I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Moriarty Afoot at the Publisher

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"It is a capital mistake" [SCAN]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccujpXBKofOootNdtMSKtRZCTWAC4tClpNfJR5mhkt-fGzGUq5lCwDF3gL3f1YcdQ6ySpvD-p8TGUB8PQILK4pRR7c2Uw7k3WcQAk_YpfUGnTkkbazaoHFDIeWdms6PusQAPSDcBHAJZO/s1600/Horowitz+-+Moriarty+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Capital!" border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccujpXBKofOootNdtMSKtRZCTWAC4tClpNfJR5mhkt-fGzGUq5lCwDF3gL3f1YcdQ6ySpvD-p8TGUB8PQILK4pRR7c2Uw7k3WcQAk_YpfUGnTkkbazaoHFDIeWdms6PusQAPSDcBHAJZO/s1600/Horowitz+-+Moriarty+header.jpg" title="Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
You may recall that in 2011, Anthony Horowitz's <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1vvAyS0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel</a></i> was published. The book was significant in that it was the first pastiche ever authorized by the Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. and reviews were favorable on the way to its becoming a global bestseller.<br />
<br />
<br />
Horowitz has written the sequel, <i><b>Moriarty </b></i>(<a href="http://amzn.to/YQc366">Amazon US</a> |<a href="http://amzn.to/1pEVJeI"> Amazon UK</a>) that will be released later this month. The plot is as follows, according to Amazon:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sherlock Holmes is dead. Days after Holmes and his arch-enemy Moriarty fall to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls, Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York. The death of Moriarty has created a poisonous vacuum which has been swiftly filled by a fiendish new criminal mastermind who has risen to take his place. Ably assisted by Inspector Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard, a devoted student of Holmes's methods of investigation and deduction, Frederick Chase must forge a path through the darkest corners of the capital to shine light on this shadowy figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, a man determined to engulf London in a tide of murder and menace. </blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQsNhQK458LAsL8__ZvUyqpiTkckTw5thGTndYIZkNviWnWcrrEW9zRFrL8RFdpnu01F38wUVbWueNTfeWU1gCnzTn4Lh4e2tKGbFBuZmHOqd7SbzJlwvwMNvhyphenhyphenLlM5rwyLQblSX-2qQP/s1600/Horowitz+-+Moriarty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAQsNhQK458LAsL8__ZvUyqpiTkckTw5thGTndYIZkNviWnWcrrEW9zRFrL8RFdpnu01F38wUVbWueNTfeWU1gCnzTn4Lh4e2tKGbFBuZmHOqd7SbzJlwvwMNvhyphenhyphenLlM5rwyLQblSX-2qQP/s1600/Horowitz+-+Moriarty.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<br />
But there's mayhem and menace afoot before the books even hit the shelves on October 23. T<i>he New York Times</i> picked up on this as they noted <a href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/capitalized-clues-to-a-glitch/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad&_r=0" target="_blank">Capitalized Clues to a Glitch</a>. In the text of the advance reading copies, they saw sentences that didn't seem to fit:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">NO NEED TO COMPLICATE THINGS HERE, I THINK</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">WHAT I’VE WRITTEN IS BROADLY TRUE</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">IT MAKES NO SENSE FOR FREDERICK CHASE TO HAVE READ THE SIGN OF FOUR</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;">I’M NOT CHANGING THIS</span></blockquote>
It turns out that Horowitz's notes back to his editor made it past the typesetter's eyes.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thankfully, it was a gentlemanly exchange.<br /><br />
<i>h/t to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10102659991697193&id=8227725" target="_blank">Ray Betzner</a> for the find</i><br />
--<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=thebakerstree-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=140910947X&asins=140910947X&linkId=KR3DCD2W2LCMOZ76&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;">
</iframe>       <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=thebakstrblo-21&marketplace=amazon&region=GB&placement=140910947X&asins=140910947X&linkId=BKK5AUA2BRX6ZU7K&show_border=false&link_opens_in_new_window=true" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div>

Moriarty Afoot at the Publisher

"It is a capital mistake" [SCAN] You may recall that in 2011, Anthony Horowitz's The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes N...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Episode 68: Sherlock Holmes on Radio, Part 1

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h4 style="clear: both;">“by which such people collect the news of the countryside” [LION]</h4><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZeGWaJ3zhoK6rr5fIRNQGh3KJvc6UPZm0XVNuXhuQYRUI-1H7W898Eny1be9nnxPKArKS4PijrBC7flPb2Vpgr8mkcnc4wGpYoJXHAo2VSj_MD2XyZXsiee_wBSMeWziwdULVvep_UO_7V9RMQxuTXHEfGQlQtc65eP4wUT_ka607sY3T2FopQMCGmS0/s691/ihearofsherlock68-header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="691" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxZeGWaJ3zhoK6rr5fIRNQGh3KJvc6UPZm0XVNuXhuQYRUI-1H7W898Eny1be9nnxPKArKS4PijrBC7flPb2Vpgr8mkcnc4wGpYoJXHAo2VSj_MD2XyZXsiee_wBSMeWziwdULVvep_UO_7V9RMQxuTXHEfGQlQtc65eP4wUT_ka607sY3T2FopQMCGmS0/w640-h418/ihearofsherlock68-header.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div>
<br />
Sherlock Holmes has a rich history on radio, beginning in the 1930s and running clear through to the 2010s. From William Gillette to Basil Rathbone, Cedric Hardwicke to John Gielgud, and Carleton Hobbs to Roger Rees.<br />
<br />
But there is one production that stands heads and shoulders above the rest. The BBC Radio 4 series starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams (<a href="https://amzn.to/2ZfyLYP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a>) managed to do what no other production had done before it: to dramatize all 60 Sherlock Holmes with the same principal cast members.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wUMXntsZnS8Fh4RWuqDYozrSzUhmMgvjrS3oKP5-8eK_emEwCKfqdppRebUMBtw3rZFmLnko7Ij8alk3a-n1PJ_wLPsJL3cd1y6PDLPbz7A2GfVeB50WWZmWsMDOawpIapjJuymAZ089/s1600/Bert+Coules.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="BBC Sherlock Holmes series head writer Bert Coules" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5wUMXntsZnS8Fh4RWuqDYozrSzUhmMgvjrS3oKP5-8eK_emEwCKfqdppRebUMBtw3rZFmLnko7Ij8alk3a-n1PJ_wLPsJL3cd1y6PDLPbz7A2GfVeB50WWZmWsMDOawpIapjJuymAZ089/s1600/Bert+Coules.jpg" title="Bert Coules" /></a></div>
<br />
The head writer behind the project was Bert Coules, and Bert is our guest for a very special two-part series examining the history of Sherlock Holmes on the radio, with a particular focus on the BBC series. In this interview you'll not only hear Bert's origins with Sherlock Holmes, but you'll also be treated to excerpts from some of the productions throughout the 20th century.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cO4jPNmbqAZLp6jZV9cwn01ulURHQqabAtVO_cdsYYLKPJo1MQ32j20KmjgZATY5CvmkyYk4TzrHCrK4S3L1WIuTRBFe2FkhhVVyTfzKtO45Zm_usfEcP1S2A6ZJgIupTpY0IBr8XdPV/s1600/Roger+Rees+and+Howard+Crawford.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bert Coules' first writing job led to Robin Rees as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles" border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-cO4jPNmbqAZLp6jZV9cwn01ulURHQqabAtVO_cdsYYLKPJo1MQ32j20KmjgZATY5CvmkyYk4TzrHCrK4S3L1WIuTRBFe2FkhhVVyTfzKtO45Zm_usfEcP1S2A6ZJgIupTpY0IBr8XdPV/s1600/Roger+Rees+and+Howard+Crawford.jpg" title="Roger Rees and Crawford Logan in the BBC's Hound of the Baskervilles" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
And for those of you paying attention, there is a money quote about Nigel Bruce buried within.<br />
<br />
In addition to our conversation with Bert, we also get to some very important housekeeping, including announcing the winners of the Tom Richmond print and pen from <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/06/episode-65-art-in-blood.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 65</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU0YNyP183UB1vp1CsjyVitfB2WXKS0GtW-Q7084WZjeW2e27tzashxbrBZ5fx32kreG7cPCvrrYscULF4Fjf_5xnlfPYY11u9PwU3vAUhRhh2l17ns-tdfK3oEYadaxFdUVuUnoeTIuF/s1600/221BBC+original.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The original 221 BBC by Bert Coules, published by the Northern Musgraves" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfU0YNyP183UB1vp1CsjyVitfB2WXKS0GtW-Q7084WZjeW2e27tzashxbrBZ5fx32kreG7cPCvrrYscULF4Fjf_5xnlfPYY11u9PwU3vAUhRhh2l17ns-tdfK3oEYadaxFdUVuUnoeTIuF/s1600/221BBC+original.jpg" title="221 BBC by Bert Coules" width="141" /></a></div>
Our Gas-Lamp this episode comes to us courtesy of Bert Coules himself, from the original edition of <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/221bbc.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">221 BBC: Writing for the World's Only Complete Dramatized Canon and Beyond</a></i>, as we read the Introduction. The updated and revised edition (via the link) is available now from Wessex Press.<br />
<br />
And stay tuned for part 2 of this interview in <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose69" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 69</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<a href="http://ihearofsherlock.libsyn.com/episode-68-sherlock-holmes-on-radio-part-1" target="_blank">Download [Save As]</a> | File size 38 MB, 1:22:53 </h3>
<br />
<iframe title="Embed Player" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/3090004/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/414851/time-start/00:00:00/playlist-height/200/direction/backward/download/yes/font-color/FFFFFF" height="192" width="100%" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" oallowfullscreen="true" msallowfullscreen="true" style="border-width: medium; border-style: none; border-color: currentcolor; border-image: initial;" data-dashlane-rid="d3b5640fde689760" data-dashlane-classification="other" data-dashlane-frameid="853"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>Links</b>:</h2>
<ul>
<li>Other Sherlock Holmes podcasts: <a href="http://bakerstreetbabes.com/" target="_blank">The Baker Street Babes</a>, <a href="http://www.three-patch.com/" target="_blank">The Three Patch Podcast</a></li>
<li>Burt's appearance on <a href="http://www.podasterynetwork.com/2014/09/16/elementary-look-sherlock-holmes/" target="_blank">The Country Squire Podcast</a></li>
<li><a href="http://tomtrager.tumblr.com/post/55792299472/watson-and-holmes-calvin-and-hobbes-mash-up" target="_blank">Calvin and Hobbes reimagined as Cumberbatch and Freeman</a> (courtesy of Tom Trager)</li>
<li><a href="http://bertcoules.co.uk/" target="_blank">BertCoules.co.uk</a></li>
<li><a href="http://merrisonholmes.com/" target="_blank">The unofficial BBC Radio series website</a>, maintained by Bert Coules.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pXqxnbevi-8G9xFni-LkSCQW0a9MU0AoLEROYsZw1QKWBSmYbwEJASZzFunQ_cfZUmQ7IVDSxdxNY7Z1KaAZYm2VrDMnIrFaa5fcs2zcg8-SeJUu7_Pn-t4ZT3JgyoU_Xj-VYA89kE_l/s1600/Cumberbatch+and+Hobbs.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cumberbatch and Hobbs" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pXqxnbevi-8G9xFni-LkSCQW0a9MU0AoLEROYsZw1QKWBSmYbwEJASZzFunQ_cfZUmQ7IVDSxdxNY7Z1KaAZYm2VrDMnIrFaa5fcs2zcg8-SeJUu7_Pn-t4ZT3JgyoU_Xj-VYA89kE_l/s1600/Cumberbatch+and+Hobbs.jpg" title="Calvin and Hobbs tribute to Holmes and Watson" width="316" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
More links available on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and of course, our <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock" target="_blank">web- and app-based Flipboard magazine</a>.<br />
<div>
<br />
<br />
Please <a href="http://bit.ly/ihearofsherlock" target="_blank">subscribe to us on iTunes</a> and be kind enough to <b><i>leave a rating or review for the show</i></b>. And please tell a friend about us, in any fashion you feel comfortable.<br />
<br />
Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (ihearofsherlock AT gmail DOT com), call us at (774) 221-READ (7323).<br />
<br />
And above all, please let our sponsors know that you heard us rant and rave about their excellence during the programme: <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/" target="_blank">Wessex Press</a> and <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">The Baker Street Journal</a> - and as always, a very special sponsor.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "scottmonty-20";
amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual";
amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart";
amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon";
amzn_assoc_region = "US";
amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links";
amzn_assoc_asins = "1602830452";
amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit";
amzn_assoc_linkid = "903324650ac0c9cc3e191ca5467157a9";
</script><br />
<script src="//z-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/onejs?MarketPlace=US"></script><br />
<br /></div>
<br /><br />

Episode 68: Sherlock Holmes on Radio, Part 1

“by which such people collect the news of the countryside” [LION] Sherlock Holmes has a rich history on radio, beginning in the 1930s and ...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

A Sherlockian Link to the Late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire" [IDEN]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWTsdMoo9y6qx6JOR1lWNVl5DkcvYmSI48pZ1q7Jf94abc5s2apQEOvvseOW5CFsfVvEK7twRjNkVA0ilTuSL_zCCNxmp4jnlZakIoW-OGHwk4y6uunVbPmAoTCX18FtVNS7aAlnArIVa/s1600/Chatsworth+House.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilWTsdMoo9y6qx6JOR1lWNVl5DkcvYmSI48pZ1q7Jf94abc5s2apQEOvvseOW5CFsfVvEK7twRjNkVA0ilTuSL_zCCNxmp4jnlZakIoW-OGHwk4y6uunVbPmAoTCX18FtVNS7aAlnArIVa/s1600/Chatsworth+House.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Yesterday, Deborah Vivien Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29348946" target="_blank">passed away</a>, aged 94. She was the public face of <a href="http://www.chatsworth.org/" target="_blank">Chatsworth</a>, the grand estate that her late husband, the 11th Duke of Devonshire inherited upon the death of his father in 1950. "Debo" took on an active role in restoration of the house, as well as running its gardens and other commercial operations that gave both the public and entertainment media access to the site.<br />
<br />
She called herself a housewife, but oh what a house it was!<br />
<br />
Yet it is not the Dowager Duchess, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth_House" target="_blank">Chatsworth House</a> itself that compelled us to cover what would otherwise seem like a non-Sherlock Holmes-related news event. If you're not familiar with the name of the grand edifice, perhaps you'll recognize it from its façade and view over the bridge:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwsiC9uXm21_G30CgieGr2zKe3-EMzCUH3fN7OhDx8SD00IY_bc3kOBsyNOd8Rt-7jZuQ3ET1feGuwoMtRkazwXibLQ26jxo3wfBytbCTSudb9rY2k5LDx8hAWqhleQPHHattOXSPcpds/s1600/Chatsworth_Bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chatsworth House and Chatsworth Bridge, via Wikimedia" border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpwsiC9uXm21_G30CgieGr2zKe3-EMzCUH3fN7OhDx8SD00IY_bc3kOBsyNOd8Rt-7jZuQ3ET1feGuwoMtRkazwXibLQ26jxo3wfBytbCTSudb9rY2k5LDx8hAWqhleQPHHattOXSPcpds/s1600/Chatsworth_Bridge.jpg" title="Chatsworth House and Bridge" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
If that looks vaguely familiar to you, it ought to. For it was none other than the filming location of "The Priory School" in the Granada Sherlock Holmes series, where it stood in for Holdernesse Hall. Perhaps you might recognize it in proper perspective:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jAzKcRPcyD14i-GvQfvI0BhiSTTMEIg9Epzp8M0bizSt0S0YM7hGwN-29mMddkmSUEPXmAtIemtL07nw_X9YsD1H3v4Uyn-uDQuu5WAgHUIe59XxpZXyZ4KheQRxHfwHbisLi-04hgwN/s1600/Chatworth+Bridge+-+Priory+School+-+Jeremy+Brett+as+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chatsworth House as Holdernesse Hall in "The Priory School" with Jeremy Brett" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8jAzKcRPcyD14i-GvQfvI0BhiSTTMEIg9Epzp8M0bizSt0S0YM7hGwN-29mMddkmSUEPXmAtIemtL07nw_X9YsD1H3v4Uyn-uDQuu5WAgHUIe59XxpZXyZ4KheQRxHfwHbisLi-04hgwN/s1600/Chatworth+Bridge+-+Priory+School+-+Jeremy+Brett+as+Sherlock+Holmes.jpg" title="Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in "The Priory School" with Holdernesse Hall in the background" width="428" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Another item worth noting is that a paper was presented at a meeting of <a href="http://www.amateurmendicantsociety.org/2012/10/fall-meeting-report.html" target="_blank">the Amateur Mendicant Society of Detroit two years ago</a>, positing that the 6th Duke of Holdernesse was modeled on the 8th Duke of Devonshire, whose home was Chatsworth House.<br />
<br />
If you'd like to learn more about the "stately Holmes," please click through to <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/04/experience-sherlock-holmes-filming.html#.VCLdTvldWAU" target="_blank">our post on the comprehensive guide on the filming locations of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series</a>.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<br />

A Sherlockian Link to the Late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

"a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire" [IDEN] Yesterday, Deborah Vivien Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire passed away ,...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Sherlock Holmes and the Wold Newton Universe

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<h4>
"I had no idea that such individuals exist outside of stories." [STUD]</h4>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCaVRvlMkqwaIJMgJ3kVOjFXOMVuJodrKy99NkfUdyPfnPP7XzqFmEPGIFoLRbtUbtSd1kbHQHcKFkTBPXg0E_3ywzx7GPDliLIdrilbCbgQG3mpNyp9aP5sIRPDs9SFxJVG7IDV4P_RX/s1600/peerless01a.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes meets Tarzan?" border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCaVRvlMkqwaIJMgJ3kVOjFXOMVuJodrKy99NkfUdyPfnPP7XzqFmEPGIFoLRbtUbtSd1kbHQHcKFkTBPXg0E_3ywzx7GPDliLIdrilbCbgQG3mpNyp9aP5sIRPDs9SFxJVG7IDV4P_RX/s1600/peerless01a.gif" title="The Adventure of the Peerless Peer - PJ Farmer" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<br />
As a kid, around the same time I began reading the Sherlock Holmes canon, I was also a pretty big fan of comic books.  These were the days (the late 70s and early 80s) when the average price of a comic book was about 30 cents, and we used to get marked down comics at the local five-and-dime for ten cents.  Back in those days, one of my favorite types of comic books were the ones that featured "crossovers": <i>The Brave & the Bold</i>, for example, which always featured Batman teaming up with another hero; or one of my other favorites, a DC/Marvel collaboration that featured Spiderman and Superman teaming up against the Incredible Hulk. (In fact, Batman even teamed up with a 135-year-old Sherlock Holmes in <a href="http://crossover.bureau42.com/zbatmanholmes.html">Detective Comics #572</a>.)<br />
<br />
But those crossovers are pretty small potatoes when compared to the Wold Newton Universe, a massive crossover concept developed by science fiction author Philip José Farmer.  Farmer, who hailed from Peoria, IL (very close to my hometown), wrote many novels that featured collaborations and connections among a host of famous literary characters, including but not limited to: Tarzan, Doc Savage, the Scarlet Pimpernel, Lord Peter Wimsey, Solomon Kane, Arsène Lupin, and of course, Sherlock Holmes.  The basic idea presented by Farmer in some of his novels, beginning with <i>Tarzan Alive</i> in 1972, was that a mysterious meteorite fell to earth near Wold Newton in Yorkshire in the year 1795, and that radiation from the impact caused genetic mutations in the occupants of a nearby coach.  The descendants of these travelers were, according to Farmer, some of the famous fictional characters mentioned above.<br />
<br />
The Wold Newton Universe, as it was dubbed by Win Scott Eckert, is not limited to Farmer's work: Eckert and other fans of Farmer's work have greatly expanded the Wold Newton mythology to a host of other fictional characters.  The development of the Wold Newton Universe is not unlike the "great game" that is so popular with Sherlockians around the world. Indeed, Mr. Farmer, like William S. Baring-Gould and various other Sherlockians, treated Holmes and Lord Greystoke and others as if they were real people whose stories were deliberately fictionalized by Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, et al.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I wish I could report that Philip José Farmer was as skilled at writing further adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Lord Greystoke as were the authors to whose work he paid tribute.  But sadly, I have read one of the novels that teamed up Tarzan with Holmes and Watson, <i>The Adventure of the Peerless Peer</i> (1974). I found it to be an absolutely painful read, nothing like either Doyle's or Burroughs's work.  Holmes in particular is presented as pompous ass, for the most part.  Lord Greystoke fares a bit better, but not very well.  And Watson is an absolute bumbling oaf in the book. Still, there is something about the <b>idea </b>of the Wold Newton Universe that appeals to my twelve year old, comic book-reading self.<br />
<br />
You can find out more about the mythology of the Wold Newton Universe at Win Scott Eckert's <a href="http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp2.htm" target="_blank">site devoted to the subject</a>.  The website is a bit scattered and difficult to navigate, but there is quite a bit of information about the subject of the Wold Newton Family, including a list of Farmer's works that incorporate the various characters of that universe, as well as a variety of works by other authors that have been woven into the tapestry.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />