I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Sherlock Holmes and Everyday Life: the Barber Shop

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"the scissors of the barber" [BLUE]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6Pn0uNZdls7r9kM7Zen0P0750y7ZNFGV0rggi_23XmKqjM7jmstzTdvBuU5XMx-e3uE6LRMAdz2aH-VPIuufwtsQ08mEIjJe-pj1Rc6FxhXhHihAwewu8wAqp_2DAOT7PdgtrnZAEWlv/s1600/Holmes+barber.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6Pn0uNZdls7r9kM7Zen0P0750y7ZNFGV0rggi_23XmKqjM7jmstzTdvBuU5XMx-e3uE6LRMAdz2aH-VPIuufwtsQ08mEIjJe-pj1Rc6FxhXhHihAwewu8wAqp_2DAOT7PdgtrnZAEWlv/s1600/Holmes+barber.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some of the great Canonical omissions are those of the everyday life of the good doctor and the detective. While we're fortunate to know Dr. Watson's tobacconist (Bradley's, Oxford Street [HOUN]) and that Holmes was under the care of a Harley Street physician (Dr. Moore Agar [DEVI]), we seldom read of the mundane ins and outs of living on Baker Street.<br />
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One such example is that of the local barber. There are precisely three instances of hair being cut in the Sherlock Holmes stories:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The recent trimmings of Henry Baker's barber that appear in his battered old hat in "The Blue Carbuncle" </li>
<li>The beautiful chestnut hair that Violet Hunter, which Jephro Rucastle required to be cut quite short as a condition of Miss Hunter's employment in "The Copper Beeches."</li>
<li>Holmes himself mentioned that his follicles would be groomed in "His Last Bow" as he intoned, "With my hair cut and a few other superficial changes I shall no doubt reappear at Claridge's tomorrow as I was before this American stunt."</li>
</ol>
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We know that Holmes and Watson must have had their hair cut regularly and perhaps they even enjoyed an occasional shave at the barber shop. The Granada series, in its first round of stories dramatized with Jeremy Brett in the title role (<i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i> - <a href="http://amzn.to/1qX1BV9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1sRziqy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>), gave us a marvelous glimpse into this area of Baker Street living in the opening scenes of "<a href="http://youtu.be/pgHO4Op6zc8?t=3m47s" target="_blank">The Resident Patient</a>":<br />
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That it also includes Beethoven's Violin Concerto - our favorite piece of music - is, as Holmes put it, "an extra."<br />
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Of course, the Granada series is not alone in referencing barbers. If you're a fan of the 1940s radio series with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, you may recall "<a href="https://archive.org/details/SherlockHolmes-CaseOfTheDemonBarber" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and the Demon Barber</a>" which first aired on January 28, 1946.<br />
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So imagine our amusement when our Facebook fan David Somen shared this with us, remarking, "I saw this barbers shop in Thame, Oxford, UK last week and it just tickled me."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZSSYhZpIkgRSbiSTNRfSggVCwXXBXB8GC0W2rEiER2KVbMBuZpRjDAn1TZxgGkRh1Ek5tcN0iKr3sAXLs9COcC5W1CV5yqZSfpQXCRyr19AMZ21dOiatMuhdVuQyNXam6HSZNHrgvtjt/s1600/Sherlock+Combs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZSSYhZpIkgRSbiSTNRfSggVCwXXBXB8GC0W2rEiER2KVbMBuZpRjDAn1TZxgGkRh1Ek5tcN0iKr3sAXLs9COcC5W1CV5yqZSfpQXCRyr19AMZ21dOiatMuhdVuQyNXam6HSZNHrgvtjt/s1600/Sherlock+Combs.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Us too, David.<br />
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What's an example of Sherlock Holmes in everyday life - or an example of everyday life in the Sherlock Holmes stories - that captures your attention?<br />
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--<br />
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Sherlock Holmes and Everyday Life: the Barber Shop

"the scissors of the barber" [BLUE] Some of the great Canonical omissions are those of the everyday life of the good doctor a...

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by Scott Monty

Celebrity Deathmatch Pits Sherlock Holmes Against Jack the Ripper

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"Might I trouble you for a match?" [FINA]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCCfCoORSaU3Cty5OTqCpoCtJS9qpphr4HI7YtFY76QzUHUdW4hy3QU5-88go8Eoc8WyJsN6oTfRqmMFTeNHENchL7i1TFCLh27qHZF5LChm1EoQR53IZHVNsm6phdMuqYTjXSnVTEq44/s1600/Celebrity+Deathmatch.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A claymation Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper - you won't believe what happens next" border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCCfCoORSaU3Cty5OTqCpoCtJS9qpphr4HI7YtFY76QzUHUdW4hy3QU5-88go8Eoc8WyJsN6oTfRqmMFTeNHENchL7i1TFCLh27qHZF5LChm1EoQR53IZHVNsm6phdMuqYTjXSnVTEq44/s1600/Celebrity+Deathmatch.PNG" title="Celebrity Deathmatch: Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper" width="640" /></a></div>
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From 1998-2002, MTV ran a claymation program called <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Deathmatch" target="_blank">Celebrity Deathmatch</a></i>. It featured two celebrities facing off in a wrestling ring and typically involved exaggerated and gruesome injuries. Examples include Marilyn Manson vs. Charles Manson, The Three Tenors vs. the Three Stooges, etc.<br />
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After <a href="https://twitter.com/NickMartorelli/status/486929144379609088" target="_blank">a late-night Twitter exchange</a> with a couple of New York-area Sherlockians, we were reminded of the Celebrity Deathmatch that involved Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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In this episode, we find the ringside commentators Johnny and Nick stepping out of a time machine and into the streets of Victorian London, only to find Debbie Matenopoulos being assaulted by Jack the Ripper. Then, who should appear out of the fog but Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.<br />
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The crowd begins to gather around as one announcer observes, "Every walk of London's pub crawl life is here: ruffians, scalliwags, and I think I just spotted a hooligan."<br />
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And with that, "It's brainiac vs. maniac!"<br />
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<h3>
<b>WARNING</b>: graphic claymation content</h3>
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<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/349969244" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://vimeo.com/349969244">Celebrity Deathmatch</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user101140908">IHearOf Sherlock</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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--<br />
<br />

Celebrity Deathmatch Pits Sherlock Holmes Against Jack the Ripper

"Might I trouble you for a match?" [FINA] From 1998-2002, MTV ran a claymation program called Celebrity Deathmatch . It feat...

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by Scott Monty

A New Female Sidekick on Elementary

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"This is Miss Kitty Winter" [ILLU]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMemjCQtaf4Er7shQloauvGxx9c4qLeMaye7y2Defa6gXnTEYUn2XNHS3qJJ44RDBYAeKKMhyphenhyphen0suh_UQ5IjlCpGZkGhkFuhzVbkOHf0fj5l7N-SFvmySstwOXjaii_wy_d8CLdRrwMYWc/s1600/Elementary+-+Kitty+Winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMemjCQtaf4Er7shQloauvGxx9c4qLeMaye7y2Defa6gXnTEYUn2XNHS3qJJ44RDBYAeKKMhyphenhyphen0suh_UQ5IjlCpGZkGhkFuhzVbkOHf0fj5l7N-SFvmySstwOXjaii_wy_d8CLdRrwMYWc/s1600/Elementary+-+Kitty+Winter.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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As <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1lZ6Kpo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Elementary</a></i> has been renewed for a third season on CBS, the team is pairing up Sherlock Holmes with another female.<br />
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The climax of season 2 saw Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) moving out of the brownstone that Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) shares with her, and Holmes heading over the pond to help out MI6.<br />
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Once there in season 3, he'll unite with his protegee, Kitty Winter, who will be played by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1166041/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Ophelia Lovibond</a>. The role is expected to be similar to that of Watson, although there's no news on whether she's a sober companion. This will be a recurring role for Ms. Lovibond, which means that like the overused Irene Adler, we'll get to know this character all too well.<br />
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Of course, Kitty Winter originally appeared in "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client," where she was located  by Shinwell Johnson upon a request by Sherlock Holmes. She had knowledge of Baron Gruner and gave personal testimony to Violet DeMerville, to prevent her marriage to the baron. We'll leave this spoiler-free for those of you who haven't yet read the story. But we do recommend you listen to our Kitty Winter promotion in <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/06/episode-65-art-in-blood.html#.U793tPldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 65</a>.<br />
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Because Elementary is only loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters and plots, here's no telling what this Kitty Winter will do. You'll have to stay tuned throughout the season. We'll be following along as well, as our correspondent James O'Leary has a particular passion for the show.<br />
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Incidentally, Ms. Lovibond played another Kitty - Kitty Carlton - in the Encore series <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1mF3YKf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Titanic: Blood and Steel</a></i>, a dramatization around the building of the <i>RMS Titanic</i>.<br />
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<i>Source: <a href="http://tvline.com/2014/07/10/elementary-ophelia-lovibond-season-3-sherlocks-protege/" target="_blank">TV Line</a></i><br />
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A New Female Sidekick on Elementary

"This is Miss Kitty Winter" [ILLU] As Elementary has been renewed for a third season on CBS, the team is pairing up Sherloc...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

First Look at Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

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"Really, Mr. Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined" [HOUN]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAOu78nMQyTnLvqCDXJ7g1Z0HR-UukKf9SUcOSK9jvTY2WmgN4t25BoJIMF_XPVEzaAP3BoVwyeUJkzvZP30IiLLrXw_7g598fJZkc9pIRel5rGDwG2xM21TMCqtf1PM2gzezULR9lxiy/s1600/sherlock-holmes-ian-mckellen-first-look-mr-holmes-hd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes at 93" border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAOu78nMQyTnLvqCDXJ7g1Z0HR-UukKf9SUcOSK9jvTY2WmgN4t25BoJIMF_XPVEzaAP3BoVwyeUJkzvZP30IiLLrXw_7g598fJZkc9pIRel5rGDwG2xM21TMCqtf1PM2gzezULR9lxiy/s1600/sherlock-holmes-ian-mckellen-first-look-mr-holmes-hd.jpg" title="The new face of Sherlock Holmes" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div>
This week, we were treated to a first look of the latest Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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No, it wasn't Benedict Cumberbatch in Series 4 of Sherlock, nor was it Robert Downey, Jr. in the <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2011/04/episode-32-untitled-les-klinger-sequel.html#.U79pEPldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Untitled Sherlock Holmes Sequel</a>.<br />
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It was none other than Sir Ian McKellen, who in a flash of 21st century Hollywood promotion, tweeted:<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Over 70 actors have previously played Sherlock Holmes. Now he's 93 years old and it's my turn. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MrHolmes?src=hash">#MrHolmes</a> <a href="http://t.co/B9HkUgfkCv">pic.twitter.com/B9HkUgfkCv</a><br />
— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) <a href="https://twitter.com/IanMcKellen/statuses/486908310147194880">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></center>
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You'll recall that we initially covered the project on September 5, 2013 ("<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/09/sir-ian-mckellen-is-sherlock-holmes.html#.U79povldWSp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sir Ian McKellen *Is* Sherlock Holmes</a>"). At the time, the film was said to be based on Mitch Cullen's <i>A Slight Trick of the Mind</i> (<a href="http://amzn.to/1y1saus" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1rcYlE7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>).<br />
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<div>
In what might be called <b><i>A Slight Trick of the Hollywood Executive</i></b>, the movie does not take its title from the Mitch Cullen book upon which it is based, but rather goes with the title <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3168230/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_2" target="_blank">Mr. Holmes</a></i>, evidently attempting to capture on <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/06/new-sherlock-holmes-boom-what-new.html#.U79q8_ldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the Holmes-mania that is once again gripping the public's imagination</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_7Hc-aXcR_ZiQBgveO4UDI-gbEcZcubCXc75HRqOZ9cSgxnLPlpCWc0R-a1xqhi52ssK6Vt1vXrSmSBJqkPOlSQyY2cFnL1IIvj42TWVGS5fvqkuMJ2Yj_sAsgFSGs2vxn_x-4tTLH9D/s1600/Ian+McKellen+as+Mr.+Holmes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC_7Hc-aXcR_ZiQBgveO4UDI-gbEcZcubCXc75HRqOZ9cSgxnLPlpCWc0R-a1xqhi52ssK6Vt1vXrSmSBJqkPOlSQyY2cFnL1IIvj42TWVGS5fvqkuMJ2Yj_sAsgFSGs2vxn_x-4tTLH9D/s1600/Ian+McKellen+as+Mr.+Holmes.png" width="397" /></a></div>
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The look is reminiscent of Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqEjRlV39IDbMS-6X-FutW8udqwRyrFgEPR9CcPhyqBb0I1OyZkjgboSDeEiQ5be9OLmzmF8Eb-unOfmmQyFYwHDo1UTQwAvm8luCKJYD4WJREzE6xcjEfMmABabAp-DgLvGs4bXAL7rf/s1600/Peter+Cushing+as+Sherlock+Holmes+on+the+moor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes on the moor - Peter Cushing in The Hound of the Baskervilles" border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqEjRlV39IDbMS-6X-FutW8udqwRyrFgEPR9CcPhyqBb0I1OyZkjgboSDeEiQ5be9OLmzmF8Eb-unOfmmQyFYwHDo1UTQwAvm8luCKJYD4WJREzE6xcjEfMmABabAp-DgLvGs4bXAL7rf/s1600/Peter+Cushing+as+Sherlock+Holmes+on+the+moor.jpg" title="Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes" width="640" /></a></div>
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The story is set in 1947, where Sherlock Holmes is enjoying his retirement in Sussex, keeping bees and a journal. He recalls one of his greatest challenges - one that involved his housekeeper and her amateur detective son.</div>
<div>
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The film's release date is set for 2015 and is currently in pre-production. .<br />
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McKellen is a highly respected actor with legions of young fans from his appearances in the Lord of the Rings and X-Men movies, and dozens of awards from his acclaimed work. And he has grasped the power of social media (particularly Twitter) as he and good friend Sir Patrick Stewart have taken the platform by storm, with more than 1 million followers each.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Phoneboxes! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gogodididonyc?src=hash">#gogodididonyc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/TwoPlaysInRep">@TwoPlaysInRep</a> 11 shows left! <a href="http://t.co/IyhJYByPKo">pic.twitter.com/IyhJYByPKo</a><br />
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) <a href="https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/statuses/447405362837483520">March 22, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Okay Twitterverse, Caption This! <a href="http://t.co/LTv6H5VbhG">pic.twitter.com/LTv6H5VbhG</a><br />
— Ian McKellen (@IanMcKellen) <a href="https://twitter.com/IanMcKellen/statuses/476066304911491073">June 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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We're confident that Sir Ian's considerable skill will bring humanity and mature reflection to the character of Mr. Holmes. What do you think?<br />
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--<br />
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First Look at Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes

"Really, Mr. Holmes, this exceeds anything which I could have imagined" [HOUN] This week, we were treated to a first look o...

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by Scott Monty

New BSI Press Limited Edition Set to Benefit Undershaw

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"for the benefit of my friend" [DANC]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAuuBr06ZCfPJyjwnrSJ_RD-0XJVdQ1hTTO2KCoCYFqTlhIM1B_uHO7q24UYNo6vaFpi2DmKn0u8um8F6sxU-25BUuy602rjoO7Dok2H75ZhQUiKinwG0twtWErFPVpvwePV8ZimgCwA2/s1600/Undershaw+set.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAuuBr06ZCfPJyjwnrSJ_RD-0XJVdQ1hTTO2KCoCYFqTlhIM1B_uHO7q24UYNo6vaFpi2DmKn0u8um8F6sxU-25BUuy602rjoO7Dok2H75ZhQUiKinwG0twtWErFPVpvwePV8ZimgCwA2/s1600/Undershaw+set.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Baker Street Irregulars Press have released <i><b>The Undershaw Set</b></i> for sale, with the proceeds going toward the <a href="http://www.saveundershaw.com/" target="_blank">Undershaw Preservation Trust</a>.<br />
<br />
The BSI Press has published nine volumes in <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsimanuscriptseries.html" target="_blank">the BSI Manuscript Series</a>, 10 in <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsihistoryseries.html" target="_blank">the BSI History Series</a>, another four in <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/itemsforsale/bsiinternationalseries.html" target="_blank">the BSI International Series</a>, as well as a number of other books covering BSI expeditions and special events, scholarship and cross-country collaborations.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/Undershaw" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">We've covered the saga</a> surrounding the fight to save Conan Doyle's former home over the course of the better part of a decade. While the building has been spared from the demolitioner's bulldozer, plans are to make it a school and there is still significant work that needs to be done in order to preserve some of the original character and architecture.<br />
<br />
And you may recall that we interviewed one of the contributors to <i>The Undershaw Set</i>; Michael Dirda, BSI ("Langdale Pike") was our guest on <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2012/01/episode-38-on-conan-doyle.html#.U6ZqefldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IHOSE #38: On Conan Doyle</a>, which we recorded live at the 2012 BSI Weekend.<br />
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Release:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Now Available from</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The Baker Street Irregulars Press</div>
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A Limited Edition</div>
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<b>THE UNDERSHAW SET</b></h3>
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This slip-cased set contains signed, numbered, limited edition, specially bound copies of <i><b>On Conan Doyle</b></i> by Pulitzer Prize winning critic Michael Dirda and <i><b>The Remarkable Characters of Arthur Conan Doyle</b></i>, edited by Joel B. Silver. <br />
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The trade edition of <i><b>On Conan Doyle</b></i>, published by Princeton University Press, was praised as a perfect introduction to Doyle’s life and works. This limited edition contains a number of enhancements, including a new afterward by the author, plus illustrations and photographs.<br />
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<i><b>The Remarkable Characters of Arthur Conan Doyle</b></i> presents papers from the conference and exhibition of the same name, which showcased the characters found in Doyle’s wide variety of  popular fiction. This limited edition volume includes signatures of the editor and contributors.<br />
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All profits from the sale of this set will go to the Undershaw Preservation Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving and restoring the unique home designed and built by Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
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Only 80 sets of these beautiful books were produced. Each volume is bound in rich royal purple cloth with gold stamping and a matching custom slip-case. <i><b>The Undershaw Set</b></i> is available for $165.00, plus shipping.<br />
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Order your set now at: <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/">www.bakerstreetjournal.com</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANTFx2tFuRRu2Is08BwlCY2ctyhT_RscLA7tNQ467CQjnrEM4B30YJLke7PMt-jAQTlowhmSpnlr8u3oFY4s1fDDFBZfhDPqbe2MFogsyvKEPbXlMLoaeySTOjVSS6mifZMzTFCOc6PuS/s1600/Undershaw+-+Characters+sRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjANTFx2tFuRRu2Is08BwlCY2ctyhT_RscLA7tNQ467CQjnrEM4B30YJLke7PMt-jAQTlowhmSpnlr8u3oFY4s1fDDFBZfhDPqbe2MFogsyvKEPbXlMLoaeySTOjVSS6mifZMzTFCOc6PuS/s1600/Undershaw+-+Characters+sRGB.jpg" width="249" /></a>  <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEsgCy-pALBnATDpUlPZ-Aj5v_YOfSHosA3_bF4gSAk8AUUHn5-WARp7X7pKd394FgfR86oxsi0U6QYyuc_b3rETYf8NxmRF25SqsQgY4bqfFPAaWVfgJC2gVuA4lTHIPVfbSGE9ZKolv/s1600/Undershaw+-+Doyle+sRGB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrEsgCy-pALBnATDpUlPZ-Aj5v_YOfSHosA3_bF4gSAk8AUUHn5-WARp7X7pKd394FgfR86oxsi0U6QYyuc_b3rETYf8NxmRF25SqsQgY4bqfFPAaWVfgJC2gVuA4lTHIPVfbSGE9ZKolv/s1600/Undershaw+-+Doyle+sRGB.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>
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New BSI Press Limited Edition Set to Benefit Undershaw

"for the benefit of my friend" [DANC] The Baker Street Irregulars Press have released The Undershaw Set for sale, with the ...

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by Scott Monty

Book Review: It's Not Elementary: The Mistakes of Sherlock Holmes by Noah Axler

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"I am much mistaken..." [VALL]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeVEHNRA-3r0y-8WoikKPyA_o4QAOqNa2bFoXIsZ7srSNfBoyNE5DTF_7bL3D2XHtsJsjhihOOvwHtmJVko-PRQPffyK7HCyBa_Qx8tIAHCuenF_MTgv5EZH1x1A7hUMsorgMXf6QvS2L/s1600/valley_of_fear_05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sherlock Holmes looks into things with his magnifying glass" border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoeVEHNRA-3r0y-8WoikKPyA_o4QAOqNa2bFoXIsZ7srSNfBoyNE5DTF_7bL3D2XHtsJsjhihOOvwHtmJVko-PRQPffyK7HCyBa_Qx8tIAHCuenF_MTgv5EZH1x1A7hUMsorgMXf6QvS2L/s1600/valley_of_fear_05.jpg" title="Investigating in The Valley of Fear" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Sherlock Holmes is not infallible. Formidable though he is, and exemplary as his feats of deduction are, there are those occasions upon which he was outwitted - from the time he matched wits with Irene Adler to the unfortunate turns of fate in "The Five Orange Pips" and the villains that got away  in the affair of the Greek Interpreter. Even the defeat of the great Moriarty required Holmes to fake his death for three years.<br />
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However, according to Noah Axler in <i><b>It' s Not Elementary: The Mistakes of Sherlock Holmes</b></i>, (<a href="http://amzn.to/1kjqdRM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1qTJ378" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>) the Great Detective was even more fallible than we previously suspected. Making his way through the cases chronicled in <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>, Axler takes a closer look at their events, pointing out mistakes and faults of reasoning committed by Holmes - and providing a perceptive and well thought-out monograph.<br />
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Naturally, many of the "mistakes" Holmes makes in these stories could be attributed, by quickly refusing to <a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/grandgamev1.html" target="_blank">play the Game</a>, to the inconsistencies of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle rushing to meet a deadline. No self-respecting Sherlockian, however, would willingly cease playing the Game, and thus this book, which in itself plays the Game formidably, becomes a fascinating examination of the many mistakes Holmes may very well have made.<br />
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For example, Axler demands why it is that Holmes did not warn Miss Sutherland about the potential danger posed by her stepfather, who would go to such extreme lengths to prevent her from marrying, in "A Case of Identity." He wonders about the discrepancies in "A Scandal in Bohemia" (how is it that Irene Adler knows of the King's wedding, though it has not been announced? How does Holmes know of it? How is it that Irene Adler's marriage, which requires arrangements and a licence, is able to take place at such short notice - and why, if she is now happily married, does she feel the need to flee England?). He points to the logistical difficulties of "The Red-Headed League" (something so simple as - if Clay is tunnelling to the bank, how does he dispose of the soil?)<br />
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In short, Axler performs excellent detective work - reading the stories with attention to details, interrogating the smallest discrepancies, asking a variety of perceptive questions, and - most importantly - applying Holmes' methods of thinking. Collecting evidence and drawing on the science of deduction, Axler proposes intriguing solutions for a number of discrepancies while admitting of the impossibility of explaining away certain questionable turns of events. Though the language of the monograph is often simplistic, with many of the deductions phrased as if this were a primer in logic, the effect remains that of an engaging text.<br />
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It's Not Elementary is available as <a href="http://amzn.to/1jNWHnj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a Kindle book on Amazon</a> for the incredibly low price of $1.99.<br />
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Book Review: It's Not Elementary: The Mistakes of Sherlock Holmes by Noah Axler

"I am much mistaken..." [VALL] It is a truth universally acknowledged that Sherlock Holmes is not infallible. Formidable tho...

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by Anastasia Klimchynskaya

#221back: @BBCOne Announces the Return of Sherlock in Series 4

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismSQTnCd_tVOuhgXQtfC5L3aHsn06ksnBcFN5SC9gOHf9cOWBxTvR80N2640jKStASui9ZK642Z2Yg1hKhli7DjMRj9naorYljtrt99n9i9CwNQtgvUMeh2Ih1rqwGNh33x1To7CLZD9d/s1600/Moriarty+Miss+Me+BBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismSQTnCd_tVOuhgXQtfC5L3aHsn06ksnBcFN5SC9gOHf9cOWBxTvR80N2640jKStASui9ZK642Z2Yg1hKhli7DjMRj9naorYljtrt99n9i9CwNQtgvUMeh2Ih1rqwGNh33x1To7CLZD9d/s1600/Moriarty+Miss+Me+BBC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since Series 3 ended earlier this year, fans of BBC's <i>Sherlock</i> have been waiting on the edge of their laptops for the announcement of Series 4. We provided <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/06/sherlock-series-four-predictions.html#.U7QAO_ldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a little teaser with speculation</a> recently.<br />
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You'll recall that at the end of "His Last Vow" in Series 3, we were treated to a special appearance by Jim Moriarty. The @BBCOne Twitter account yesterday echoed the very same strains:<br />
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"Did you miss me?" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/221back?src=hash">#221back</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sherlock?src=hash">#Sherlock</a> <a href="http://t.co/sJXE1VeFaG">http://t.co/sJXE1VeFaG</a><br />
— Sherlock - #221back (@BBCOne) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCOne/statuses/484083280950882304">July 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
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And similarly, it followed up with a tweet telling us to expect a communication today at precisely 2:21 pm BST, having changed its avatar to Moriarty and the account name to the hashtag #221back.<br />
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It's all gone dark... Something's coming... Or someone. Details at 2.21pm tomorrow. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/221back?src=hash">#221back</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sherlock?src=hash">#Sherlock</a><br />
— Sherlock - #221back (@BBCOne) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCOne/statuses/484097452585549825">July 1, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Just as promised, 2:21 pm rolled around brought us the announcement that got the fandom all weak-kneed in anticipation:<br />
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"Miss me?" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sherlock?src=hash">#Sherlock</a>, the hit <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCOne">@BBCOne</a> drama, will return for a Special, followed by a series of three new episodes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/221back?src=hash">#221back</a><br />
— Sherlock - #221back (@BBCOne) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCOne/statuses/484325909768704000">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
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That was followed by a series of tweets that gave away pretty much nothing, other than the timing of the filming dates:<br />
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/IHearofSherlock/221back/embed" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/IHearofSherlock/221back.js"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/IHearofSherlock/221back" target="_blank">View the story "#221back" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>
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Well, that was pretty much a yawner. What did we learn? There will be three new episodes in Series 4 (not a surprise, given the previous three series containing three each), plus a Special to keep us occupied whilst we wait. The filming will occur in 2015, so it's likely that the new series will air in late 2015 (at the earliest) or more likely in early 2016.<br />
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Our reaction:<br />
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While we're at it, we're thinking that the hashtag should be pronounced "221B - ACK!" because of all of the waiting and drama. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/221back?src=hash">#221back</a><br />
— I Hear of Sherlock (@IHearofSherlock) <a href="https://twitter.com/IHearofSherlock/statuses/484325601441218560">July 2, 2014</a></blockquote>
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What do you think? Are you going to be able to contain yourself? Was this the announcement that wasn't?<br />
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#221back: @BBCOne Announces the Return of Sherlock in Series 4

Since Series 3 ended earlier this year, fans of BBC's Sherlock have been waiting on the edge of their laptops for the announcement o...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlock: Series Four Predictions

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"nor could we predict" [HOUN] </h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hsS0tH2u6sQgdaqtzHfDQklvIn88DyR9q7Mlo_Ss59RowJ3zwE7gZxpuZU0QL0RP1gufyCQwuqUvNcGOvhwZzjXHRrEghF-Q3T0AA-0cYH8vzzjOOFhURcxRzLLy_qAEjSVoVqjkADAT/s1600/The+Copper+Beeches+-+Sherlock+Holmes+fingertips.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt=""He looked her over in his searching fashion, and then composed himself with his lids drooping and his fingertips together to listen to her story."" border="0" height="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hsS0tH2u6sQgdaqtzHfDQklvIn88DyR9q7Mlo_Ss59RowJ3zwE7gZxpuZU0QL0RP1gufyCQwuqUvNcGOvhwZzjXHRrEghF-Q3T0AA-0cYH8vzzjOOFhURcxRzLLy_qAEjSVoVqjkADAT/s1600/The+Copper+Beeches+-+Sherlock+Holmes+fingertips.jpg" title="The Copper Beeches - Sherlock Holmes - fingertips" width="640" /></a></div>
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Depending on who you read, Series 4 of BBC's <i><b>Sherlock</b> </i>will either be shown on <a href="http://www.hypable.com/2014/01/13/sherlock-series-4-air-date-christmas-2014/">Christmas 2014</a>....or <a href="http://www.christiantoday.com/article/sherlock.season.4.premiere.date.sooner.than.2016/38038.htm">some time in 2015</a>....or even, if you believe some predictions, 2016.<br />
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Regardless of when the show arrives (and <a href="http://screenrant.com/sherlock-season-4-premiere-date-movie/">one outlet claims it will be sooner rather than later</a>), speculation about plot developments (especially given the end of <i>His Last Vow</i> will be rampant throughout the coming months. In that spirit, we present a video that provides some tantalizing deductions and speculation about plot points.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Lri4Byrz--w" width="560"></iframe></center>
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So tell us - what do you think? <br />
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Sherlock: Series Four Predictions

"nor could we predict" [HOUN] Depending on who you read, Series 4 of BBC's Sherlock will either be shown on Christmas...

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by Gordon D

New Sherlock Holmes Boom? What New Sherlock Holmes Boom?

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"He says that he could hardly recognize himself afterwards" [LION]</h4>
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I first discovered Sherlock Holmes when I was assigned to read <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> in elementary school. I had never watched the Rathbone/Bruce movies on TV. My love and fascination with the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson was purely literary. </div>
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Not long after I had finished reading the Canon for the first time was the start of the Great Boom of the ‘70s, led by Nicholas Meyer’s 1974 runaway best seller <a href="http://amzn.to/1rwgUTu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Seven Per-Cent Solution</i></a>. Pastiches and Higher Criticism were being published or re-published. Many well-known Sherlockians followed the Meyers template and mixed Holmes with real persons (H. Paul Jeffers’ <a href="http://amzn.to/VlW0Mt" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Adventure of the Stalwart Companions</i></a> [1978]) or events (Michael Hardwick’s <a href="http://amzn.to/UHVdVy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Prisoner of the Devil</i></a> [1979]); or pure Doylesque adventures (Richard L. Boyer’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1iDsdJm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Giant Rat of Sumatra</i> </a>[1976]). </div>
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Of course, along with the good or interesting, well-written pastiches (Michael Dibdin’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1nE8s0v" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Last Sherlock Holmes Story</i></a> [1978]) was a fair share of dreck (Randall Collins’ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Case-Philosophers-Ring-Randall-Collins/dp/1906288224/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403466757&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Case+of+the+Philosophers%E2%80%99+Ring"><i>The Case of the Philosophers’ Ring</i> </a>[1978] — in just one example of dreckosity, Watson shoots an unarmed fleeing suspect in the back. Fortunately for him, the man was actually a mental projection from the evil Aleister Crowley. And, yes, I know that one person’s “interesting, well-written pastiche” is another person’s dreck.)</div>
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More importantly, from my point of view, was the availability of classic and newly written Higher Criticism. My 1975 Pinnacle paperback edition of <a href="http://amzn.to/1pzACwa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</i></a> proclaimed on the cover “FIRST PUBLICATION IN PAPERBACK! revised, enlarged, illustrated edition”. Michael Harrison’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1iDsL1U" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes</i></a> saw its first paperback printing in the US in 1976, the same year his edited anthology<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Baker-Street-Sherlockian-anthology/dp/0672522071/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403466975&sr=1-1&keywords=Beyond+Baker+Street"> <i>Beyond Baker Street</i></a> saw print in hardcover. Through the end of the ‘70s and into the ‘80s scion newsletters and magazines were founded. The wonderful <a href="http://www.batteredbox.com/octoganproject/e-BakerStreetMiscellanea.htm"><i>Baker Street Miscellanea</i></a> (1975-1994) enlivened Sherlockian discourse with 76 issues chock-full of deep and fun scholarship. Gaslight Books and Magico Magazine published new and old Sherlockian works.<br />
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The point is, the Great Boom of the ‘70s was a literary boom, with pastiche and scholarship leading directly back to the Canon. There were few television shows and movies in that time period cashing in on Holmes’ popularity. Gene Wilder had <a href="http://amzn.to/VlWO42" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother</i></a> in 1975 and the film version of <a href="http://amzn.to/1lomjv2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Seven Per-Cent Solution</i></a> was out a year later. American TV had <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_World%27s_Greatest_Detective"><i>The Return of the World’s Greatest Detective</i></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_in_New_York"><i>Sherlock Holmes in New York</i></a> in 1976, British TV had Christopher Plummer’s <i>Silver Blaze</i> and John Cleese’s <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1qv65RG" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Strange Case of the End of Civilization As We Know It</a></i> in 1977; the next year saw Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s comedy <a href="http://amzn.to/1nE9Ccs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i></a>; 1979 had <a href="http://amzn.to/1pzB8dK" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Murder by Decree</i></a> and the little-seen Geoffrey Whitehead syndicated TV show <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298697/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson</a></i> and the even less-seen in the West <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Livanov">Vasili Livanov</a> Russian <i>Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson</i>. It wasn’t until 1982 and 1983 that saw Tom Baker and Ian Richardson assay the Holmes role on the small screen and in ’85, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1qv6ovC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Young Sherlock Holmes</a></i> in the theaters. Of that list only <i>Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother</i>, <i>The Seven Per-Cent Solution</i> and <i>Murder by Decree</i> had any real impact with the general public and the boom was over by 1985. The big bucks (such as they were) and interest was in print, not on the screen.<br />
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<b>"There is nothing new under the sun" [STUD]</b></h4>
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We are now in a New Sherlock Holmes Boom and the driving forces are different, in part due to new technology. While Holmes and Watson never go away completely, new interest in the character surged in 2009 with Guy Ritchie’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1l98Gvd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a>. Not a movie for purists, but then very few are; even the Granada series can cause a few gripes. Starring the un-Sherlock Holmes-like Robert Downey Jr. as the great detective and the very Holmes-looking Jude Law as John Watson, the action blockbuster earned half a billion dollars worldwide doing what cinema usually does, re-inventing literary characters for the current zeitgeist. 2010 saw <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws">BBC’s <i>Sherlock</i></a>, 2012 <a href="http://www.cbs.com/shows/elementary/video/?ftag=ACQe5ca076&vndid=-cbs-Elementary&kenshoo_click_id=6b913226-a2d8-7609-2bb8-0000586574f2">CBS’s <i>Elementary</i></a> and 2013 the new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_%282013_TV_series%29">Russian Sherlock Holmes</a> with Igor Petrenko and Andrei Panin. The world in general seems to be talking about Sherlock Holmes once again.<br />
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But "seems" is the operative word. While the Downey franchise may have jumpstarted the current interest in Holmes, and directly inspired the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzwBIvVwuOg">Petrenko/Panin series</a>, it has stalled. Work on a third motion picture script has started but <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2013/10/03/cloudy-2-batman-begins-and-5-more-hits-that-survived-disappointing-debuts/">interest at Warner Bros. has cooled</a> due to the fact that <i>Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows</i>, earning <i>in toto</i> slightly more than the first picture, opened making less and ended up making about $23 million less in the US, although increasing its take overseas. In the strange math of Hollywood, a billion dollar franchise is not necessarily a winning proposition.  <br />
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<i>Elementary </i>is a hit on US TV and in its overseas markets, albeit an average-sized hit, due to Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu and their undeniable chemistry. And yes, Virginia, there would be an <i>Elementary </i>without <i>Sherlock</i>. CBS has been trying to create a modern-day, America-based Sherlock Holmes since the ‘90s. Elementary has been renewed for a third season and CBS Studios has made <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/wgn-america-nabs-off-network-rights-to-cbs-drama-elementary/">a lucrative syndication deal with WGN.</a><br />
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It is BBC’s <i>Sherlock</i> that is the driving force behind the New Sherlock Holmes Boom. So much so, in fact, that calling it a "Sherlock Holmes" boom is a misnomer. It truly is a Cumberbatch/<i>Sherlock</i> Boom fueled by an inventive internet fan base that has dominated the discussion so much that “the great unobservant public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a compositor by his left thumb” <a href="https://tv.yahoo.com/video/2-broke-girls-sherlock-holmes-011746779-cbs.html">does not know that there is a difference</a> between the Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss creation and the Arthur Conan Doyle original. Like Madonna or Beyoncé, the great detective is now a one name celeb recognizable for his dark wavy hair and prominent cheekbones. TV dialog, not Canon quotes are the <i>lingua franca</i> of disparate fans. <br />
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There are websites, <a href="http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/">official</a> and <a href="http://www.sherlockology.com/">unofficial</a>, dedicated to the show and its actors. Fanfic and fan art featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in their roles dominate the internet in a way other current and past actors do not. Not to give Freeman short shrift, but the accelerant for this conflagration is Cumberbatch - just as Brett, Rathbone and Gillette before him. <br />
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Imagine if you will a <i>Sherlock</i> identical in every way to the one we know except that Jonny Lee Miller plays Sherlock. (Don’t snicker. Let me just remind you of the Olivier and the London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor that Miller and Cumberbatch jointly won for Danny Boyle’s <i>Frankenstein</i> in which they switched roles) Yes, it would be a hit, and a worldwide hit, but not the phenomenon it is with Cumberbatch. No <a href="http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-12-09/introducing-curly-fu-and-peanut--better-known-as-sherlocks-benedict-cumberbatch-and-martin-freeman">“Curly Fu” and “Peanut”</a> inflaming China, for example. Cumberbatch and <i>Sherlock</i> is the perfect marriage of actor and role. There is something otherworldly, child-like, an asexual sexuality—an undefinable quality, the very definition of je ne sais quoi—that Cumberbatch brings to the Moffat/Gatiss version of Holmes that has ignited the imagination of fans across the globe. Even those things, places and characters that have no parallel in the Canon, Speedy's Sandwich Bar & Cafe, Molly Hooper, the wallpaper of the Baker Street set, have become icons instantly calling to the mind of <i>Sherlock</i> fans <i>their</i> 221B Baker Street and London.<br />
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If <i>Sherlock</i> didn’t exist, the Downey films and <i>Elementary</i> would not be leading a new boom, but, at best, an upswelling. Pastiches are perennial, so no doubt Anthony Horowitz’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1l9a6FX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>House of Silk</i></a> (2011) and Lyndsay Faye’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1qv73xa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Dust and Shadow</i></a> (2009) would have seen print and excellent sales. Sales of the Canon would still have increased, though not as much as they currently have. Would we have seen Maria Konnikova’s <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/07/episode-54-how-to-think-like-sherlock.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes</i></a> (2013) or James O'Brien’s Edgar winning <a href="http://amzn.to/1pzCoNZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Scientific Sherlock Holmes</i></a> (2013) or, in fact, publishers slapping the detective’s name to any book that can be vaguely related to Holmes? Perhaps, perhaps not.<br />
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What is distressing to some Sherlockians (old school or not) is Cumberbatch becoming the public face of Sherlock Holmes in a way that Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone and William Gillette never could have been. In the 1900s, the 1940s and 1980s, the stage, cinema, radio and television were adjuncts to the written word. If one wanted to learn more about Sherlock Holmes, one turned to the Canon. Now, in <a href="http://pennreview.com/2009/09/a-post-literate-age/">our post-literate world</a>, reading an actual book is one choice among many to gain information on a subject. Where once Gillette's face graced the cover of <i>Collier's</i>, Cumberbatch's face is placed on the front of panties.</div>
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The dismay of Sherlockians is that fans of a favorite thespian’s role need only turn to Wikipedia to learn of the character’s distant origins or read blog posts for the Canonical Easter eggs their favorite show hides or create their own fan art and fanfic with the actor’s image and personality merging with <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/headcanon">headcanon</a> and sharing it in an electronic forum with like-minded souls.<br />
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<b>"Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery" [REDC]</b></h4>
For as much as we play the Game that Doyle was the literary agent to John H. Watson, there is no higher accolade than to say an author created a character that <i>lives</i>. We read the words Doyle wrote with care for the clues they tell us about those living, breathing fictional characters and, like all good literature, tell us about us. There is nothing wrong with re-inventing Holmes for the times. Each generation has its own Hamlet, its own Macbeth, its own Romeo and Juliet, but Shakespeare is ever-present. There are no venerated Shakespeare pastiches, no continuing adventures of Othello. His characters have not become myth and that is the fear that some see in the face of Benedict Cumberbatch cum Sherlock; a Sherlock with multiple births, an archetype to be molded into any shape by any sculptor -- a Holmes without a Doyle.<br />
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It is the now the Cumberbatch/<i>Sherlock</i> Boom and the great detective who was published between 1887 and 1927 is along for the ride. He survived the Reichenbach, Gillette's on-stage betrothal and Rathbone's bizarre windswept hairdo. He is made of sterner stuff. Because Sherlock Holmes and John Watson live, and live only, in four novels and 56 short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.<br />
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"Aye, there's the genius and the wonder of the thing!" And don’t forget it.</div>
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Image source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihil_novi">Wikipedia (Nihil Novi)</a><br />
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New Sherlock Holmes Boom? What New Sherlock Holmes Boom?

"He says that he could hardly recognize himself afterwards" [LION] I first discovered Sherlock Holmes when I was assigned t...

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by James C. O'Leary

Episode 65: Art in the Blood

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After a slight delay (thanks to a crashed hard drive and a lost interview), we're back with a super-sized episode that we hope will make up for our absence.<br />
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We're pleased to welcome Tom Richmond, one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at <a href="http://www.madmagazine.com/" target="_blank">MAD Magazine</a>. Tom's career has been a most interesting one, and we explore how he managed to take an adolescent aspiration, run it through an amusement park, and turn it into an award-winning career at the bible of comedic publications.<br />
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During this show, you'll find out how inspiration comes to a creative type who works in his basement of his Minnesota home; the role of Batman and Superman in Tom's career development; how Tom first came to meet Sherlock Holmes (hint: we've had <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2012/03/episode-40-one-voice-of-sherlock-holmes.html#.UuXFgMQo5w0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">his muse on the show</a> previously). A good deal of the program will be related to art, comic art, caricature and the visual aspect of Sherlock Holmes, which should interest a Sherlockian art collector like <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/12/episode-16-collectors-corner-jerry.html#.UuXAfMQo5w0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jerry Margolin, who was on IHOSE #16</a>.<br />
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Speaking of collecting, you may have noticed the image at the top of this show's entry. That lovely piece of work - <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/the-game-is-afoot-limited-edition-print/" target="_blank">"The Game is Afoot!"</a> - is available as a limited edition print. Tom talks about his previous experience with <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2014/04/01/doctor-who-print-almost-gone/" target="_blank">Dr. Who</a> and <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2011/12/02/give-bonds-for-christmas/" target="_blank">James Bond</a> prints and how he came to select the eight actors to represent Sherlock Holmes on this print. If you'd like to purchase one, <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/the-game-is-afoot-limited-edition-print/" target="_blank">Tom's site has a limited run of 450 for just $25 (cheap)</a>.<br />
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<b>Your chance to win big!</b></h3>
In addition to giving you the opportunity to purchase one of Tom's prints, we have <b>a listener contest</b> in which you could win one of these highly coveted prints (plus <i>one other special item</i> we mention in the show). How can you make yourself eligible to win? Well, you'll just have to listen to the episode and discover where we lay out the rules. [But it does involve the hashtag #IHOSE65.] The contest is open until August 30, 2014.<br />
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A few listener comments - including one that appeared as a message in a bottle (see below) - graced our inboxes this time around.<br />
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We selected an original Gas-Lamp to perfectly complement the show: "Art in the Blood," from Vol. 8, No. 2 (April 1958) of the <i>Baker Street Journal</i>.<div><br /><h3 style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock065.mp3" target="_blank">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 47.7 MB, 1:44:06</h3>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/170047101&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div>
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Links (pay attention - there are many):</h4>
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<li><a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog" target="_blank">Tom's blog</a></li>
<li>Limited edition Sherlock Holmes print <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/the-game-is-afoot-limited-edition-print/" target="_blank">"The Game's Afoot!"</a></li>
<li>Tom's illustration of <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2007/07/06/elementary-my-dear-watson/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes for David Ian Davies' audiobooks</a> and a special version of <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2014/04/10/bye-bye-quizup/" target="_blank">Holmes at home with his violin and boxing gloves</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2008/08/23/the-pen-is-afoot-my-dear-watson/" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes pen</a> inspired by Tom's work, <a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2007/12/13/the-pen-is-mightier/" target="_blank">as well as early molds</a>.</li>
<li>Sherlock inspiration in <a href="http://jeffoverturf.blogspot.com/2011/05/shermlock-shomes-bill-elder-mad-mondays.html" target="_blank">an early MAD: Will Elder at work</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.tomrichmond.com/blog/2006/08/28/pearls-before-swine/" target="_blank">Tom's cameo in Pearls Before Swine</a>.</li>
<li><i><a href="https://amzn.to/3J7f7Sj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mad Art: A Visual Celebration of Mad Magazine and the Idiots Who Created It</a></i> (Amazon.com)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/an-eyewitness-account-to-free-sherlock.html" target="_blank">An eyewitness account and the audio recording</a> of the Klinger vs. Conan Doyle Estate appeal. </li>
<li>The Attaboy Clarence podcast features <a href="https://amzn.to/3rwOsbo" target="_blank">a full-length, documentary devoted to the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series</a> of Sherlock Holmes films and radio plays.</li>
<li>Our Father's Day tribute included <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/05/beau-ties.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">some Sherlock Holmes inspirations</a> in the Beau Ties Ltd. catalog and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2012/06/episode-43-fathers-in-canon.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">our Father's Day episode</a> from a couple of years back (IHOSE #43).</li>
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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/">Wessex Press</a>, <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" style="font-style: italic;">The Baker Street Journal</a> - and one additional surprise sponsor this time around that we think you'll enjoy.</div><div><br /><br />
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Episode 65: Art in the Blood

After a slight delay (thanks to a crashed hard drive and a lost interview), we're back with a super-sized episode that we hope...

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by Scott Monty

Remembering Charlie Adams, BSI

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"My old friend Charlie" [ILLU]</h4>
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I would guess that most Sherlockians became fascinated with Holmes after becoming familiar with him on their own, not particularly because they were a Rathbone or Brett fan first, not because they knew that well-known authors like Isaac Asimov or Rex Stout were fans. When we discovered that there were thousands of Sherlock <i>aficionados </i>in scion societies, ASH, BSI, and other groups, we joined in because we were thrilled to be in the company of others who loved Holmes and Watson as much as we did.<br />
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When we started attending meetings and events, we met others like ourselves for whom the game was always afoot. We made friends with these Sherlockians based upon our mutual admiration for the world’s first consulting detective and his chronicler, not because we hoped to network for a better job or to get recommendations for a great vacation.  Conversations invariably were about Holmes and Watson (and even that literary agent by the name of Doyle).  Have you ever noticed that when you meet a new Sherlockian, your first question is usually “What is your home scion?” and almost never “So what do you do for a living?” <br />
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Friendships among Sherlockians are special because these friendships are not primarily about us – they are about our admiration for two men who never lived, and so will never die.  But we form close friendships with other Sherlockians over the years, learning about each other via our mutual connection with Holmes and Watson.  And unlike our heroes, our Sherlockian friends do live and do eventually die.<br />
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Charles A. Adams, BSI ("The Winter Assizes at Norwich"), or Charlie to his many friends, an avid and longtime follower of all things Sherlockian, died May 18, 2014, in Colchester, Connecticut at the age of 69. He founded his own scion near Norwich and then joined the Men on the Tor in the late 1970s; he was also a member of the Speckled Band of Boston and a visitor to many other scions in New England. He received his Irregular Shilling in the BSI in 1990 with the investiture of "The Winter Assizes of Norwich" – the name of his original scion society. Charlie will be especially remembered for many Sherlockian-content parodies of popular and Broadway tunes that he and his Winter Assizes colleagues created over the years, as well as for a rather "naughty" Toast he gave to Watson’s Second Wife at the BSI dinner in 1981.<br />
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Charlie was a solid, well rounded Sherlockian – not a fanatical collector, not an organizational ‘mover and shaker,’ not a prolific writer of scholarly journal articles (though he was always ready with a thoughtful Canonical toast).  Over the years Charlie became a good friend to many.<br />
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Personally I will miss our drives from Connecticut to New York to attend the Gillette luncheon and the annual dinner. It was during these drives that I came to know Charlie well. He was a fan of radio host Jean Shepherd and his nightly show on WOR back in the '60s.  A motorcycle enthusiast for many years he also followed Shep’s column in <i>Car and Driver</i> and <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1ssalWg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jean Shepherd’s America</a></i> TV show on PBS.<br />
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Charlie was a voracious reader and loved the Flashman novels, Horatio Hornblower stories, the Aloysius Pendergast series, and read various science fiction authors among many, many others; he was a voracious reader. For over 20 years we shared a room in NYC as we each played Holmes to the other’s Watson, and enjoyed our own ritual luncheon of a pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli the day after the dinner.  One year we even skipped the Saturday afternoon cocktail party to see <i>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</i>. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jan Prager of Rhode Island’s The Cornish Horrors was a friend of Charlie’s. He wrote:</span><br />
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My favorite memory of Charlie is the time he and I took a Friday afternoon before BSI to drive out to Queens to see <a href="http://amzn.to/1pkGuJE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Steinbrunner</a>, who was terminally ill. Chris had told us not to come because he didn't want us to see him diminished in his wheelchair, but Charlie insisted that we go anyway. We talked to Chris through the door, and we all enjoyed the visit, short as it had to be. All the way back to Manhattan Charlie and I talked about the many good times we had with Chris at Cornish Horrors and Men on the Tor meetings -- and weekends at my house or on Block Island when Chris would drive up with a trunk full of movies and a projector, and we'd watch for hours on end. The likes of Charlie may not be seen again, but his loyalty and quiet companionship live on among the BSI.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">From <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/06/episode-53-for-sake-of-trust.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tom Francis</a>: </span></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am a big Shep [Jean Shepherd] fan but it was many, many years before Charlie and I discovered we had this mutual interest. That’s because he had so many interests that we had just never got around to Shep. I loved the way he used a Socratic approach to open up a fresh topic and he would sucker me in every time. I don’t have to tell you [Bob Stek] about the Jazz clubs because you joined us several times. But my favorite part may have been the walk back up Sixth Avenue as we could just talk, and talking with Charlie was always the high point. He wasn’t just an interesting talker he was a very good listener. When Chris Steinbrenner was ill, depressed and refusing to see anyone it was Charlie who went to him and visited regularly and provided Chris the only companionship he had at the end. Charlie was a very compassionate person.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am afraid the oral history project may have missed getting his story. He quietly knew everyone. His stories about Asimov are lost. I remember him telling of one of the times they shared a cab and Charlie asked him to autograph a book he had bought from a remainder sale...Isaac went nuts.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Burt Wolder wrote: </span></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What I remember most about Charlie was the depth of his joy in Sherlock Holmes and his eagerness to share with fellow Sherlockians.  I remember a paper he gave at the Speckled Band, all about "how to do it" -- how to approach giving a Sherlockian paper, how to play the game.  It's thanks to Charlie that I began to write "singing toasts" for some Sherlockian luminaries -- one year Charlie showed up at (I think) a meeting of The Cornish Horrors with a boom box and a cassette tape of "Daisy, Daisy."  He had written new lyrics to that old song, and he wanted me and other people to join him in presenting it.  I remember his vest-pocket pipe, in the old days when smoking was still allowed.  But mostly I remember his undiminished enthusiasm, his warmth, his sense of fun and his desire to share the simple joy of Sherlockian pursuits. He reveled in Sherlock Holmes, and that he will be much missed goes without saying.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Susan Rice, organizer of the annual Gillette luncheon, recalled: </span></div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I'm not sure whether Charlie never knew for sure he could come to the city for the birthday weekend until the last minute, or whether he was an expert procrastinator like me, but I rarely received his reservation for the Gillette Luncheon until the very last moment. The restaurant is very cooperative and I could always find space, but the one thing I would not alter were the table assignments, hammered out a week or so before the luncheon.  Thus Charlie and other latecomers were seated together at the most distant table, usually Table 17. I hoped it would teach a lesson and present a good reason for an earlier reservation, but instead it encouraged the opposite. Since these were often the same people, they developed a camaraderie and enjoyed, I suspect, their outlaw status. For many years, even when he sent his reservation before the deadline, Charlie would request a seat at Table 17.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One day at an <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/10/episode-11-bob-thomalen-part-1.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Autumn in Baker Street</a> I had given a presentation on Mr. Holmes and his bees, and Charlie approached me later to talk about his own fascination with honeybees. Pleased to find him so responsive and knowledgeable, when I returned home I sent him a copy 
of my book, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1ssbUmV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A Compound of Excelsior</a>.</i> The letter of thanks he sent me was a beautiful thing. He described his surprise and pleasure to receive the book, his decision to read it outdoors on a hillside where he always saw many bees, and his joy to find so many links between Holmes and the apiary science. As an anti-collector I keep very little  correspondence, but I kept that lovely letter.</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Tyke Niver of The Men on the Tor wrote:
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is one item that I see every day that reminds me of Charlie. 
 When we designed our present house we decided that it should have a 
Holmes theme...in fact the plaque on the front door says "Baskerville 
Hall." One day Charlie, with some members of the Winter Assizes at 
Norwich, visited and said that he liked the scarlet red flocked wall 
paper that we have in the library.  He asked if they could have some of 
it. Sure, have some. What a surprise when, later on, Charlie gave us a
 present.  They had mounted some of the wallpaper and, using .22 
cartridges, they had pock marked the wallpaper with the initials 
V.R....just like Holmes. It now proudly hangs in the library.</blockquote>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Scott Monty writes:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While I knew Charlie from various New England scion societies in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island and I always enjoyed his musical numbers. It's an area of Sherlockian interest that we shared. But more than Charlie's Sherlockian credentials, it's Charlie's friendly and encouraging nature that I'll always remember. Every time I had occasion to see Charlie - and opportunities in the last few years would generally amount to an annual reunion - the informal and quiet conversations were always the most meaningful. Charlie was always interested in other people and full of compliments and suggestions. I might not have known Charlie as well as some of the other correspondents above, but Charlie made me feel like I was valued just as equally as them. And that was a special gift.</blockquote>
<br /></div>
<br />
When you did come to know Charlie, you learned of his other interests and his personal history. Born in Norwich, CT, he graduated from Norwich Free Academy in 1962. Earning a bachelor's degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1967, he returned to NFA to teach English literature. He also earned a master's degree in 1975 from the University of Hartford. He retired in 2003 after a teaching career of 36 years. He was a dedicated teacher who interacted extensively with his students in and out of class, who taught them to think and not just regurgitate facts. A skilled marksman and competitive rifle shooter, as a NFA faculty member, he coached the NFA rifle team to several State High School Championships. <br />
<br />
He and his wife of 36 years, Carol, were hosts over the years to many Sherlockians who visited Gillette Castle to research William Gillette. He told a wonderful story of how he and Carol 'accidentally' came to buy their house high on a hill in East Haddam directly across the road from the Castle.  Besides Carol, he is survived by his son, Chris, and daughter-in-law Dianne, of Norwich, as well as his older brother, Albert, of Virginia.<br />
<br />
Charlie was a fine Sherlockian and a great human being.  He is already missed by everyone who knew him.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5suBB8zcPTafEi3xa-LWqrb5SPSBhPpP90G32so1Ed_mWZHBwamUQXyvYNzGAC379_M9t_4g7EIo7RlbfSeh2ocjE0YCW8Wwn70saq2-hrZFcbxupRoXReRTB-eY2FxRDqjdyRB_uAw/s1600/Charlie+Adams+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5suBB8zcPTafEi3xa-LWqrb5SPSBhPpP90G32so1Ed_mWZHBwamUQXyvYNzGAC379_M9t_4g7EIo7RlbfSeh2ocjE0YCW8Wwn70saq2-hrZFcbxupRoXReRTB-eY2FxRDqjdyRB_uAw/s1600/Charlie+Adams+pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[<b>Editor's note</b>: if you have a memory of Charlie that you'd care to share, please leave a comment below]<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>--</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>

Remembering Charlie Adams, BSI

"My old friend Charlie" [ILLU] I would guess that most Sherlockians became fascinated with Holmes after becoming familiar wit...

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by Spocklock

Sherlock Holmes Is Everywhere Except...

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"whom I served at the fatal battle" [STUD]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7s38kxC7N2Y2F8hfQhPRS-CWtMjEXDlKtMnFvB77rAdqd8Vru2HXt5IKI7cTUSNOG-ZmP94mPL3iKKScqJCh8mO916TfeC-4-zBRIOuMTKIYGGjwFEUH_HQGC7U7vkwkdg_xRmOr5YXz/s1600/ERB+-+Sherlock.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Watch Holmes and Watson put some words to music" border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia7s38kxC7N2Y2F8hfQhPRS-CWtMjEXDlKtMnFvB77rAdqd8Vru2HXt5IKI7cTUSNOG-ZmP94mPL3iKKScqJCh8mO916TfeC-4-zBRIOuMTKIYGGjwFEUH_HQGC7U7vkwkdg_xRmOr5YXz/s1600/ERB+-+Sherlock.PNG" title="The original caped crusader versus a newer model" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
As we were preparing a talk for <a href="http://www.scintillation.org/" target="_blank">Scintillation of Scions VII</a> in Hanover, MD on June 7 - which we'll share at some point in the future - we came across <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2009/05/man-of-excellent-birth-and-education_22.html#.U47DRvldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">a previous post covering the Arthur Conan Doyle Symposium</a> at Harvard in 2009.<br />
<br />
At that event, Glen Miranker, BSI ("The Origin of Tree Worship") investigated Sherlock Holmes in popular culture - an in particular, in advertising. According to Glen,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In advertising, we see the image of Holmes used for soda, clothing, shoes, head lice, enemas, food, tobacco (including cigarette cards, cigar box labels, cigar bands, pipes, chewing tobacco, etc.), home inspection, gas companies, insurance, detective services, automotive products, games (the Parker Bros card game appeared in 1904 and stayed on the market until 1923), balloon animal modeling, computer games, video games.</blockquote>
<br />
Miranker concluded that the only areas not yet affected by Sherlock Holmes are NASCAR, rap music and baseball.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, we noticed this video last year, but after coming across the remark above, we're prepared to say that from Glen's analysis, only NASCAR and baseball remain untouched. Because Epic Rap Battles pitted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17CLlZuiBkQ" target="_blank">Batman against Sherlock Holmes</a>:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/17CLlZuiBkQ" width="560"></iframe></center>
<br />
One down, two to go.<br />
<br />
Who do you think won?<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
--</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>

Sherlock Holmes Is Everywhere Except...

"whom I served at the fatal battle" [STUD] As we were preparing a talk for Scintillation of Scions VII in Hanover, MD on Jun...

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by Scott Monty

Classics of Sherlockiana: the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
“which I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha” [VALL]</h4>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The Canon of Sherlock Holmes compromises four novels and
fifty-six short stories. But there existed writings by Arthur Conan Doyle about
Holmes or John H. Watson that are not part of the accepted Canon that, though
they were published, were hidden, secret or obscure until 1980 when Jack Tracy
collected them in <a href="http://amzn.to/1pQtdJv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha</i></a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Six by Doyle were:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"The Field Bazaar"</li>
<li>"How Watson Learned
the Trick" </li>
<li>"The Man with the Watches" </li>
<li>"The Lost Special"</li>
<li>"The
Speckled Band" (play)</li>
<li>"The Crown Diamond" (play)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Also included were "The Adventure of
the Two Collaborators" by J.M. Barrie, which as Tracy notes "Doyle called it 'the
best of all the numerous parodies' on Holmes and thought so much of it that he
gave it the place of legitimacy by including it in his autobiography;" the
William Gillette plays "Sherlock Holmes" and "The Painful Predicament of
Sherlock Holmes;" a plot outline for an unwritten Holmes story (now sometimes
referred to as "The Adventure of the Tall Man") and "The Case of the Man Who
Was Wanted" by Arthur Whitaker.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The value of the book, aside from gathering these disparate
pieces in one place, was Tracy’s invaluable introductory notes on each,
explaining when, how and why they came into existence. For example, the history
of the Whitaker pastiche, for a short time thought by the world to be the 61<sup>st</sup>
Holmes story from Doyle's hand, is succinct.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Arthur Whitaker sent his story to Doyle in 1910 in hopes of
a collaboration. Doyle replied in a letter that while it was a fine story,
Whitaker should invent his own characters and publish it. Otherwise, Doyle
offered him around £10 for use of the plot. Whitaker, an unemployed architect
took the money and Doyle filed it away.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sir Arthur died on 7 July 1930, and his papers lay undisturbed for many years. Hesketh Pearson, in 1942, became the first to go through them, and he discovered ‘The Man Who Was Wanted.’<br />
<br />
The Sherlockian world was electrified. A heretofore unknown Sherlock Holmes adventure! Pressure from many sources immediately came to bear on the Conan Doyle Estate to publish the piece. A paragraph or two were printed in Pearson’s 1943 biography of Doyle, but the Estate resisted the many offers for its publication….<br />
<br />
At last, COSMOPOLITAN made a satisfactory offer, and "The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted" appeared in the August 1948 issue of that magazine, as well as in Britain’s THE SUNDAY DISPATCH during January 1949.<br />
<br />
Then the truth came out. Arthur Whitaker, now retired, was still living. He contacted the Estate and was able to produce his carbon copy of the typescript as well as Conan Doyle’s handwritten letter, dated thirty-eight years earlier, in which Doyle offered to purchase the plot.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those interested in a more detailed history, I highly
recommend Jon Lellenberg’s <a href="http://amzn.to/1x4GyT6" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>Nova 57 Minor:The Waxing and Waning of the Sixty-First Adventure of Sherlock Holmes</i>.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<h3>
Haining's Hand</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 1981, Peter Haining came out <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <a href="http://amzn.to/1mQuuOs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</a></i> which contained many,
but not all, of the pieces in <i>The Published Apocrypha</i>: "Bazaar," "Watches," "Special," "Predicament," "Wanted," "Diamond," Trick" and the plot outline and Robert
A. Cutter's pastiche based on it "The Adventure of the Tall Man."<br />
<br />
Haining
filled out his book with the Doyle penned essays "The Truth About Sherlock
Holmes"(which contains Barrie's "Two Collaborators"); "Some Personalia About
Mr Sherlock Holmes," "My Favorite Sherlock Holmes Adventure," two non-Holmes
Doyle-penned mysteries "The Mystery of Uncle Jeremy's Household" and "The Mystery of Sasassa
Valley," "The Case of the Inferior Sleuth" — two poems, Arthur Guiterman's "To
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" on Holmes' critique of Poe and Gaboriau and Doyle's
reply "To an Undiscerning Critic" and "A Gaudy Death: Conan Doyle Tells the True
Story of Sherlock Holmes's End," a 1900 article from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tit-Bits</i> magazine. While in some respects it can be seen as a
knock-off of Tracy's book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Final
Adventures</i> has enough differences to be complementary, albeit, without
possessing Tracy’s deep scholarship,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
lesser work. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Definitely not a lesser work came out in 1983. Tracy wrote
in his introduction:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This book is subtitled 'The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Published</i> Apocrypha.' There still the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unpublished</i> Apocrypha — two tantalizing works in Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's own hand—which remain suppressed. They are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Angels of Darkness</i>, a three-act play, written in 1890 based on
the Mormon flashback in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Study in
Scarlet</i>, set in San Francisco, and having Doctor Watson for its principal character
[see below]; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Stonor Case</i>, a 'first
version' of the 1910 drama <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Speckled Band</i>."</blockquote>
<br />
<h3>
Keeping the Memory Green</h3>
Richard Lancelyn Green’s <a href="http://amzn.to/TbLOVr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes</i></a> contained <i>The Stonor Case</i> as well as the aforementioned "Bazaar," "Trick," the poem "To an Undiscerning
Critic," "Diamond," "Some Personalia About Mr Sherlock Holmes," “A
Sherlock Holmes Competition” (which contains Haining’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>“My Favorite Sherlock Holmes Adventure”); “The
True Story of Sherlock Holmes” (which is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tit-Bits</i> article) and “Plot for Sherlock Holmes Story”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, Green's introduction is a 142-page biography of
Doyle with emphasis on Holmes and is worth the price of the book itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Original to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Uncollected</i> is "Prefaces," all the prefaces written by Doyle
for various editions of the Canon; "Sherlock Holmes on the Screen," "Sidelights
on Sherlock Holmes" and "The Background on Sherlock Holmes," both drawn from
Doyle's autobiography <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Memories and
Adventures</i>; "The Last of Sherlock Holmes," an interview of Doyle that
appeared in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daily Mail</i> in October
1904; "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: A Review by Joseph Bell," "Sherlock
Holmes Parodies by J.M. Barrie" containing "Collaborators" and "The
Late Sherlock Holmes," and "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or, An Ungrateful Father; by
Beverley Nichols", an article published in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sketch</i>
in November 1926.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like with Tracy's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Published Apocrypha</i>, the true value in Green's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Uncollected</i> is the deep research and scholarship each man brings to
the table of contents. His introduction to "Plot for Sherlock Holmes Story" is concise
and probably on-the-mark:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"This '<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scenario</i>
for an uncompleted tale' was discovered by Hesketh Pearson, who included it in
his biography of Conan Doyle. Although attributed to Doyle there is no evidence
to show that it is by him and strong internal evidence to suggest that it is
not."</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<h3>
Highly Irregular</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And speaking of scholarship, there is boatloads of that in the Baker Street Irregulars Manuscript Series 2001 publication <a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/angelsdarkness.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Angels of Darkness</i></a>, the up-until-then unpublished Doyle play that launched a
thousand speculations. William Baring-Gould based an 1886-1887 marriage of Watson to "Constance
Adams" of San Francisco from second-hand knowledge of it. Would he still have posited a pre-Mary Morstan marriage if he knew that Watson was to be betrothed to Lucy Ferrier instead?<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XXQgQa5DlMnBLkhuwQJlYZ6cj-QFk0JG5XQtssQzPOoBQlLRztKPwGNd4Ymx4U-dFAwVbOcfBz8zMDuo5OZyxPXZqU58NIEbk0tzkz73LoRE1ANnYs5bNpmbjP7-2V0fpNS-s0cFDu6H/s1600/232_angels-darkness-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XXQgQa5DlMnBLkhuwQJlYZ6cj-QFk0JG5XQtssQzPOoBQlLRztKPwGNd4Ymx4U-dFAwVbOcfBz8zMDuo5OZyxPXZqU58NIEbk0tzkz73LoRE1ANnYs5bNpmbjP7-2V0fpNS-s0cFDu6H/s1600/232_angels-darkness-cover.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Reading the play, one
can understand why it was unpublished for so long. It is not very good,
inferior to its source material “The Country of the Saints” section of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Study in Scarlet</i>, heavy on melodrama
and ethnic stereotyping passing for characterization. It is a product of its
times and the essays by Clifford S. Goldfarb, Christopher Roden, Don B. Wilmeth
and Michael W. Homer make its historical and theatrical context clear. The John
Watson of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Darkness</i> may or may not be
the Canonical Watson, but after 56 years of rumor and speculation after its existence was revealed by Adrian Conan Doyle's biography of his father, it was nice
to have the play at hand and judge for ourselves.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<h3>
A Pressing Matter</h3>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In 2009, the <a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a> and editor Leslie S. Klinger
finished <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/shrl.html" target="_blank">The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library</a></i> with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/apocrypha.html" target="_blank">The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes</a></i>. Like the Canon in the Reference
Library series, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apocrypha</i> is
annotated within the Grand Game, thus is complementary to the historical approach of the above works. The contents include:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"The Field Bazaar," </li>
<li>"The
Man with the Watches," </li>
<li>"The Lost Special," </li>
<li>"How Watson Learned the Trick," </li>
<li>"The
Stonor Case," </li>
<li>"The Crown Diamond: An Evening with Sherlock Holmes," </li>
<li>"The Tall
Man: A Plot for a Sherlock Holmes Story" </li>
<li>"Angels of Darkness."</li>
</ul>
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<br />
While newspaper or magazine articles might be rediscovered
shedding new light on Doyle’s relationship with his most famous creation, it
seems highly improbable that any more material from Doyle’s hand will appear that
will be included in that select section called the Apocrypha. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only <i>Angels of Darkness</i> and the Reference
Library <i>Apocrypha</i> are currently in print; the others are readily available in the second-hand market. All the books mentioned in this post
are worth seeking out.<br />
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Classics of Sherlockiana: the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes

“which I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha” [VALL] The Canon of Sherlock Holmes compromises four novels and fifty-six short s...

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by James C. O'Leary

Basil Rathbone: The Reluctant Sherlock Holmes

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"Good-day, sir; good-day" [SIGN] </h4>
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After seven years playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's infallible detective, actor Basil Rathbone, a Brit by way of Johannesburg, would reveal a gnawing disdain for Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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"One was jealous of course," he writes in his 1956 autobiography, <a href="http://amzn.to/1o1mVXZ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>In and Out of Characte</i>r</a>.<br />
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"Jealous of his mastery in all things, both material and mystical…he was a sort of god in his own way, seated on some Anglo-Saxon Olympus of his own design and making! Yes, there was no question about it, Holmes had given me an acute inferiority complex!"</blockquote>
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Indeed, between 14 films and 200 radio broadcasts, Rathbone came to recognize his own limitations in 19th century fiction. But it was a burden that nonetheless became his legacy. He created an icon: Inverness cape, slung around lean shoulders; a hawkish nose; a <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/01/the-basil-rathbone-hat-mystery.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">visored cap</a>; a <a href="http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/tag/sherlock-holmes-did-not-smoke-a-calabash-pipe/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">curved pipe</a>.<br />
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The silhouette that has inspired new generations of backyard and on-screen antiheroes.<br />
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"It's <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/03/marking-75-years-of-this-classic.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">acknowledged</a> that there has been no other actor before and probably since, with the possible exception of (Jeremy) Brett, who achieved such a physical realization of Conan Doyle's protagonist," explained Neve Rendell, editor of <a href="http://thegreatbaz.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">The Baz: A Basil Rathbone Blog</a>, in an interview with IHOSE. "It's been said he is in some ways the <a href="http://www.arthes.com/holmes/" target="_blank">(Sidney) Paget</a> drawings come to life."<br />
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Classically-trained -- a contemporary of Laurence Olivier -- Rathbone easily slipped into the Canon's conception of Holmes as artful, Victorian sleuth. Twentieth Century Fox's <a href="http://amzn.to/1fd2jJA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i></a> and <a href="http://amzn.com/B0001DCYB4" target="_blank"><i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i></a> (1939) then integrated motifs relic of the <a href="http://www.spreaker.com/user/attaboyclarence/the-game-is-afoot" target="_blank">Golden Age of Hollywood</a>. A misty, lantern-lit moor (a wink at the era's popular Gothic horror flicks). A fusty, bumbling companion. A villain -- and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJVXHLjVhk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">vaudevillian tonic</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
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When Universal Studios rebooted the series in 1942, in the heart of World War II, Rathbone <a href="http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/AaaView/View2012/ViewSP042912.html" target="_blank">grew into</a> a fedora-wearing action man.<br />
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"Given the massive popularity of Rathbone's Holmes at the time, it was inevitable to induct him into the <a href="http://www.chaplinbooks.co.uk/SecretWeapon.pdf" target="_blank">fight against Nazism</a>, both on- and off-screen -- to promote the sale of war bonds and in support of the British War Relief," said Rendell, who started her website in 2012. "His quintessential 'British-ness' must have helped a great deal at a time when FDR was trying to win American popular opinion in going to war and supporting Europe."<br />
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Despite his and Holmes' trans-Atlantic influence -- what journalist <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/02/episode-61-private-life-of-vincent.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vincent Starrett</a> immortalized in his poem <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2013/10/celebrate-national-poetry-day.html#.U405ovldWSo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"221B"</a> -- Rathbone began to resent the light treatment of Conan Doyle's weighty work. He cringed when fans cried "Quick, Watson, the needle" or "Elementary, my dear Watson!" He dreaded typecasting.<br />
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And, he said, he feared "oblivion" for portraying someone who, "for a brief, beautiful period, was more real than reality itself."<br />
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Yet in the hearts and minds of all who followed him, from Brett to Cumberbatch, Rathbone personifies Holmes. Call it typecasting but, really, it is much more. It is iconic. With the swish of his Inverness and the puff of his pipe, Rathbone brought the world's first consulting detective to life. He made us laugh. He made us forget. To that, it's "Good-day, sir; good-day."<br />
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