes. So I did have a pause for thought.” According to Cumberbatch, it was the passion and commitment of the behind-the-scenes Sherlock team which ultimately convinced him to sign on for the role. “I thought, If I’m going to do this, if I’m going to step into the limelight with a large leading role of iconic status, then I might as well do it with these people,” he recalls. “They know what they’re doing and I completely trust them. I felt like I was being asked to join the family and have some fun. There was nothing businessy about it. And that’s how to operate it.” Check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/entertainmentweekly/app_272887412730429">EW on Facebook for an exclusive interview</a> with Moffat, Cumberbach and Freeman positing theories about how Holmes survived his dramatic plunge off of the roof of St Barts.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvm6X_OPosNOT3fEIdPtJhuUUMCPj_meYbC6ZeF75ICCE21iDBbFxaaEQZEAhuFOgOMrSBTK1lBTMlG_BL__x0_qPPkZq95OrUYj9oLwA0Za0HYJrOwxI4IFoL1YlTtcSGsmGyMMf3lVc/s1600/1295-EW-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvm6X_OPosNOT3fEIdPtJhuUUMCPj_meYbC6ZeF75ICCE21iDBbFxaaEQZEAhuFOgOMrSBTK1lBTMlG_BL__x0_qPPkZq95OrUYj9oLwA0Za0HYJrOwxI4IFoL1YlTtcSGsmGyMMf3lVc/s1600/1295-EW-cover.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[The world is truly "mad about Sherlock" as evidenced by Benedict Cumberbatch appearing on the cover of <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> - the first time BBC Sherlock has made the cover of EW according to BC fan site </span><a href="http://www.benedictcumberbatch.co.uk/2014/01/17/sherlock-makes-the-cover-of-entertainment-weekly/" style="text-align: start;">Cumberbatchweb</a><span style="text-align: start;">.]</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.sherlockthenetwork.com/jointhenetwork/">Sherlock: The Network</a> is the name of a new iOS app that will allow players to become a virtual member of Sherlock’s homeless network (the BBC's take on the Baker Street Irregulars from the Canon), "helping Sherlock and John with their adventures." Available for download on January 20 and priced at at reasonable £2.99, follow <a href="https://twitter.com/sherlocknetwork">@SherlockNetwork</a> on Twitter for updates and tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23jointhenetwork">#jointhenetwork</a> to unlock exclusive content from the app. I haven't tried the game yet but I'm curious what readers and BBC fans will make of it - feel free to <a href="http://www.tumblr.com/edit/always1895@gmail.com">email me</a> your experience of the first serious attempt at creating an immersive, multi-player networked Sherlock-themed game.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1lnmluhC-YPv0R5y25SCCai0t3v3NpCiyYQ45sdDDwo3j3LsC-dV1AlP0TaUiYmxwAAxJm9gb9XNMpXizjc0WHAQpjaBq9LQgTS1MeqSxBXRzCbyFSuBzrAygNdrVlLH8OFNlOVXcPo/s1600/TheNetworkApp-SMALL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1lnmluhC-YPv0R5y25SCCai0t3v3NpCiyYQ45sdDDwo3j3LsC-dV1AlP0TaUiYmxwAAxJm9gb9XNMpXizjc0WHAQpjaBq9LQgTS1MeqSxBXRzCbyFSuBzrAygNdrVlLH8OFNlOVXcPo/s1600/TheNetworkApp-SMALL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">["New images from the app will be unlocked as The Network grows..."]</span></span></div>
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Barefoot On Baker Street's Charlotte Anne Walters, author of Holmes pastiche <a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/product/9781780922539/Barefoot+on+Baker+Street+%3A+2nd+Edition"><i>Barefoot On Baker Street</i></a> (MX Publishing, 2012), <a href="http://barefootonbakerstreet.wordpress.com/2014/01/12/my-own-take-on-a-modern-holmes-and-watson/" target="_blank">announced the upcoming release</a> of her latest book <a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/product/9781780925776/"><i>Charlie Milverton and Other Stories</i></a> (MX Publishing, 2014) is<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
a collection of five present-day Sherlock Holmes short stories which poke gentle fun at the idiosyncrasies of modern life – not to mention the eccentric detective and his world-weary friend who are at the heart of the action. "Charlie Milverton", "The Premier Bachelor", "The Leaping Man", "A Question of Identity" and "Abbey Strange" are each based directly on an adventure taken from the original work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but updated with a modern-day twist." </blockquote>
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms Walters' <i>Barefoot</i> novel for its unique and, at times, risque approach to the 'Holmes vs. Moriarty' dynamic, so I suspect that her latest collection of  Sherlock Holmes short stories will be equally engrossing.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi758UTN8Y3rnmup9ssHVacIaXLvDGvgB6_1zvqzWBUGQQjCDNFh-WTRRqemGUawxVAfFPogz6lCCgzEeQcAVKOVlWjq1qgxFjbjKItGJHS38ziZZ6KYtMjXUOiH5vUyEH3I0t3X-zA2Zs/s1600/CharlieMilverton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi758UTN8Y3rnmup9ssHVacIaXLvDGvgB6_1zvqzWBUGQQjCDNFh-WTRRqemGUawxVAfFPogz6lCCgzEeQcAVKOVlWjq1qgxFjbjKItGJHS38ziZZ6KYtMjXUOiH5vUyEH3I0t3X-zA2Zs/s1600/CharlieMilverton.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">["Instead of the foggy cobbled streets and hansom cabs of Victorian London, we get over-paid footballers, pop-stars, a glamour model, the tabloid press and social media. But friendship and Holmes’ unique science of deduction remain central to each story."]</span></span></td></tr>
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The Consulting Detective, inspired by the current Oscar-buzz surrounding the upcoming 2014 Academy Awards,<a href="http://the-consulting-detective.blogspot.com/2014/01/an-oscar-worthy-sherlock-holmes.html" target="_blank"> makes an intriguing case for "the most Oscar-worthy performance</a> in the history of Sherlockian film. If there was ever one actor who deserved an Academy Award for his portrayal of the great detective, it is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932116/">Nicol Williamson</a> who played Holmes in 1976's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven-Per-Cent_Solution_(film)"><i>The Seven-Per-Cent Solution</i></a>." Whether you are a fan of Williamson's addict-in-recovery Sherlock portrayal or wish that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven-Per-Cent_Solution">Nicholas Meyer</a>'s 1974 bestselling novel had been left to rot in the discount bins of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Books">Waldenbooks</a> circa 1975, author Nick Cardillo's impassioned case for the film's virtues is a great read: "Williamson's manic Holmes is a triumph. He presents both sides of the character wonderfully, constantly fidgeting and twiddling his thumbs in a beautiful reflection of Holmes' unbalanced character. Williamson's own description of the character, likening him to a fractured human being is clearly seen."</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgR2xrh2MeQMSwEDttfPXfK-KCn5lTz0G3d9DqHB7K7q9oZudymft7wir8-IuFQcEc_VqMaVwT6aBHvduVFSJhzzjjWkf_MoZpaW8k2-vG_q6G5hxod_Pew1_fVaY9gktIGl5SqSEKB9I/s1600/seven-per-cent-solution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgR2xrh2MeQMSwEDttfPXfK-KCn5lTz0G3d9DqHB7K7q9oZudymft7wir8-IuFQcEc_VqMaVwT6aBHvduVFSJhzzjjWkf_MoZpaW8k2-vG_q6G5hxod_Pew1_fVaY9gktIGl5SqSEKB9I/s1600/seven-per-cent-solution.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">["Williamson was quoted as saying, "This Holmes is different: below the surface there is a fractured little boy chasing after a butterfly.""]</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://wgnradio.com/2014/01/20/sherlock-and-other-holmes-interpretations/" target="_blank">WGN 720 Radio interviewed Bob Madia</a>, a Chicago "screenwriter, editor and Sherlock Holmes expert," about BBC <i>Sherlock</i> and his take on the current Holmes craze running rampant on both sides of the Atlantic (and don't forget <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2542198/BBCs-Sherlock-unlikely-sensation-China-Benedict-Cumberbatch-known-Curly-Fu-millions-online-fans.html">China</a>). I'm not exactly sure who Bob Madia is but he's clearly a sincere fan of Holmes and can hold his own when discussing Sherlock Holmes films. Topics discussed besides BBC <i>Sherlock</i> include Peter Cushing, Holmes pastiches available from <a href="http://titanbooks.com/brands/sherlock-holmes/">Titan Books</a>, the upcoming <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005212/">Ian McKellen</a> Holmes film <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/sep/05/ian-mckellen-sherlock-holmes-slight-trick"><i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i></a>, Myrcroft Holmes' character and various listener questions about Jeremy Brett and other Holmes film adaptations. I couldn't find Bob Madia's name in the <a href="http://www.sh-whoswho.com/">Sherlockian Who's Who</a> database, but it's refreshing to listen to the perspective of a Holmes fan 'outside' of the hardcore Sherlockian community. Along with being a Sherlock fan, Madia is a screenwriter with a few horror and mystery films to his credit (<a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1672194/">Bob Madia on IMDB</a>) and is currently working on a film with the amazing title <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GatorsharkMovie"><i>Gatorshark vs Zombie Cheerleaders</i></a> about "a half-shark half-alligator creature [wreaking] havoc at a cheerleader camp full of hot & sexy brain eating zombie cheerleaders." </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOolhwCKX6mu5No5ssNk63i3BSHIHc9bXQ2xDNbvEZuRV-jEyTc5BzZN7uVyhn6UB3f8YgFUQ8LFl1mdMaVK1F37WF5efVZmMoVGAVP40Vfb4CfQpjGUIutWIHhwWvw88K4pnSK-G5-0/s1600/Gatorshark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwOolhwCKX6mu5No5ssNk63i3BSHIHc9bXQ2xDNbvEZuRV-jEyTc5BzZN7uVyhn6UB3f8YgFUQ8LFl1mdMaVK1F37WF5efVZmMoVGAVP40Vfb4CfQpjGUIutWIHhwWvw88K4pnSK-G5-0/s1600/Gatorshark.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[The tagline for </span><a href="https://twitter.com/GatorsharkMovie" style="text-align: start;"><i>Gatorshark vs. Zombie Cheerleaders</i></a><span style="text-align: start;"> is - I kid you not - "Half shark. Half alligator. Half naked."]</span></span></td></tr>
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Mail Online ran the following headline on January18, 2014: "<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2541854/Boss-Sherlock-museum-launches-10-000-bid-clear-Lin-Megan-Russells-killer-conviction-Holmes-choke-pipe.html" target="_blank">Boss of Sherlock museum launches £10,000 bid to clear Lin and Megan Russell's hammer killer because 'his conviction would have made Holmes choke on his pipe</a>'." I'm not even going to attempt to unpack this headline so I'll quote liberally from the article:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The man who runs The Sherlock Holmes Museum has launched a bizarre investigation to try to clear a notorious murderer. John Aidiniantz has spent thousands of pounds – made from tourists at the museum – on preparing an appeal for the man who murdered Dr Lin Russell and her daughter Megan and left her other little girl, Josie, for dead. Drug addict Michael Stone attacked Lin, 45, and Megan, six, in a quiet Kent country lane in 1996. Stone, now 53, was convicted after a fellow prisoner said he had confessed to him. But Mr Aidiniantz believes the real killer is Levi Bellfield, 45 – the man who murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler. He has set up a so-called ‘justice department’ in the ‘spirit’ of Sherlock Holmes, aimed at overturning miscarriages of justice, and is preparing evidence for the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which refers cases for appeal. The armchair detective, who runs the museum at Holmes’s fictional address of 221B Baker Street in London, said: ‘The trial and conviction of Michael Stone would have caused the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories to choke on his pipe." </blockquote>
One can only assume that Mr Aidiniantz has been possessed by the justice-seeking ghost of Conan Doyle seeking to relive the past glories of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_strange_case_of_Oscar_Slater">Oscar Slater</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edalji">George Edalji</a>. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqX6UrL29ylWUcmS1SUA42o4ZoWmVQOwd50lLN1mjeC5CKD0fSLrdRcQUFAsilxWwDD7iUzABKuWvqQm0Lf0CoO-cQnGbEAzGM76GUB9P16_yqZI_wQiLXiwGBIksZFEFaDtnoKG0YXM/s1600/SherlockHolmesMuseum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBqX6UrL29ylWUcmS1SUA42o4ZoWmVQOwd50lLN1mjeC5CKD0fSLrdRcQUFAsilxWwDD7iUzABKuWvqQm0Lf0CoO-cQnGbEAzGM76GUB9P16_yqZI_wQiLXiwGBIksZFEFaDtnoKG0YXM/s1600/SherlockHolmesMuseum.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">[</span><a href="http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/" style="text-align: start;">The Sherlock Holmes Museum</a><span style="text-align: start;">, owned by John Aidiniantz, has found itself stuck in the middle of a contentious and slightly bizarre legal and media battle.]</span></span></td></tr>
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Weekly Sherlock Links Compendium (January 11 - January 24, 2014)

"I am somewhat exhausted; I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor?" [DYIN] BSI Weekend...

+ Read more »

by campunity

The Basil Rathbone Hat Mystery

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"There are points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest..."  [BLUE] </h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOA2lTNMvEkubkuawxhu0a0kcQ1IYHiJQKZtYmEcYxziSjaGjKd5BHzhTqfMzMnz7yM6GlxhAv6XhjBo90AqeNTLnSPqNl-uv-5RLPi7mjuZ-sqe7_LkMgRA2Bv1cPiGdreX56ZL2h-NW/s1600/Curious+Case+Rathbone+Hat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOA2lTNMvEkubkuawxhu0a0kcQ1IYHiJQKZtYmEcYxziSjaGjKd5BHzhTqfMzMnz7yM6GlxhAv6XhjBo90AqeNTLnSPqNl-uv-5RLPi7mjuZ-sqe7_LkMgRA2Bv1cPiGdreX56ZL2h-NW/s640/Curious+Case+Rathbone+Hat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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[<i>Editor's note: the owner of the hat has offered an official response, verifying the authenticity of the hat. See below for the full statement.</i>]<br />
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Some Sherlockians signal their love of Holmes by wearing a deerstalker or donning a scarf worn by Benedict Cumberbatch. But if you fancy something, say, more in the style of <a href="http://amzn.to/1gFq8qV" target="_blank">Basil Rathbone in the 1940's</a>, well, that's a challenge. Coats, watches and clothes from the BBC are just a click away on <a href="http://www.sherlockabilia.com/index.html" target="_blank">Sherlockabilia</a> but good luck trying to find records from the Universal Pictures costume department in 1943.<br />
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Time and mystery are two reasons why Hollywood memorabilia auctions can make front page news.  The recent auction by Bonhams sold a Maltese Falcon statue used in the movie for over $4 million.  There was less excitement over a <a href="http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21427/lot/221/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">jacket</a> worn by Basil Rathbone in the 1939 "Hound" ($13,750) -- and, in an auction by another firm, what appears to be <a href="http://www.icollector.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Basil-Rathbone-Donegal-Hat_i18037220" target="_blank">a hat worn by Basil Rathbone</a> in the Universal film series.  </div>
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The hat reportedly sold for $1,000.  But was it really worn by Rathbone?</div>
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As forensic expert Dr. Henry Lee observes, "when the eye does not see, the mind does not know."  We can learn much by studying photographs of Rathbone's headgear.</div>
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For the first three films the actor wore a thick-brimmed fedora. Universal used the same opening credits for the entire series, so you can see it at the beginning of any of the films, as the camera pans up to show Rathbone, puffing a non-canonical calabash, next to Bruce.  In "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death" he wore a rather undistinguished gray fedora. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8GkvdWN8Lpz4lB6eQCc__blQDvHWYXykJBMka8EHDQjSKwSv3sNbAtXw75YzD8sO5skIDMiC9kP6LCO4aKy_xzOixUQOImAJUTBJ3EYbzEKAuLHgVkFE0bPRLkv3F3MKB80adgCicgPQ/s1600/1942+Voice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8GkvdWN8Lpz4lB6eQCc__blQDvHWYXykJBMka8EHDQjSKwSv3sNbAtXw75YzD8sO5skIDMiC9kP6LCO4aKy_xzOixUQOImAJUTBJ3EYbzEKAuLHgVkFE0bPRLkv3F3MKB80adgCicgPQ/s640/1942+Voice.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rathbone in "The Voice of Terror"</td></tr>
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<h4>
<u>Rathbone's Universal Films - Release Dates</u> </h4>
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<ul>
<li><i>The Voice of Terror</i> - September 1942</li>
<li><i>Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon</i> - February 1943</li>
<li><i>Sherlock Holmes in Washington</i> - April 1943</li>
<li><i>Sherlock Holmes Faces Death</i> - September 1943</li>
<li><i>The Spider Woman</i> - January 1944</li>
<li><i>The Scarlet Claw</i> - May 1944</li>
<li><i>The Pearl of Death</i> - August 1944</li>
<li><i>The House of Fear</i> - March 1945</li>
<li><i>Dressed to Kill</i> - June 1945</li>
<li><i>The Woman in Green</i> - July 1945</li>
<li><i>Pursuit to Algiers</i> - October 1945</li>
<li><i>Terror by Night</i> - February 1946</li>
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The tweed hat made its first appearance in <i>The Spider Woman</i>, the fifth film in the Universal series, released in January 1944.  </div>
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Compare Rathbone's hat to the one in the photo below worn by Matthew Boulton playing Inspector Gregson in "The Woman in Green," released in July 1945.  Rathbone's hat is styled along the same lines as Boulton's, with a high crown, thick band and wide brim.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp7IJJ2BzrZrA9YaMoXmBaYGIUI4vujer0nN-nbv8AC4KnG3haXj3ZUvzpxDkIriIe0t_PUZfs_MAtWyBEEEl8xrxRdjmF0xwTQHnDE-g_nK5uUIJYPwt9KXjPjhbj-OXmsCgEAiSv1Ml/s1600/Gregson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp7IJJ2BzrZrA9YaMoXmBaYGIUI4vujer0nN-nbv8AC4KnG3haXj3ZUvzpxDkIriIe0t_PUZfs_MAtWyBEEEl8xrxRdjmF0xwTQHnDE-g_nK5uUIJYPwt9KXjPjhbj-OXmsCgEAiSv1Ml/s640/Gregson.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Boulton as Inspector Gregson from "The Woman in Green"</td></tr>
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Careful examination of the Universal films leads to a set of dimensions for Rathbone's hat, starting with a closeup from a high-contrast still from "Pursuit to Algiers."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ittfEpE6i2UtUE7bz_1SpOLGs9jBukkJVBJZgQ33hVyTFURZMglifdAjgoI1yLOIfxBoNExQK3mFlOcqjGmlQ61T6lRdHppdIHRbaqhpk5Bzl3YFtE7GX3QXEOKsyZCv_8X8g4UL4nV/s1600/Rathbone+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8ittfEpE6i2UtUE7bz_1SpOLGs9jBukkJVBJZgQ33hVyTFURZMglifdAjgoI1yLOIfxBoNExQK3mFlOcqjGmlQ61T6lRdHppdIHRbaqhpk5Bzl3YFtE7GX3QXEOKsyZCv_8X8g4UL4nV/s640/Rathbone+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Reference points from facial elements suggest these general dimensions for Rathbone's hat:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQxOoeoO2aZVB6QaNy7rPwCKK1acWHf41Jekc3g8uSoOL3M4gU-CNibuW1rSiFP4fs1fXoklbUeYf8BApZghnkoblV802xYp5u2YTyi4mhZ4KBC7_k-HBsYABh09JbdwoG2n2enF1HLVl/s1600/Rathbone+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpQxOoeoO2aZVB6QaNy7rPwCKK1acWHf41Jekc3g8uSoOL3M4gU-CNibuW1rSiFP4fs1fXoklbUeYf8BApZghnkoblV802xYp5u2YTyi4mhZ4KBC7_k-HBsYABh09JbdwoG2n2enF1HLVl/s640/Rathbone+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The hat also <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/118216759969087724610/albums/5968787357291363841?authkey=CIyinq-czKOhFg" target="_blank">appears in color in many of the lobby cards</a> from the film series (see slideshow below). Kodachrome 35mm color still film (introduced in 1936) could have been used for these pictures.  If the stills were not otherwise tinted by Universal's publicity department, it seems that Rathbone wore either brown or gray tweed hats.  Brown was a typical costume tone in black and white movies as it read well on screen.<br />
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One crucial fact about Rathbone's hat is that it was lined, possibly in white silk, as suggested by this photograph from "The Woman in Green."  Rathbone's hat hangs on the coat rack with the lining towards the viewer,  reflecting light from the set.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTd3j_8mDrflYcuPQYGDhnxs6aEWeVRp8YTubzOGlhPimFbmKG9wg__rKYdjiDyY4i2XHMOoOohaiSpnlfWZ9nYDbjykhI3BQfNKKaFj9HhWX127m5Ynhabclh5k-JQJkfo5GBQZBZMKRI/s1600/1945+Woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTd3j_8mDrflYcuPQYGDhnxs6aEWeVRp8YTubzOGlhPimFbmKG9wg__rKYdjiDyY4i2XHMOoOohaiSpnlfWZ9nYDbjykhI3BQfNKKaFj9HhWX127m5Ynhabclh5k-JQJkfo5GBQZBZMKRI/s640/1945+Woman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<h4>
Curious and Curiouser</h4>
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The hat offered at auction appears to differ from Rathbone's hat in several ways.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4gLQziILDdy17lvp7doc6t6ZzLJalnwdULq83WE4YxfpmFNlj8xKjUzGV0DmBMi5zI58dkW3GFVuYc1kZ3088XVwO-mMGeR1h5qXSWU9Vx3AcwBeN_slRHaKg22Gn5lPzcGx2fRUowBTZ/s1600/Auction+Hat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4gLQziILDdy17lvp7doc6t6ZzLJalnwdULq83WE4YxfpmFNlj8xKjUzGV0DmBMi5zI58dkW3GFVuYc1kZ3088XVwO-mMGeR1h5qXSWU9Vx3AcwBeN_slRHaKg22Gn5lPzcGx2fRUowBTZ/s640/Auction+Hat.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Fabric pattern -</b>  The photo of the auction hat seems darker than Rathbone's Donegal tweed weave.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgXQ6G8HErGyZ1EiTbN9379kv3RLtx7xMjrkh-kkxihm2hrppTM_VpiQXpdOYySdnrMOMxXLzDjf2IkFJ0g6yCLDhaEz1xYpORRwTKsL7h65o_FFGzjS23_4KOc7PtXxp1LtYwxCvt8F1/s1600/Auction+Hat+Label.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXgXQ6G8HErGyZ1EiTbN9379kv3RLtx7xMjrkh-kkxihm2hrppTM_VpiQXpdOYySdnrMOMxXLzDjf2IkFJ0g6yCLDhaEz1xYpORRwTKsL7h65o_FFGzjS23_4KOc7PtXxp1LtYwxCvt8F1/s640/Auction+Hat+Label.png" width="476" /></a></div>
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However, this auction picture above, showing the label, seems to show a weave more akin to the Donegal pattern.</div>
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<b>Brim depth </b>-  The auction hat appears to have a shorter brim, less than 2.25 inches.</div>
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<b>Band height -</b>  The auction hat appears to have a narrower or shorter band than Rathbone's.</div>
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<b>Lining color - </b> Rathbone's hat, at least in "The Woman in Green," appears to be lined in a light-colored fabric.</div>
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Rathbone's hat from the Universal series was a success because it evolved the great detective's deerstalker to a more contemporary yet distinctive style.  In so doing, by the way, Universal's costume designers tipped their hats, as it were, to a prior Sherlock, Clive Brook, who wore the headgear for the first sound Sherlock Holmes film in 1929.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO_RmwM5kSOPR0Jm_U640huEbyQT3pKnrpngfXwkG4lN_BRxOiA1-F19a6847AoZTrhgawq7VMVYHl7io9bMix2zfI-R16HconbaHXsMGXNvLZW2EObbMWnaiEPEn2TlFXHOW9iamG4Hb/s1600/1929+The+Return.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO_RmwM5kSOPR0Jm_U640huEbyQT3pKnrpngfXwkG4lN_BRxOiA1-F19a6847AoZTrhgawq7VMVYHl7io9bMix2zfI-R16HconbaHXsMGXNvLZW2EObbMWnaiEPEn2TlFXHOW9iamG4Hb/s640/1929+The+Return.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clive Brook, with H. Reeves Smith, from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes"</td></tr>
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Holmesians, what say you?  Is there cause for doubt?  And are there Sherlockian wardrobe elements, perhaps from films long gone, you would like to have? <br />
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UPDATE: </h4>
We were contacted by the owner of the hat, who gave us this statement:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The Basil Rathbone hat recently sold at auction has an iron-clad chain of evidence leading right back to the costumer for the Universal Sherlock Holmes films, and indeed couldn't have been sold as represented without it being completely vetted. The fact is that Rathbone had several hats that he wore throughout the series, similarly styled. Speculation based on hand-tinted lobby cards, or a grainy black and white screen captures, or estimates of size, etc., based upon a thumbnail photograph without anything else in the photograph for context or comparison is, to put it as gently as possible, worthless. To be compelled to debate this, or even dignify it with a response, is to give it credence. It's Rathbone's hat (at least it is one of them). This piece has done nothing but cast doubt on something that is not in doubt, and irresponsibly forced a “defense” for something that should not have to be defended. </blockquote>
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