Always 1895

Midweek Sherlock Links Roundup (May 19 - May 23, 2012)

Criminal Element published Sherlockian and novelist Lyndsay Faye’s kerb grinding, honest as sin piece entitled ‘A Holmes Fan’s Mistrust of Elementary: An Open Apology to CBS’ which plots out rather nicely just what Holmes fans don’t (whether they know it or not yet) like about CBS’s Elementary along with an open apology that’s anything but! This article is a case study in how one engages the insipid though heavily promoted philistine world’s attempt at - let’s be frank now - cashing in on that “whole Sherlock Holmes thing”. Ms Faye, with killer one-two punch of wit and erudition, clears the playing field which has been rather muddled since the announcement of CBS’s adaptation (or usurpation) of the Master (and/or his name). On the one side, level headed Sherlockians are suggesting that we just give Elementary a chance because who knows, it might be good? On the other, the assassins of Moffat/the berserkers of Cumberbatch have swooped down to violently condemn any encroachment on Moffat’s turf. Though they may have a point in this case, my worry is that any future attempt (legitimate or otherwise) at adapting Sherlock Holmes will have to face the Sherlock Tumblr blog firing squad, regardless of the quality of the adaptation. Anyway, I’ve digressed a tad here, but Ms Faye nails a majority of the ‘deeper’ points as to why Elementary is an institution to be feared and mistrusted and her piece is an absolute must read.

[“The problem is that we fear the ethos of our beloved characters will be ignored in favor of market research and general Los Angeles willy-nillying, and we already have a bit of a sugar high from all the Holmesian brilliance of late, and from over here, it looks like you made your potato salad with daikon radish, and that isn’t what a potato salad is, CBS.”]

Vanity Fair’s latest issue published one of their best long form essays I’ve read in a while which is actually more of a reflection piece on the legacy of Manhattan ‘club life’ - “club” in this case referring to storied old gentlemen’s clubs based on the British model (a good reference to the authentic English species is Anthony Lejeune’s The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London). The majority of these institutions were or are on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and the author, due to a variety of circumstances, has had access to a few of the more revered clubs as well as the people who have frequented them. In a refreshing move this piece tactfully avoids (truly a sign of good breeding) any talk of privilege, class and elitism so as to simply concentrate on an illustration of ‘club life’. This approach gives it a very Joseph Mitchell (of Up In the Old Hotel fame) feel but instead of writing about down-on-their-luck, unhappy drunks we get to read about…well, sort of down-on-their-luck, unhappy drunks, but in a more blue-bloody, nostalgic way. Early on Alexander Woollcott is name checked - if you’re familiar with the story of the very first Baker Street Irregulars dinner involving Vincent Starrett, two hansom cabs, a stolen deerstalker and the notorious Woollcott (called “the Vicious Circle’s most vicious zinger slinger” in this piece) this should help give you a partial idea of the caliber of people under discussion - along with a dizzying array of characters and personages of either the New Yorker writer-type or the progeny of 19th century railroad barons, both of whom seem to gravitate toward ‘club life’ and it’s trappings. A truly fascinating article. (Thanks to John Baesch, BSI (“State and Merton County Railroad”) ASH, SBB, SHSL, SSHB, WRI, etc. for the tip!!)

[Outside the Algonquin - home of the Algonquin Round Table, the celebrated group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits, including Woollcott, Dorothy Parker, Harold Ross and occasionally Harpo Marx.]

Re: Sherlock Holmes’ (as mentioned briefly in an earlier post) Mattias Boström posted a top 10 list of Sherlockians who “have had the biggest influence on the 125 years of Sherlock Holmes? Persons whose decisions – positive or negative – and deeds have changed the future of the detective” (barring ACD of course). You should read Mr Bostrum’s post in it’s entirety but oddly enough I find that I agree much more with his ‘Top 10 runner’s up” versus his primary Top 10 list. Though his main Top 10 list features Christopher Morley and Jeremy Brett, many of the other names are, I feel, less important, particularly in the sense of having “the biggest influence on the 125 years of Sherlock”. On the other hand, Mr Bostrum’s Top 10 runners-up list includes: Frederic Dorr Steele, Vincent Starrett, Edgar W. Smith, William S. Baring-Gould and John Bennett Shaw. With the notion of ‘most influential Sherlockians’ at the front of my mind, I realized that the list of attendees of the 1949 BSI Dinner contains about 90% of the most influential Sherlockians I would choose - which kinda shows which way my bias goes. Another great post from Mr Boström that gets the ol’ brain engine running.

[Princess Nina Mdivani Conan Doyle Harwood (widow of Denis Conan Doyle) is #6 on Boström’s list - she ended up involved with a lot of later copyright disputes involving the ACD estate. Now that I’m re-reading his list maybe I agree with him more than I originally had.]

Quick Sherlock Links:

@ArdyForShort (of the Baker Street Babes) poses with her recently acquired stack of Always 1895 stickers. Party like it’s 1895!

[Party!]

Alistair Duncan in anticipation for Undershaw’s day in court posted a photo of “the High Court where, on Wednesday, the latest round of the battle to Save Undershaw will be fought.” Dan Andriacco also posted his last minute suggestions for how you can still help Save Undershaw! So many people have worked tirelessly to save Undershaw I can only hope that the Wednesday (today) hearing goes well for our side. UPDATE: according to @alistair221b & @BakerStBabes “Reserved decision.” Apparently the end of July is when the final verdict will be given. Check in with @Save_Undershaw for up to the minute details.

The Norwegian Explorers of MN announced the dates for their next tri-annual conference: Aug 9-11, 2013. Visit the venerable Norwegian Explorers here on FB for more info. Please note that’s 2013 and not 2012! There is a 117% probability that I will be in attendance. 

LA Times mentioned the “Hammer Readings event dedicated to the great detective Sherlock Holmes. Led by untiring Holmes annotator Leslie Klinger, and including mystery writer Denise Hamilton, filmmaker Nicholas Meyer and private eye Sarah Alcorn, this evening – like Broad’s – will surely be more than just …. elementary.”

Press Association announced that Steven Moffat - you know that guy who runs those two shows - has won via the BAFTAs the ingeniously titled “Special Award” which will be given to him “at the [BAFTA] event at the Royal Festival Hall in central London on May 27.” Bahhh, I could have won ‘The Special Award’ if they had picked me to run Doctor Who and Sherlock; what’s the big deal? A little clever dialogue here, some complicated explanation of a complicated explanation over there, a bespoke wardrobe and a fez, a dash of rabid fandom culture and a heart of gold masked by shadowy yet heartbreaking occurrences which happened prior to events on the show - so easy!

The Independent ran some hard-hitting journalism that investigates “Sherlock Holmes and the mystery of the missing eight minutes. A painful cut to the BBC’s reinvention of the classic detective has left US fans in uproar.” And that’s just the sub-headline! This is actually a pretty good article from a UK news source writing about BBC Sherlock’s reception in the U.S.A. Can’t you feel that we’re getting that much closer to that happy day when a “quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes” eliminates the need to mercilessly cut 8 previous minutes of Cumberbatch.

Radio Locked posted this fantastic Great Mouse Detective art. I like that they even nailed the mid-century modern chair used in BBC Sherlock‘s221B. One complaint: Cumberbatch’s Sherlock is right-handed and this Great Mouse Detective is playing the violin as a lefty. 

[Love it!]

Wear Sherlock won a design contest at Qwertee: “Thanks to your amazing number of votes our B&W recreation of the H.O.U.N.D. Liberty, In[diana] shirt as seen in Sherlock S2E2 will now be printed at qwertee.com!” I’ll be purchasing two of these excellent items myself and I recommend that you do the same before they sell out. 

[A version of the H.O.U.N.D. shirt seen in Season 2, Episode 2 “Hounds of the Baskerville.”]

Baker Street Babes flexed their Google Translate muscles and picked up a little nugget of information regarding the new Russian Sherlock - and the director plans to only “use the motives of the original stories, and will recreate the stories almost from scratch. The series will also assume that Watson’s descriptions of the crimes have been embellished. Later he will try to adjust reality to his fantasies.” At this point it sounds hit or miss, but still better than Elementary (how do you say “oh snap!” in Russian?).

Altamont Markings in a fun, rather free-wheeling essay which attempts to show how “The Empty House”, via the “imaginative use of cultural metaphors in common currency”, sets-up a ”credible re-establishment of Sherlock Holmes at the centre of Edwardian life”, having returned from the dead and all. It may seem a little muddled on your first try, but on your second reading you can begin teasing out a few interesting threads which help to contextualize the world in which Sherlock Holmes now found himself (ie. 10 years after FINA). 

The Guardian as well as PBS Masterpiece on Monday both hosted live chats with the arguably the man of the hour Steve Moffat. Transcripts are available for both sessions, but I’m a little sad that the question I posed was not chosen. Maybe next time Steve old buddy?

Molly Carr posted this rather nebulous and mysterious image + text: Beware the Mastiff! 

[Description of the mastiff Carlo: “I was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was aware that something was moving under the shadow of the copper beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not think that any burglar could have done.” from “The Adventures of the Copper Beeches”.]

Does ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ Have You Feeling Anxious?

Now that most viewers from the U.S.A. have officially* seen ‘The Reichenbach Fall’, the final episode of season two of BBC Sherlock, I suspect many have found themselves in the moribund grip of saturnine anxiety (and perhaps donning a black arm band). Whether this state is the result of the highly emotional nature of the show (@BakerStBabes: “The tears are starting…..it’s the phone exchange between John and Sherlock that does it.”) or the news that Moffat and crew won’t begin filming season/series three until January 2013, I suggest seeking solace in the words of Christopher Morley:

[“What opiate can best abate / Anxiety and toil? / Not aspirins, nor treble gins, / Nor love, nor mineral oil - / My only drug is a good long slug / Of Tincture of Conan Doyle.” Text shot from The Standard Doyle Company: Christopher Morley on Sherlock Holmes (ed. Steven Rothman) p. 76 in which Morley refers to the above as his “Christmas carol of last year”.]

Depending on your level of familiarity with The Canon (aka The Sacred Writings), you should also be comforted by the fact that many more Sherlock Holmes stories occur (chronologically speaking) after the events recorded in “The Final Problem” - the story from which Moffat’s “The Reichenbach Fall” is based. If you’ve never read the stories of Dr. John H. Watson (facilitated of course by the literary agent Arthur Conan Doyle), now is the perfect time to pick up one of the many complete sets in book or e-reader form (cf. Dan Andriacco’s blog post ‘The Complete Sherlock Holmes’ for a selection of the more lavish editions).

If you are upset mainly because season three of BBC Sherlock won’t appear until well into 2013, just consider the plight of loyal readers of The Strand who after reading “The Final Problem” in 1893 had to wait ten solid years until “The Empty House” to find out exactly what gave Watson “the greatest shock and surprise of any event in my adventurous life”. It is to these mourning band wearing, Strand patronizing, late-Victorians that I dedicate the following image:

[The STRANDom that waited!]

Perhaps @BakerStreetBlog’s tweet immediately following ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ - reminding us of one of the most familiar #BelieveInSherlock images - is for a variety of reasons the best note to end on:

[Posted originally on January 19, 2012 on MilkBubble.]

* For an extensive set of links relating to the ‘The Reichenbach Fall’, please see my ‘Friday Sherlock Links Compendium - The Reichenbach Fall Special - (January 14 - January 20, 2012)’ which was posted after the initial UK airing of the episode in early January. Also check out the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere podcast “Episode 39: #BelieveInSherlock” as well as the Baker Street Babes podcast “Episode 18: The Reichenbach Fall”.

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (May 12 - May 18, 2012)

British Library Theatre Archive has an excellent and in-depth interview (55 minutes!!) with Edward Hardwicke from 2007 which deals primarily with his work in the theatre. This week (May 16th) marks the one year anniversary of Master Hardwicke’s death and I can’t think of a more fitting way to remember Hardwicke than by listening to him wax nostalgic about his lifetime in the theatre. Set aside an hour and give this interview a listen and then cue up a few of your favorite Granada episodes featuring Edward Hardwicke as Dr John H. Watson. I’ll be starting with “The Empty House” (of course!) and then perhaps “The Devil’s Foot”, “Silver Blaze” and then whatever comes to mind. The Theater Project Archive interview is an excellent reminder of just what a fine actor and human being Mr Hardwicke was, and a perusal of post-Burke Granada episodes acts as a clear proof of the intelligence and humanity he brought to Watson. Click here for my post from last year about Mr Hardwicke’s death.

[Edward Hardwicke (1932 - 2011) RIP]

Alistair Duncan comments on the just released trailer for Elementary, the CBS adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. Since it’s release earlier this week, the trailer has set the Sherlockian subset of the internet ablaze. The flames are so hot right now that I might give them a few days to burn off and dedicate next Wednesday’s Midweek Links to investigating just exactly what Sherlockians and non-Sherlockians alike have been saying. I chose Mr Duncan’s piece as the sole item in this week’s links compendium because - unless I find out otherwise - he nails the major issue surrounding Elementary: “The thing that screams out for me is that while BBC’s Sherlock is clearly written by two people who know the Canon - Elementary is written by people who at best have (or appear to have) only a passing familiarity with it or, and this is arguably worse, have good knowledge of it but have chosen to ignore everything that doesn’t suit them.” The trailer already has 220,000 hits - I assume more than a few people will have something to say.

[Ms Watson and Mr Holmes on the NYC subway.]

Great Lives at UMW - a series of lectures from the University of Mary Washington Department of History and American Studies  - hosted a lecture ‘Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street’ which features “British historian and professor of history at the University of Exeter Jeremy Black [elucidating] the scintillating mind of Sherlock Holmes; the tenebrous character of Dr. Moriarty [sic]; and the rather obtuse Dr. Watson, who chronicled Holmes’ adventures. Professor Black analyzes Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous character [sic] and the escapades that emanated from Holmes’ digs at 221B, where it is always 1895 in London. Black is the author of more than 100 books on European (and especially British) history, including London: A History. He has previously given highly popular Great Lives lectures on figures ranging from George III and Napoleon to James Bond. (Thanks to Baker Street Blog for tip!)

[Professor Jeremy Black lecturing on Sherlock Holmes.]

Dan Andriacco of Baker Street Beat reflects on one of the small joys of life: “…to be surprised by references to Sherlock Holmes in a book where you didn’t expect them. I had that experience recently with a mystery novel starring Harry Houdini called The Houdini Specter” - a novel written by Sherlockian Daniel Stashower who is responsible for quite a few books Sherlock-related, peripherally Sherlock-related and not-directly-Sherlock-related (mostly about magic and/or Houdini). Mr Andriacco cites Stashower’s Holmes pastiche The Ectoplasmic Man (Holmes and Houdini) but he is also quite well-known for his ACD biography Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle.  Andriacco cites a particularly gratifying passage: “”A great man once said what when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,” Houdini tells a character named Kenneth.  ”That’s very good,” Kenneth says. “Goethe?”  Houdini quickly sets him straight.”  I quite agree with Mr Andriacco’s assessment that little passages like this are “inside jokes” of a sort written and inserted by Sherlockians for other Sherlockians. The Houdini Specter will be re-released in paperback on June 12, 2012 and appears to be part of a larger series called The Harry Houdini Mysteries being put out on Titan - similar to the Titan’s The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

[Paperback cover of Daniel Stashower’s The Houdini Specter.]

Guinness World Records announced this week that “Having been depicted on screen 254 times…Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional [sic] detective, has been awarded a world record for the most portrayed literary human character in film & TV.” For some reason 254 times actually seems kind of low. “Since his creation [sic] in 1887, Sherlock Holmes has been played by over 75 actors including Sir Christopher Lee, Charlton Heston, Peter O’Toole, Christopher Plummer, Peter Cook, Roger Moore, John Cleese, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr” which is rather impressive when you take into account additional facts like “Through a combination of films, television series, dramas and documentaries, Sherlock’s appearances beat the character of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by 48 portrayals to claim the record.” So that makes the master detective the most portrayed character ever right? Now so fast; recall that the title is “the most portrayed literary human character” - my emphasis on “human” - for it turns out that “Sherlock is not the overall most portrayed literary character in film. That title belongs to the non-human character Dracula, who has been portrayed in 272 films.” Ouch! ACD’s friend Bram Stoker, it turns out, is responsible for the most portrayed literary character of all time - which has a touch of poetic irony considering that in his lifetime Mr Stoker never achieved the fame and fortune of ACD. For a collection of Stoker’s work online, check out BramStoker.org.

[Just a sampling of the 75+ actors that have donned the role of the Great Detective. You can order the above image on a t-shirt here.]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Wilde About JB posted this marvelous photo (which I’ve never seen!) of Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke from what I can only assume is a still from Jeremy Paul’s play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (click for audio).

[One of my time machine dreams is to go back and see The Secret of Sherlock Holmes when it was being performed by Brett and Hardwicke.]

Re: Sherlock Holmes posted a ‘top 10 list of Sherlock Holmes influencers’. There’s some obvious and not so obvious names on here. An excellent post that’s already generated some mild controversy on a Sherlock mailing list or two.

Seattle Pi posted one of the odder books reviews, if you can call it that. “In any event, because I am 64 years old this is the LAST Sherlock Holmes book by Conan Doyle I will ever buy.”

The Daily Mail reacts to the news that Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed a record breaking 254 times on the big/small screen and posts a dizzying array of images from Holmes’ various incarnations and a pretty much complete list of actors who have played Holmes.

Barefoot on Baker Street posts about being included in Sherlock’s Home, the Sherlockology and MX Publishing joint effort to support Save Undershaw as well as celebrate professional and fan writing about Sherlock Holmes. 

Kieran McMullen in his ‘The Many Watsons’ series looks at Campbell Singer Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Disappeared was a made for TV short (about 26 minutes) which was a pilot for a weekly show. Click for more info and a link to the episode itself.

The Amateur Captain posted my favorite animated GIF of the week - in fact a series of animated GIFs all featuring Jeremy Brett in senes from Granada’s epically awesome take on “The Final Problem”. From the original text: “as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet. I called the police and had the place examined. There were slates and bricks piled up on the roof preparatory to some repairs, and they would have me believe that the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course I knew better, but I could prove nothing.”

[Watch out Holmes! “[A] brick came down from the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet.”]

Midweek Sherlock (Books) Links Roundup (May 12 - May 16, 2012)

There seems to be an inordinate but welcome deluge of Sherlock Holmes-related book announcements as well as reviews appearing this week so I thought I would post a special ‘book edition’ Midweek Sherlock links section. “1) Knowledge of Literature - Nil” = False!

Lyndsay Faye announced via Twitter that she’s “very proud of having written the intro to this fine essay collection regarding BBC Sherlock fandom!” which is titled Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom: Essays on BBC Sherlock. In my humble opinion the editors couldn’t have chosen a better person to write the introduction to a collection that “explores the cultural intersections and fan traditions that converge in Sherlock and its fandoms. Essays focus on the industrial and cultural contexts of Sherlock’s release, on the text of Sherlock as adaptation and transformative work, and on Sherlock’s critical and popular reception. The volume’s multiple perspectives examine Sherlock Holmes as an international transmedia figure with continued cultural impact, offering insight into not only the BBC series itself, but also into its literary source, and with it, the international resonance of the Victorian detective and his sidekick.” Sign me up!

[Sherlock and his Stradivarius looking to get transmediated!]

Sherlockology announced the winners for their Undershaw-related contest: “We had an overwhelming response for ‘Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House’, receiving almost 400 entries in the two weeks submissions were open for. They were sent from all over the world and the standard was exceptionally high - some were so good Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself could have written them! [They were] able to include 31 stories and poems instead of the 20 we originally stated.” You’ll recall that this is a “collection of short stories and poems centered around the Sherlock Holmes canon characters and for the benefit of the Undershaw Preservation Trust.” A special congratulations goes to our friend Charlotte Anne Walters (author Barefoot on Baker Street) for her enticing sounding entry “Charlie Milverton”. Look out for Sherlock’s Home from MX Publishing.  

[Click for larger version of this excellent cover.]

The Priory Scholars of NYC ran a ‘classic review’ of Chris Steinbrunner and Norman Michaels’ excellent  survey of movies featuring Holmes and Watson published in 1978 entitled The Films of Sherlock Holmes. “The first edition of The Films of Sherlock Holmes came out in 1978 (Citadel Press) and features pretty much every major Sherlock Holmes film ending on 1976’s The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. This fact alone makes Films a fascinating historical ‘snapshot’ of a time before Granada’s Jeremy Brett won over legions of fans and cemented a new image of Holmes in the minds of viewers at a level even greater than the Rathbone years (c. 1939-1946). Out of 252 pages, 120 are given over to a discussion and photographs of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce’s take on Holmes and Watson.” Steinbrunner and Michaels were original members of The Priory Scholars of NYC (and in the interest of full disclosure I’m a member of the PSNYC and actually wrote this review…shameless self-promotion I know!).

[“Out of 252 pages, 120 are given over to a discussion and photographs of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce’s take on Holmes and Watson.”]

NYTimes’ The Stone column published a piece ‘Logic & Neutrality’ (May 13 2012) which featured an illustration by Leif Parsons of Spock and Sherlock Holmes. If you are having trouble accessing the article I added just the illustration to my Twitpic site here (smaller version below). The article itself, though not directly related to Sherlockian matters, is of interest to any of you that follow various trends in philosophical logic (Frege, Kripke, Quine, etc.) and was written by philosopher Timothy Williamson, the Wykeham Professor of Logic at Oxford University. You may recall that many of those Sherlockians who argue that Sherlock Holmes attended Oxford make the further claim that Holmes was in fact a Wykehamist.

[Leif Parsons illustration for article on logic and whether or not it can be considered a neutral player in the world of philosophical debate.]

Baker Street Babes (Maria Fleischhack) reviewed Alistair Duncan’s new book An Entirely New Country: ACD, Undershaw, and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes. “The book is a brilliant read, never boring and it leaves one with a very vivid image of Doyle at the turn of the century. Alistair Duncan added profoundly to the already extensive source material we have on Doyle, and I highly and whole-heartedly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in Doyle and his contemporaries.” Duncan’s books on ACD are essential for any contemporary Sherlockian library and I highly recommend picking up a copy - and why not suport the Baker Street Babes while you’re at it and purchase AENC from the Babe’s new bookshop!

[AENC by Alistair Duncan.]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Better Holmes & Gardens has been running “an ongoing project on my Twitter feed, I’m delivering stories from the Sherlock Holmes canon in tiny installments of 140 characters or less…The current story is “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange”. Check out BH&G’s feed to start the fun!

Ross K posted a video review of Sherlock Holmes and The Murder at Lodore Falls by Baker Street Babe Charlotte Smith. For sale at the Baker Street Babes bookshop.

Pop2it ran a piece about Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the upcoming Star Trek movie with some excellent photos of BC locked in mortal combat with none-other-than Spock: “in the upcoming “Star Trek” sequel, Cumberbatch shifts from fighting crime to a fighting criminal and in some new pictures from the set, we see him battling Zachary Quinto’s Spock…[BC] also rocks a diabolical ’80s New Wave Britpop haircut.” Rumor has it BC is playing Khan.

Masterpiece PBS hosted a live online chat (May 14 2012) with BBC Sherlock co-creator/actor Mark Gatiss (Mycroft Holmes) where fans had the opportunity to ask questions. I was quiet impressed with the depth of Mr Gatiss’ canonical knowledge and his familiarity with the various facets of Sherlockian culture and fandom, new and old. If you missed the chat, there’s a transcript available. 

Bullseye, a show on Public Radio International hosted by Jesse Thorn, ran an extensive interview with Benedict Cumberbatch that’s received rave reviews on twitter and is an intimate conversation with the man of the moment BC. As @JCrowther9 declared on twitter in reference to the BC interview: “brainy is the new sexy.” The audio is available on Soundcloud here.

Tea at 221B posted another excellent ‘text shot’, this time from The Sign of Four:

[“A client is to me a mere unit…” This passage from SIGN is one of best Holmes quotes of all time.]

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (May 5 - May 11, 2012)

I hope to see some of you on Saturday May 12th for the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes spring luncheon. ASH events (either the monthly Wednesday events or the occasional weekend formal event) are always an excellent mix of eating, drinking, merriment, canonical toasts, songs and general Sherlockian shenanigans. If you are interested in The Master Detective but have yet to check out a local scion, I strongly suggest visiting the Sherlockian Calendar for events in your area. And don’t be scared that you will “immediately be subjected to a rigorous examination on the Canon” - even if you’re just becoming familiar with the Canon and reading the stories for the first time. More than likely you will be met with an enthusiastic response and begin to make friends and acquaintances that will only enrich your encounter with Sherlock Holmes and the canon.

The Priory Scholars of NYC - a scion that I’m helping to resurrect - just launched a website PrioryScholarsNYC.com as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account. Our ‘first’ - though the scion has existed since 1954 - major event is June 30th 2012 in NYC; further details can be found here and here. At the summer brunch (in a garden!) the story under discussion is “A Case of Identity”. Class is in session! 

On the Box throws some fuel into the BBC Sherlock versus CBS Elementary fandom death-match (well, more like a spritzer): “The pilot for CBS’s Elementary has just finished shooting and when asked about possible similarities, [Jonny Lee] Miller had this to say from himself. “Yeah, obviously you look at it and say, “Wait a second … “But I feel there’s enough differences there. I thought I could do something with it; otherwise, there’d be no point.”” But seriously, would he actually admit to “Yeah, the CBS Sherlock is super lame…” Again, we’ll just have to wait and see (because you know “something something without Data something”).

[And seriously, the Frankenstein BC and JLM press photos never ever get old.]

Newsday speaking of “Data! Data! Data!” has some hard facts for us regarding how well Sherlock did on PBS: “3.2 million viewers for the second season launch Sunday”. Wow!! (That’s almost as many hits Always1895.net gets a day! Heh, a Sherlockian blogger can dream…) But seriously, WOW. Remember, we’re talking about PBS here. By way of comparison, Downton Abbey - that show with British accents which doesn’t feature a private consulting detective - grabbed 4.2 million viewers for it’s season opener. TV By the Numbers put the season two opener in context: “A Scandal in Belgravia,” the first episode of Season 2 Sherlock, “more than doubled the average PBS primetime rating.” And since I’m guessing most of you are now thinking ‘but how many billions of people twittered about Sherlock on Sunday’? I’m tickled to report (ie. cute & paste) that “on May 6, nearly 15,000 fans checked in on the GetGlue entertainment social network, creating a social media reach of more than seven million people and earning the #3 trending spot on the site. Among the thousands of Sherlock tweets during broadcast, nearly 5,000 contained the official #SherlockPBS hashtag, according to social media monitoring service Meltwater Buzz.” But remember, it’s not who wins or loses, but about how they ‘play The Game!’ (Bam!) Expect even more “booming” next Sunday May 13 2012 for “The Hounds of Baskerville.” 

[Welcome to America Mr Private Consulting Detective and Ms The Woman!]

Television Without Pity, for those Sherlockians still unsure about whether they want to watch the BBC incarnation of Sherlock, offers ‘Five Reasons You Should Be Watching Sherlock’: 1) It’s A Real Reimagining, Not Just Repetition, 2) Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman Are Holmes and Watson, 3) It’s Much Better Than Those Terrible Movies, 4) The Next Two Episodes Are (Based On) Classics and 5) It’s Just So Well-Written. Speaking of TVWOP, I’ve always wondered what a classic TVWOP-style review would be like of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series. For those unfamiliar, Television Without Pity, as the name might suggest, supplies it’s readers with (usually) no holds barred, super snarky, total immersion yet unflinchingly meta TV reviews. The reviews were (usually) so funny and well-written yet unpretentiously  You could read through an entire season (of The O.C. for example - Aww, The O.C. + TVWOP = good times) of a TV show and be almost as entertained as if you had actually watched it. 

[Curious to see if BBC Sherlock will get the TVWOP treatment this year.]

I Hear of Sherlock ran a special podcast on the PBS Sherlock event: “…Burt [Wolder] made his way to New York City on May 2, 2012 for the sneak preview of the new season and question and answer time with some of the cast and crew of Sherlock, including Rebecca Eaton, Steven Moffat, Sue Vertue and of course, Benedict Cumberbatch.” Make sure you can pick a time when you can give your undivided attention to listening to this episode, it is awesome and hilarious.

Baker Street Babes released Episode 26: Lara Pulver & Irene Adler”: Lara Pulver chats with Curly, Lyndsay, Maria, and Jenn about her turn as The Woman. We geek out about McQueen and  sexual identity, and reveal the secret to beating Benedict Cumberbatch at word games.” The Babes’ blog also announced “Sherlock co-creator and star Mark Gatiss chats with fans about season 2 of the hit series, writing “The Hounds of Baskerville”, and the dubious distinction of being a part of Sherlock’s family tree, portraying brother Mycroft in the series. Join the live, online chat on Monday, May 14, 2012, at 1pm Eastern time, or return after the chat to read the complete transcript.” I love that more and more podcasts and ‘live chats’ have transcripts now. Finally if you’re a fan of he Babes - and we know you are - check out their new Baker Street Babes Bookstore and support all current and future Babes projects with a purchase of one of the fine Sherlock-themed titles.

[“Goodnight Mr Sherlock Holmes.”]

Dan Andriacco asks the intriguing (and loaded) question: Is what Sherlock Holmes does science or art? His ultimate answer is the very correct one, but it’s interesting to explore and discuss the implications of Holmes qua artist and Holmes qua scientist. Also, “science in the blood is liable to take the strangest turns” sounds a little odd. Also, look for Mr Andriacco’s new novel Holmes Sweet Holmes (MX) about “the murder of a director who dares to risk the anger of Sherlock Holmes fans.” Love it! For an early review and synopsis, check out PR Web.

[Buy me!]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Sherlock Holmes Slot Machine may cause the need to lock one’s cheque book up in a drawer! Very strange. Sadly, hitting ‘Three Garridebs” does not win the jackpot fortune of Alexander Hamilton Garrideb. Though “five Blue Diamonds hits the game’s progressive jackpot,” which is basically a carbuncle. For a press release, a video preview and more info click here. (Thanks to Chris Gotch for the tip!).

[Check out more incredible screenshots here.]

Historical Sherlock is turning into one of my favorite blogs and this week’s post does not disappoint: what are the connections between “The Sussex Vampire”, Eleanor of Castile (1241 - 1290) (the wife of Edward I (Longshanks) of England) and the etymology of “Charing Cross”? Find out in ‘Sherlock Holmes, Blood, and Royalty’.

Tweet Grid is a great way to follow the live tweeting that’s happened and will happen during the U.S. broadcast of Sherlock on PBS. Official live tweeters include Leslie S. Klinger, Scott Monty, Baker Street Babes and Lyndsay Faye. Make sure to check out #SherlockPBS during this Sunday’s chat session.

Kieren McMullen carries on his ‘The Many Watsons’ project - he’s up to the 47th Watson if you can believe it! - this time featuring 1930s actor Reginald Owen playing Watson (opposite Clive Brook playing the Great Detective) in an adaptation where we find “Holmes about to get married and move to a chicken ranch.” Click here for a trailer of Sherlock Holmes (1932).

Alistair Duncan maps out his busy next few months: the Save Undershaw Judicial review is fast approaching, the Sherlock Holmes Society of London has a major meeting coming up with Mr Duncan running for office (hope he has both his lighthouse and trained cormorant i working order!) and then he’ll be giving a few talks on Sherlockian matters. 

Better Holmes & Gardens grapples with the best way to deal with discussion about a Holmes story that literally ‘does nothing’ for someone: doesn’t inspire love or hate but a bland, languid ‘meh’. Her example is “The Resident Patient”: “relatively speaking, Sherlock Holmes doesn’t really do very much in RESI to inspire any kind of traditional response.” Find out how BH&G finds value in such a story.

Bartitsu Club of NYC is hosting their May Training Session this Sunday (May 13 2012). Beginners are welcome and what better time to learn the art of self-defense against nefarious Professors? 

Waterstones Oxford Street discusses his philosophy of Bookshelf Order, e.g. “…author and genre are the only acceptable methods and, to be honest, I’m suspicious of anyone who disagrees…People who arrange their books by colour are clearly insane and there really should be some sort of helpline for them.” (Thanks to @ShelfAwareness for tip!)  

Journal of Victorian Culture Online posted ‘I Believe in Sherlock Holmes: Sherlockian Fandom Then & Now’ - an analysis of #BelieveInSherlock, fandoms and the Baker Street Journal’s place hovering between fandom culture and ‘serious’ academic inquiry, ultimately attempting to answer the question “How do we reconcile the relationship between fandom and the academy?” How indeed.

Vasily Livanov - the Russian Sherlock Holmes - recently appeared as Holmes in a Riston Tea commercial (in Russian) and it’s on YouTube. (Thanks to Tea Guy Speaks for tip!)

Re: Sherlock Holmes in ‘The Sherlock Holmes pastiche booms 1970-2012’ considers the upsurge in interest in all things Sherlockian after the release (book and film) of Nicholas Meyer’s The Seven Percent Solution and how the recent surge in Sherlock Holmes compares. An awesome and well-researched article (there’s even charts and graphs!); I look forward to Mr Boström future findings.

[The pastiche that started the late 1970s Sherlock boom.]

Return of the Priory Scholars of NYC!

There are many different ways to celebrate the life and times of Sherlock Holmes and one of the oldest and most venerable traditions is to participate in a Sherlockian Scion. If you are unfamiliar with what a “scion” actually is and does, a good place to start is Christopher Redmond’s Sherlockian.net Societies page. 

For those in and around the NYC area I am very happy to announce that The Priory Scholars of NYC have been rebooted and as of 5 minutes ago, our webpage is now live! Please check out: www.PrioryScholarsNYC.com for information on upcoming events (June 30th 2012!!) as well as the long and interesting history of the Priory Scholars and the various amazing Sherlockians who have been a part of the scion over the years (from 1954!). 

Since it’s 2012 and not 1954 anymore, you can also find and contact the PSNYC in a variety of ways:

Facebook: facebook.com/PrioryNYC

Twitter: @PrioryNYC

Website: PrioryScholarsNYC.com

Email: prioryscholarsNYC@gmail.com

If you don’t live in NYC but would like to find a scion in your area I can’t recommend enough the infinitely useful Sherlockian Calendar, maintained by Ron Fish of The Three Garridebs along with Sue and Ben Vizoskie.

[An average Sherlockian scion meeting.]

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (April 28 - May 4, 2012)

As many of my regular readers know, I tend to limit posts about BBC Sherlock to one or two links per week due mostly to the fact that BBC Sherlock has around a quadrillion fan sites where one can easily satiate their Cumberbatch/Moffat Sherlock desires. This week however I’m making an exception because 1) Sunday May 6th 2012 is the U.S.A. premier of BBC Sherlock, 2) it’s basically been BBC Sherlock/Cumberbatch week on the Internet due to #1 and 3) on Wednesday I attended an extremely interesting/entertaining panel featuring Steven Moffat, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sue Vertue (executive producer of Sherlock) at the French Institute Alliance Française in NYC. In regards to #3, I was asked by the Baker Street Blog to attend and submit a review, so I have plenty to report as well as a cache of pictures taken by my photographer/girlfriend Becca, all of which will be available shortly. For non-Cumberbatchian items, jump to ‘Quick Sherlock Links’ further down.

[The panel for the PBS Sherlock Series 2 New York Event. Photo by Becca Gotch.]

Batches of Cumberbatch Dispatches:

NPR posted an audio/text piece this morning focusing on Benedict Cumberbatch and his current roles as the master detective in BBC Sherlock, Smaug the dragon in Peter Jackson’s big screen adaptation of The Hobbit, and the villainous Khan in the upcoming J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek film. The interview focuses a lot on how/why Mr Cumberbatch become an actor: “One emotional turning point in Cumberbatch’s journey to acting came when he played the role of Antonio Salieri in a university production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. “My father … turned to me,” Cumberbatch recalls, “and he said, ‘You’re better than I ever was or could be. You should do this for a profession - I think you’d have a good time.’ And that’s a huge thing for a man to say to his son, and - not necessarily true, I might add, he’s a wonderful actor himself - but it was so encouraging and supportive.” Cumberbatch says it was “a moment of extraordinary humility and pride” - and that from then on, the knowledge of his parents’ confidence gave him the nerve to pursue acting professionally.” 

[The Wrath of Antonio Salieri!]

Mashable reports on the ultimate case of “phoning it in” - as everyone’s heard by now Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the villain in J.J. Abrams-directed sequel to Star Trek. “Cumberbatch got word last December that Abrams wanted him to audition via videotape for a role in the much-anticipated Star Trek sequel, The New York Times reports. Only problem? Cumberbatch was vacationing in England at the time, and couldn’t locate anyone to properly film his tryout. So, the story goes, an “agitated and weary” Cumberbatch simply recorded his audition using an iPhone. “I was pretty strung out,” Cumberbatch tells the Times, “so that went into the performance.” Cumberbatch sent the clip to Abrams, only to be hit with a cruel bit of irony - Abrams, too, was on vacation and couldn’t immediately check out the recording. But he eventually got a look at it and told the Times that Cumberbatch’s iPhone-recorded performance was “one of the most compelling audition readings I’d ever seen.”” Can you imagine BC playing iconic Star Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh aka The Wrath of Khan? (Thanks to @LyndsayFaye for the tip!)

[The Wrath of Cumberbatch!]

Baker Street Babes beat me to a published review of Wednesday’s PBS Sherlock series 2 screening and Q&A, and it’s a terrific blow-by-blow recap of an event that words and pictures can just barely do justice. I hate to describe an event this way, but you sort of ‘had to be there’ in order to understand the almost palpable excitement and utter strangeness which permeated the experience. Jenn of the Baker Street Babes deftly captured the ‘flow’ of the evening and echos a sentiment that crossed my mind more than once throughout the evening: ”I wonder if my ear drums are going to burst. The love fans have for this show is enormous, and they have no trouble expressing it.” Indeed! The decibel level seemed to rise to the level of ‘The Beatles c. 1966’ by the time BC took the stage.  Highly recommended read with the added addition of excellent photos by Melinda the “newly appointed Baker Street Babes New York City Photographer” (the empire grows!). Here’s a pic of (left to right) Taylor (BSB), Jenn (BSB), Me and Becca sitting in the second row (VIPs yo!). Check out Melinda Caric’s complete Flickr Sherlock PBS photostream here. 

[“The game is on,” again.]

Digital Spy answers a question that many of us have been dying to know: just what does BC think of all that uber racy fanfic out there featuring Cumberbatch - or one of the characters he plays, mainly Sherlock - as the protagonist in what tend to be erotic tales often involving explicit descriptions of Holmes and Watson penetrating more than just mysteries. For a variety of examples, check out FanFiction.net - Sherlock TV. So what does BC think: “[Cumberbatch] finds explicit Sherlock fan fiction to be “flattering”.” There you have it.

The Washington Post, in a primer for potential series/season 2 viewers, gives one of the more succinct descriptions of the BBC version of the master detective: ”Dress this new Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) in a sharply tailored black Burberry suit with an open-collared shirt, then zoom in on his hypnotically bluish-green eyes and Davidesque curls, then write for him entire uninterrupted paragraphs of obsessive-compulsive dialogue, then stand back and let him sizzle.” And whether you agree with this point or not, critic Hank Stuever adds: “He’s quite something, all right, but I can’t be the only one who finds this particular version of Sherlock to be a little grating. He’d be almost unwatchable if it weren’t for the tender devotion and counterbalance Martin Freeman brings to the role of Watson.” All I’ll say to that is…To Watson!! 

[The game is afoot, there and back again…]

Quick Sherlock Links:

BAFTA4JB posts the heartbreaking news that the “British Academy of Film and Television Arts will not be honouring Jeremy Brett with a posthumous Award”. Boo to the BAFTA’s!

Dan Andriacco’s new novel Holmes Sweet Holmes, the second volume in the “Jeff Cody” series, was officially released on May 1, 2012. I am a huge fan of No Police Like Holmes and am super psyched for this one!

Barefoot on Baker Street reacts to recent comments from Mark Gatiss regarding possible ‘twists’ to “The Empty House” - or whatever Episode 1, Season/Series 3 of BBC Sherlock will be called: “has Mr Gatiss been reading my blogs about “The Empty House” because that’s basically what I said.” You never know! Watch out for spoilers but here’s the UK Press article Mr Gatiss’ comments originated.

Slate has a fun piece that asks: “What was crime-fighting actually like in Sherlock Holmes-era London?” where the details of an actual Victorian jewel heist are explained as well as the subsequent (bungled) investigation. 

Baker Street Blog announces their part in the upcoming ‘live blogging’ of BBC Sherlock: “May 6 will simply mark the first of three consecutive Sunday evenings in which we’ll participate in this exercise, beginning at 9:00 p.m. EDT through 10:30 p.m. EDT.” Even if you’ve already seen the episodes, the chats are a lot of interactive nerdy Sherlockian fun.

Thoughts From Baker Street published a two part review of Darlene Cypser’s Holmes pastiche The Crack in the Lens. “I can honestly say, is not a book I liked.  It is a book I LOVED.” Deserved high praise indeed!

The Well-Read Sherlockian posted a review of Margaret Bridges’ My Dear Watson (MX)…and a little bit more! Intrigued? You should be because this post begins: “[My Dear Watson] will go down in blog history as “the book that sparked a marital spat on the way to church.” And really, it’s no wonder, because the story itself is based on a controversial premise: What if Sherlock Holmes were really a woman?” I’ve been waiting to read this book and now I’m sold. 

Baker Street Babes posted a nice shot of one of the Always1895 stickers on their twitter this week - if you don’t already, make sure to follow @BakerStBabes for podcast info and general nuggets of babelicious Sherlockiana. 

The Swedish Pathological Society in what appears to be a new series on Mattias Bostrom’s blog, “From my bookshelves” posts a delightful image of the Swedish 1928 edition of The Sign of Four. “This is indeed Sherlock Holmes of the ’20s!”

[Very nice or as one might say in Sweden (if Google Translator was installed in one’s head): Som presenterades är en mycket vacker bok!]

My Toast to Dr Watson Given at the Sons of the Copper Beeches Dinner

This past Friday I attended a dinner for The Sons of the Copper Beeches in Philadelphia, an amazing opportunity afforded me by John Baesch, ASH, BSI (“State and Merton County Railroad”). One of their traditions is to ask a first time attendee to give a toast and - along with the fact that Sherlockian luminary Peter Blau is the toastmaster - I jumped at the opportunity. My delivery was a little shaky (it’s harder than you think to picture the entire crowd wearing nothing but deerstalkers) but overall it was a super fun and invigorating experience which I look forward to trying again soon. So without further delay, my very first Sherlockian toast to the one fixed point in a changing age, Dr John H. Watson:

“Watson: his limits…

1. Literature - yellow novels and the occasional Clark Russell sea story.

2. Geometry - practical, but applicable only to club nights with Thurston.

3. Shaving - partial.

4. Appetite - immense.

5. Preferred Remedy - brandy.

6. Sense of Humour - pawky, of course!

7. Knowledge of Women - tri-continental in scope, reportedly held a European vogue at one time.

8. Marital Aptitude - plentiful.

9. Attractiveness to the Female Sex - undiminished after more than a century.

10. Work Ethic - you’ll have to ask his accommodating neighbor Dr Anstruther.

And finally numbers 11 and 12…Loyalty and Friendship.

We would need the space of 60 odd stories and the contents of an old tin dispatch box to get it right, but perhaps Watson’s aptitude for Loyalty and Friendship are best described as Limitless!

To Dr Watson!“ 

(Words by Matt Laffey - April 27 2012)

[Watson proofreading my toast.]

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (April 21 - April 27, 2012)

Tonight I’ll be attending a dinner of the Sons of the Copper Beeches in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (Friday, April 27 2012) which is super exciting in itself but I’ll also be giving an official toast! I realized the importance of ‘the toast’ even before attending my first Sherlockian function when reading the Steven Rothman edited The Standard Doyle Company: Christopher Morley on Sherlock Holmes.

I used to be irrationally terrified of public speaking (and sometimes still am) so the thought that I might one day have to stand-up in front of a room full of preeminent Sherlockians and deliver an original and concise piece of inspired wittiness - all brimming with Canonical flavor - made me want to leave my notes on the sundial and flee. Luckily I’ve received some extremely excellent ‘Sherlockian toasting’ advice and I think I’ve hobbled together enough material to make it through relatively unscathed. If I survive and tradition/propriety allows, I’ll post my toast on Monday along with a review of my first Sons of the Copper Beeches event!

[The Sons of the Copper Beeches Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - founded in 1948 as a Scion Society of The Baker Street Irregulars.]

————————————

Special & Rare On a Stick, the blog of Tim Johnson and the man with the greatest job in the Universe aka curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collection at the University of Minnesota Library, announced on Wednesday that “Twenty-four new images have been posted to the Sherlock Holmes Collections in the UMedia Archive featuring the illustrations of Richard Gutschmidt (1861-1926) from the 1906 German edition of A Study In Scarlet published by Robert Lutz in Stuttgart.” Additionally: “According to the website Pinacotheca Holmesiana ”Richard Gutschmidt was the first German illustrator of the Canon, illustrating six books for the Lutz-Verlag in Stuttgart.” These include A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and three compilations of other Holmes adventures.” I highly recommend reading Master Johnson’s entire post and then delving into the recently added image archive ASAP. If all goes according to plan I will be visiting the library in person this Fall 2012 with enough vacation time to hopefully spend at least 4 or 5 days conducting research in the hallowed collection. 

[Just one of the 24 images from the newly added Richard Gutschmidt image collection.]

Michael Dirda won the ‘Best Critical/Biographical’ award at last night’s 2012 Edgar Awards for his masterful yet personal On Conan Doyle: Or, The Whole Art of Storytelling! What more can I say (“one of my favorite releases of 2011”) other than congratulations Mr Dirda and it was well deserved. Whether you’ve read On Conan Doyle yet or not, I’d like to once again direct your attention to “Sherlock Lives”, Mr Dirda’s NY Review of Books essay noting the resurgence of Sherlock Holmes in pop culture and more interestingly Dirda’s beautiful answer to the usually rhetorical  ”Why, as a grown man, belong to The Baker Street Irregulars or any other Sherlock Holmes ‘club’?”. Dirda’s keeper of a response: “The answer, of course, is elementary: friendship, collegiality, fellowship. For a few days, all that matters is one’s devotion to the great detective and his world. But it isn’t just Sherlock Holmes that we cherish, it is the memory of the pleasure we all received as children and teenagers when we first discovered those immortal adventures, when we first copied out the cipher of “The Dancing Men,” when, best of all, we first heard Dr. Mortimer murmur that most thrilling sentence in all of twentieth-century literature: “Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!” HOUN, Chapter 2” On a related note, please click here for the rest of the 2012 Edgar Award Winners (winners highlighted in maroon). Thanks for the initial announcement regarding Dirda goes to what sounded like the best Edgar Awards table seating arrangement ever: @lklinger, @neilhimself @LyndsayFaye , Dan Stashower, Michael Dirda, etc.

[Click for Mr Dirda’s collected book reviews from his day job, The Washington Post!]

Thoughts From Baker Street, a blog by Kate Workman the author of Sherlock Holmes pastiche Rendezvous at the Populaire, has been extremely active as of late, much to my enjoyment and the Sherlockian community at large’s benefit. Tonight she opines on a question being asked quite a bit recently (particularly by MX authors on the Facebook page “Sherlock Holmes Author Group 2” and on their own personal blogs like Amy Thomas): What Makes a Pastiche? Ms Workman first considers two primary types of works often associated with the Sherlock Holmes pastiche: those works that are written in the style of ACD (e.g. The Execution of Sherlock Holmes by Donald Thomas) and, well, those that are about Sherlock Holmes but not written in the original style of the canonical adventures (e.g. Elementary, My Dear by Jaron Summers). After laying this groundwork Ms Workman then continues by defining a pastiche (roughly) as “a higher caliber Holmes novel” and concluding with an intuition-based litmus test for true ‘pastiche-ness’: “A Holmes pastiche is one that, upon reading a first, second, or tenth time, the reader still wonders how this was never published as part of the Canon, because obviously, it belongs there.” Her approach is without a doubt an interesting one - who among us has not simultaneously read the final words of a pastiche which they absolutely adored while thinking ‘gee, I could easily see this story counting as the 61st canonical Sherlock Holmes story’. On the other hand, her definition seems not only overly strict and limiting, but its ‘intuition-based’ approach muddies the water to the extent that what counts as a pastiche (for you, for me, for Philip K. Jones) is completely relative and personal. Definitional disputes aside, Kate Workman’s becoming a regular part of my weekly Sherlock RSS feeds is a welcome development. 

[“Phaedrus: What is a pastiche? Socrates: It is something made up of pastichey things… Phaedrus: Doh!”]

The Napoleon of Crime posted a ‘text-grab (what do you call screenshots of text from a book exactly?) from one of the all-time classic Sherlockian readers Seventeen Steps to 221B (subtitled “A Sherlockian Collection by English Writers”), edited by James Edward Holroyd (author of another absolute classic Baker Street By-Ways) which features luminaries such as S. C. Roberts, Fr Knox, Gavin Brend, John Dickson Carr, Bernard Davies and one of the top Sherlockians of ALL time (and one of the more hilarious) Lord Donegall. This post, originally brought to my attention by Mattias Bostrom’s Swedish Pathological Society via Sherlockian Connoisseur (which has already garnered 39+ comments/likes on Tumblr in the last 9 hours), contains text from the very first page of Holroyd’s “Introduction” and though the sentiment (cf. below) is a dreamy and pleasant one,   Holroyd continues by saying in fact the more tangible reason Sherlockians (or Holmesians) are made and more importantly remain is because of the great puzzle in which the canon can be broken up into a zillion sub-puzzles. By coincidence, while paging through my copy, I happened to re-read Lord Donegall’s piece “April 1891 - April 1894” and was pleasantly stunned by the following synchronicitic ultra-jolt: “…The Great Hiatus or Holmes’ Wanderjahre - as that supreme expert on the subject, A. Carson Simpson, of the Sons of the Copper Beeches, Philadelphia, has called the three years, ten  months, and three weeks period of the great detective’s supposed death - together with the events subsequent to his dramatic reappearance in London.” (!!) I didn’t know A. Carson Simpson of Simpson’s Sherlockian Studies: Volumes 1-9 fame was a member of the Sons of the Copper Beeches; here’s to the coincidence of having dinner on Simpson’s home turf tonight!

[“Introduction” to Seventeen Steps to 221B.]

MyQueenMycroft wins the animated GIF of the week with this excellent Sherlock Holmes (1954 series) with Ron Howard Sherlock clip featuring a not-very-stealth Watson (Howard Marion Crawford). also worth noting from the comments:” Reason why Ronald Howard makes such a good Holmes: He does the perfect “Really, Watson? Really?” face” (from superheroshenanigans).

[Oh Watson my Watson…]

Quick Sherlock Links:

New Russian Sherlock A short feature (in Russian unfortunately) which gives us a glimpse of what the new Russian Sherlock series will look like; and it looks very period-over-the-top-and-kind-of-awesome (that’s my technical description).  

Slate reviewed The Raven: “a Hollywood tradition of the writer as swashbuckling detective—a caricature Poe himself might have loved.” And John Cusack kind of resembles Also, I knew the byline looked familiar (Jenny Hendrix) and then I remembered she wrote the lovely introduction to Sherlockian culture “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Impudent Scholars” back in November of 2011. 

Dan Andriacco published his thoughts on the recent “highly informative and fun” Gathering of Southern Sherlockians. Tracy Revels talk “Grave Expectations: Victorian Funeral and Mourning Customs” seemed the most interesting but Marino Alvarez, (A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes), Henry Zecher (Gillette biographer), Mr Andriacco and the rest each sound fascinating in their own right. 

Alistair Duncan’s Eliminate the Impossible gets the Ross K treatment - which means Ross K reviewed Duncan’s book on his video blog. Nice job getting the coveted 6 out of 6 Napoleons! I need a rating system like that: Here’s the Always1895 Eliminate the Impossible review - I will retroactively give Mr Duncan a well-deserved ‘17 out of 17 stairs’! 

Billions of bees are dying (globally), which threatens our crops and food supplies. But if Bayer stops selling one group of pesticides, we could save bees from extinction. If for no other reason, do it for Sherlock Holmes and his dedication to ”the little working gangs” of bees he watched during his retirement at the Sussex Downs like “the criminal world of London” (LAST) was once watched. 

Big, Bigger, Big Big posted my favorite screenshot of the week and since everyone appears to have Reichenbach on the mind, it is only fitting that we get a classic Granada Jeremy Brett/Sherlock Holmes vs. Eric Porter/Professor Moriarty.

[Need to re-check tonight but I don’t think this image is actually from a filmed scene; it feels and looks much more like a publicity photo.]

Midweek Sherlock Links Roundup (April 21 - April 25, 2012)

Baker Street Bits, the scrappy younger brother of Scott Monty and friends’ venerable Baker Street Blog, draws its (younger) reader’s attention to the Editor’s Gas-Lamp from the Spring 2012 (Vol. 62, No. 1) issue of the Baker Street Journal [1895-Note: still patiently waiting for my copy to arrive…]. First off, brilliant move Mr Monty in starting a sub-blog for the BSB on tumblr (Tumblr: home of over 1 zillion BBC Sherlock/#BelieveInSherlock fansites and potential breeding ground for the future of Sherlockian culture). Furthermore, current Baker Street Journal editor Mr Steven Rothman crafted what I firmly believe will go down in Sherlockian history as one of the most relevant and forward thinking BSJ editorials in this venerable magazine’s history! Do I dabble in hyperbole? Not this time! Though I don’t have the time/space to properly flesh out my point much further in a Mid-Week Links post, please see my extended post ‘The Editor’s Gas-Lamp (that should be) Read Round the World’ for my predictions regarding why a ‘welcome letter’ at this time is so very important. For the full text, see BSJ’s Facebook page.

[Vehicle of what I believe to be one of the most prophetic and important Editor’s Gas-Lamps of all Sherlockian time. Good show indeed Mr Steven Rothman!]

Baker Street Babes for Episode 25 of their increasingly popular podcast interview the minds behind the Steampunk Holmes Project: “Producer Richard Monson-Haefel, author P.C. Martin, and artist Daniel Cortes talk about how the idea of mashing Sherlock Holmes and steampunk together came to life. Holmes rides a steampunk motorcycle with sidecar! Watson has a bionic arm! Mycroft is a female! How cool is that?!?” There’s a great YouTube video that’s part plea for funds, part explanation of what their grand vision for Steampunk Holmes is all about. You can support Steampunk Holmes via Kickstarter here. So besides a cyborg (though hopefully still pawky) Watson, what makes Steampunk Holmes a project worth checking out? For starters, the narrative is seven books published across multiple channels and the first book in the series, Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus takes place in “an alternative Steampunk universe (c. 1885), [where] the plans for Captain Nemo’s mysterious Nautilus submarine have been stolen from the British Secret Service. There is only one man who can solve the case, Sherlock Holmes. With his bionic side-kick Doctor Watson, and his brilliant and lethal sister, Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock unravels a mystery that will shake the foundation of the British Empire.” Almost feels like “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans” if events in BRUC got really out of control!

[Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus.]

Holmesosis notes that the “121st anniversary of that fateful plunge into The Reichenbach Falls (or leap off of St. Bart’s) is approaching. May 4, 1891 is widely recognized as the date Professor Moriarty met his demise and Sherlock Holmes vanished, leaving his trusty comrade behind (source). Follow the Reichenbach Problem for angst-ridden posts and support from your fellow Sherlockians. As we head into the week leading up to the ‘death’ of the world’s only consulting detective feel free to share your Reichenbach story, art or fics that we may all prepare for The Final Problem.” (note: emphasis mine) Though the celebration of Baring-Gould approved canonical dates is always a good thing plus the graphic related to their project is cute, I do want to ask something: how/why is the experience of BBC Sherlock’s ‘The Reichenbach Fall” so traumatic/angst-ridden? Sherlock Holmes makes a Kobayashi Maru-style ‘un-winnable’ decision immediately after dropping a myriad of vague and opaque statements to people like Molly Hooper (scenes which will inevitably serve as book ends to ‘what the camera forgot to capture the first time around’ explanations, cf. Doctor Who’s deus ex machina EXTREME robot look alike), only to appear unambiguously alive watching over his grieving friend in the graveyard. After all, this isn’t exactly Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or even, as the writer on Reichenbach Problem pointed out, the original (publishing) wait time between “The Final Problem” (1893) and “The Empty House” (1903); or as I like to call it - but then I’d have to shoot myself in the face - “The STRANDom that waited!” - *sigh* but I posted it below anyway….

[My contribution to BBC Sherlock #BelieveInSherlock and such: “The Strandom that waited….”]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Well-Read Sherlockian’s Elspeth Ford posted another delightful ‘Ten Questions with’ blog post - this time with one of my personal favorite Holmesian (being a British citizen and all) writers, twitterers, bloggers and all around ACD-enthusiasts Alistair Duncan. I really hope that Ms Ford continues posting occasional ten question interviews with various Sherlock Holmes-enthusiasts of all stripes.

Sherlock PBS has recruited @LyndsayFaye, @bakerstbabes, @bakerstreetblog & @lklinger to live tweet BBC Sherlock for the first 3 Sundays in May w/@masterpiecepbs on #SherlockPBS.

Kieran McMullen picks Dr Dawson/Val Bettin - Watson from Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective -  for his ‘The Many Watsons’ series. Interesting historical sidebar: playing Dawson ”moved Bettin over into the voice-over arena and he was in constant demand. Bettin has done voices for Aladdin, Gargoyles, Tarzan and Shrek to name a few.”

Dan Andriacco posted ‘Occupy Baker Street’, a rather funny video from the recently convened Gathering of Southern Sherlockians 2012. I thought I recognized the GSS banner in the background and then remembered Strictly Sherlock attended in 2011.

Thoughts from Baker Street admits that though she doesn’t know a lot about the #SaveUndershaw movement, there “should be more care taken with things from the past, especially when they’ve housed such creative minds.” Here, here!

Altamarkings, the blog of @raywilcockson, established an “aide memoire to [Jeremy] Brett’s career before Sherlock Holmes and to the location of films and clips for internet viewing” with a generous sampling of JB at his absolute best, mostly in pre-Granada Holmes days. 

Wear Sherlock re-announced their Save Undershaw Montage Project contest with prizes and ideas for pictures to set yourself apart. May 6 2012 is the deadline. Undershaw is the cause. Your face could be a winner! I kind of really want to win a H.O.U.N.D. shirt.

[I need to get an entry in ASAP so I can win this shirt.]

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (April 14 - April 20, 2012)

I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere released their 41st podcast and in their own words: “To Burt and Scott she is always the guest. While you may have heard her mentioned by the name of Irene Adler, she is actually Lara Pulver and she is our interview subject for this very special episode….titled ‘The Woman’.” Ms Pulver plays the woman in the first episode of season 2 of the BBC Sherlock - which officially airs in the U.S.A. on Sunday May 6, 2012 at 9pm (EST) - entitled “A Scandal in Belgravia”. If you have yet to see the second season of Sherlock I won’t give anything away but let’s just say Ms Pulver delightfully dominates in her role as one of the most beloved, though misunderstood, characters from the canon. Another edifying and entertaining episode from the velvet voices of Scott Monty and Burt Wolder. Make sure to ‘Like’ them on the I Hear of Sherlock Facebook page and let them know how much you appreciate their show. I personally think Mr Monty and Mr Wolder’s podcasts are one of the greatest Sherlockian resources currently available (and spanning over 5 years) and I hope they continue for another 41 (or 401!) episodes. 

[Lara Pulver as Irene Adler - an excellent casting decision which captures many of the canonical aspects of Adler while simultaneously contemporizing her for the 21st century.]

Alistair Duncan’s Sherlockian Blog, in a spirited call to arms, reminds us why saving Undershaw is important - regardless of whether you like ACD or not: “The latest (and perhaps last) round in the battle for Undershaw is being fought on May 23rd 2012 at the High Court. Spread the word, give your support in any way that you can and perhaps we can make the powers that be all too aware of the impact of what they are doing. Then maybe, just maybe, they will step back from cliff-edge.” For further information on Undershaw and the fight to save it from being demolished check out the Save Undershaw website and/or follow the cause on Twitter. Also make sure you add Mr Duncan’s An Entirely New Country: ACD, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes (MX Publishing) to your reading list. It’s a fascinating in-depth study of ACD during his ten years (one of those years of course being the year Sherlock Holmes returned to the land of the living!) writing at Undershaw. Please read Mr Duncan’s entire article and if you have the means, please spread the word!

[If Undershaw is lost then Moriarty wins!]

Barefoot on Baker Street also wrote a very nice piece about Undershaw focusing on the history of the property leading up to the 2010 decision by the local council to allow Fossway (the developer who purchased the site in 2004 only to let it rot) to turn the house into three terraced houses, with five more homes to be built on the site. This is a great article for someone who doesn’t know anything about the Save Undershaw campaign or would like a nicer, compact explanation of what all the hullabaloo is about. It also reads well to the non-Sherlockian who might have an interest in seeing an historic home with a seriously heavy literary provenance saved (like a cool librarian) or even your mega-super rich Aunt who you should convince to purchase the property and restore it to it’s former ACD glory. Also, Ms Walters announced the following piece of related, exciting news: “The team behind the brilliant Sherlockology fansite are running a short story competition. They are inviting people from anywhere in the world to submit a Sherlock Holmes short story or poem and the best 20 will be published in an anthology by my own publisher, MX Publishing. Money from the sales will go to the highly-important Save Undershaw campaign, of which BBC Sherlock writer Mark Gatiss is a patron.” How cool is that? Extra props go out to MX Publishing for setting-up an excellent sounding contest that will benefit everyone involved!

[Hats off to MX Publishing and Sherlockology!]

The Gentlemen’s Clubs of London, originally published in 1979 with an updated second edition that came out in 1984, is truly the last word on London club culture. This very well produced, very over-sized - think Michael Pointer’s The Pictorial History of Sherlock Holmes - coffee table-style book catalogs around 60 or so clubs, many of which closed during the research/writing phase of the book (c. 1970 - 1979). Unfortunately, and very unlike the Pointer, either edition can go for upwards of $200 plus which is why I welcome this new edition, set for release in June of 2012 at a Amazon pre-order price of $47! Supposedly we can expect “a new, thoroughly updated edition” though I can’t imagine - other than maybe adding old archive photographs of club interiors and the like - that this edition will be all that new. Every Sherlockian who has ever vaguely fantasized about not socializing at The Diogenes with Brother Mycroft or yukking it up in the Stranger’s Room would benefit greatly from owning this book. 

[Two gentlemen hangin’ in da club!]

Bookish Adventures posted my favorite screenshot of the week: Jeremy Brett/Sherlock Holmes from “The Copper Beeches”, in what is to my knowledge the only instance of the breaking of the fourth wall in any Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptation, stares straight at the camera and raises an eyebrow as if to say “Gentle viewers, please forgive Watson and his pawky humor” or words to that effect. You’ll recall Holmes is reacting to Watson’s “excellent literary judgement” comment. Brilliant!

[Holmes is so perceptive that he can actually see through the fourth wall!]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Times Ledger (a newspaper from Queens, NYC) alerts it’s readers: “the Bartitsu Club of New York City, an organization dedicated to the study and revival of Victorian martial arts and self-defense, will present a workshop on the lost martial art of Sherlock Holmes during the Nineteenth Century Extravaganza.” Here’s more info about the 19th Century Extravaganza Bartitsu workshop happening next week April 29th in NYC (1:30 - 3:00pm).

Nineteenth Century Extravaganza say what!? That’s correct, happening next week (April 27 - 29, 2012) is a three-day expo of historically-oriented events, demonstrations, and performances, all of which highlight aspects of nineteenth-century life in America, with a focus on New York City. It’s hosted by The New York 19th Century Society and FREE and the schedule looks action-packed. (I’ll be out of town but would love to hear how it went.)

BBC News UK ”Rarely seen documents chronicling the life and reign of Queen Victoria have been made public on Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook marking this year’s Diamond Jubilee.” The interface is a little cumbersome but there is a ton of useful Victorian info. (Thanks to Alistair Duncan for tip!)

Dan Andriacco reflects on a talk he is scheduled to give at the annual “Gathering of Southern Sherlockians” in Chatanooga, TN. I hope someone has the presence of mind to make an audio recording and then put said audio recording on the internet, because the topic is an interesting one: “Is Sherlock Holmes exactly the same person from beginning to end, or does he change in some significant way by 1927?”

Demotix reports: “Fans and activists rally to Save Undershaw, the former home of Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, prior to a Judicial Review on 23rd May 2012.” Not sure what that “author” bit is about (typo?), but the literary agent’s house needs saving and here’s some excellent pictures of people attempting to do just that.

Radio Times posted an article about the Sherlockology/MX Publishing short story contest in support of the Save Undershaw campaign. Sounds like a fantastic idea for a contest. 

Wear Sherlock BBC, a fantastic and deliciously obsessive site that “revolves around the wardrobe and props department of the BBC show Sherlock” (literally), has joined the Save Undershaw army recently with their ‘Save Undershaw Community Montage Project’. A fun way to get the Save Undershaw word out. (And I’ve done my part for the week by mentioning Undershaw over sixteen times in this post!)

@mattias221b wins the quote of the month. During a pleasantly whimsical Twitter/Sherlock discussion about whether or not it was really “always 1895” Mr Boström   defending himself against a charge of blasphemy for suggesting that next year would be 1896 clarified his position with: “It’s always 1895. Then next year is always 1896. Logic.” Brilliant! It’s true - next year is always 1896!

@raywilcockson posted this fabulous stamp during a discussion lamenting the dying pleasure of sending/receiving snail mail. Mr Wilcockson referred me to the site where he originally found it: The Philatelic Sherlock Holmes. You don’t have to be a hardcore philatelist to appreciate the site or the elegance of this awesome stamp. 

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (April 7 - April 13, 2012)

Houghton Library Blog, home of the BSI Trust Archive, publishes a weekly feature called ‘You’ve Got Mail’ inspired by letters found in the collections of the Houghton Library at Harvard: “Every Friday [of 2012] a Houghton staff member will select a letter from the diverse collections in the Library and put that letter into context. All posts associated with this series may be viewed by clicking on the You’ve Got Mail tag.” In this week’s post we are treated to a correspondence (c. 1944) between Shinwell “Porky” Johnson (Christopher Morley) and Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable (Edgar W. Smith) where ‘Porky’ reports that he has “just checked, in the frontispiece of the old Harper edn of The Adventures, the perfect demeanor of arm and hand (illus. for “The Noble Bachelor”). So do the Sacred Writings shew still another usefulness….” Read the rest of Peter Accardo’s (Coordinator of Programs) post to find out, plus to view a scan of the actual letter between these two BSI and Sherlockian luminaries. As an added bonus, BSI Historian Jon Lellenberg contributes to the comments section by mentioning his inclusion of said letter in his masterful Irregular Proceedings of the Mid ‘Forties. Thanks to @BakerStJournal for the tip!

[Detail of the frontispiece illustration of the first American edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes where we see the wedding scene (from NOBL) by Sidney Paget.]

Better Holmes & Gardens in ‘Some Thoughts on Setting’ wonders about spatial-temporal elements in the canon. Particularly those elements that seem to remain constant, e.g. it’s always 1895 (temporal), Holmes is always recognizable by his iconic profile (spatial-physical)….but is this a semantic abuse of what space and time mean? tp back her case up, Ms Mahoney calls in the big guns: “There may be no one who has spoken more on the topic of setting – time, place and context – in the canon than the Sherlockian Vincent Starrett. He is, of course, the composer of the iconic poem “221B,” and the gorgeous lines that captured the imagery that so embodied the world of the canonical Sherlock Holmes. But canonical setting is more than just romantic gaslight and cobblestone streets, even for Starrett: “How often have I myself, in other years, climbed those seventeen steps that lead upward to the famous rooms and listened for the voices of their most famous occupants….” What [Starrett] speaks of is being able to recognize Holmes and Watson on sight – of the characteristics of time and setting that make them instantly identifiable – of their being when they should no longer be” (emphasis mine). Perhaps the question has less to do with the philosophy of time/space and more to do with street-level metaphysics, in particular The Ship of Theseus…..

[The iconic profile of a denizen from a “romantic chamber of the heart, in a nostalgic country of the mind, where it is always 1895.”]

The Swedish Pathological Society is the newly established Tumblr blog of Mattias Boström, BSI. As for the title of Mr Boström’s English-speaking blog: “[T]he title of the blog? Dr. Mortimer in The Hound of the Baskervilles was a corresponding member of The Swedish Pathological Society. And, well, I’m from Sweden. So that’s why. I’m not pathological in any way.” My favorite post so far is Mr Boström’s piece on: My Sherlock Holmes Sudoku Book. Previous to ‘The Swedish Pathological Society’, Mr Boström ran a Swedish language Sherlock Holmes site called SherlockHolmes.se which, thanks to the wonders of Google Translate, is somewhat readable by English speakers. Breaking News: Mr  Boström just announced a new English language Sherlockian blog entitled Re: Sherlock Holmes & Conan Doyle where his “plan is to blog now and then whenever I have something to say, often quite long blog posts with a lot of lovely research.” We’ll be watching!

[An article (presumably) about the connection between the female ‘Watson’ from the ridiculously underrated/under-appreciated They Might Be Giants and the recent news of a female Watson cast in CBS’s Elementary.]

Sherlockian Connoisseur tackles some tough fan mail: “Anonymous asked: Your kitty is adorable. You named him after A.C.D right. Can I trouble you for another picture?” Fortunately for us, the answers are “yes” and “yes”, the latter which gives us these adorable cat vs Sherlock photos. Next SC is asked “What’s your favorite version of the collected works of Sherlock Holmes?” Honestly, what Sherlockian worth his or her weight in salt doesn’t love being asked this question? Playing it safe, S.C. answers that “Leslie S. Klinger’s New Annotated Sherlock Holmes and Castle Books’ The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes are the two that are probably my favorites.” Don’t forget that the Castle version only has the first 37 stories + HOUN.

[Contains 37 stories and HOUN with 356 illustrations by Sydney Paget.]

Addicted To Sherlock (in a re-post from redscharlach) treats us to some CATegorically hilarious feline Sherlockian humor: Sherlock Mews & John Purrs. Both signs are reportedly ”above a genuine street sign near Baker Street”. I love Sherlockian cat humor.

[Click on ‘Sherlock Mews’ for larger version + Watson-inspired signage.]

Holmesosis re-posted (from mergoth) my favorite animated GIF of the week: John Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes….

[John Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes]

Dan Andriacco considers the notion of ‘World Building’ - perhaps most simply and succinctly summarized in his twitter (@DanAndiacco) post “On building a consistent, well-realized world that holds up book after book” - in both fiction you read and fiction you write. Mentioning Ms Mahoney’s discussion of ‘setting’ (time/space) in her recent Better Holmes & Gardens post as a possible correlate to this concept, Mr Andriacco’s point reminds me of my love a devotion to the Buffyverse, or the world of Buffy, Angel, Spike and friends as described via the canonical text (authored by Joss Whedon) of the 7 seasons of BtVS and 5 seasons of Angel (opposed to the non-canonical ‘extended’ universe which include comics, books, games, etc.).

Quick Sherlock Links:

Baker Street Blog reviews a recently released lavishly illustrated version of A Study on Scarlet. 

Margaret Park Bridges, author of My Dear Watson (2011) on MX Publishing describes a recent experience reading to a full house at her home town’s local library. Four video clips are available of the evening and Ms Bridges even sold 15 copies onsite. Always nice to see local communities supporting their own.

Journalism.co.uk reviews “the Sherlock Holmes inspired Kindle Touch cover“ which disguises “your Kindle Touch as a Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle.” Basically, you can dress your e-book up to look like a book.

More Man Than Philosopher takes on one of the most controversial and despised Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations “The Mazarin Stone” (Peter Hammond, 1994) and suggests that one should perhaps consider watching it with a more open mind.

Better Holmes & Gardens reviews the almost universally reviled Sherlock Holmes adaptation from 2002 A Case of Evil. Ms Mahoney, instead of dismissing it out of hand, considers how difficult it is to tackle material placing Holmes in the context of youth versus how we know him from the canon, baring of course “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott” and “The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual”.

Barefoot on Baker Street writes about the tension in the Canon between ‘consulting’ versus ‘doing’; that is the difference between Sherlock Holmes, Professor Morairty or Charles Augustus Milverton (consulting detective, consulting criminal and consulting blackmailer, respectively) and what I can only imagine are ‘regular people’.

Strictly Sherlock considers the phenomenon of ‘Sherlock Sign Board Sightings’ - that is recognizing the outline of the master, often used in tangentially or totally unrelated products - this article dovetails rather nicely with Ms Mahoney’s Better Holmes & Gardens post ‘Some Thoughts on Setting’.

[A great resource for Sherlock sign boarding as well as other Holmes-related advertising is the late Bill Blackbeard’s excellent Sherlock Holmes in America.]

Midweek Sherlock Links Roundup (April 7 - April 11, 2012)

I make no secret of the fact that I aspire to be a Sherlock Holmes collector, at least as far as Sherlockian books go. Now and then I like to get a sense of how much progress I’ve made on the book collecting front and after taking a long, hard look at this most recent photo I think it’s time to invest in some new bookshelves. Once I expand my shelf space and re-organize my books I want to take a super hi-res photo and then overlay the image with as much author, book, etc. data as possible via mouse-over info and pop-up links about each book - sort of like a hyper-linked, virtual bookshelf.

[Above photo taken April 10 2012 (click image for larger version) - to see just how far I’ve come, check out this photo from Dec 23 2010.]

SherlockHolmes.se, a Swedish site new to me about Sherlock Holmes and his world written by Mattias Boström (BSI, “The Swedish Pathological Society”), takes a look at the troubled yet inspiring role that Undershaw played in the life and writings of ACD. Doing his bit for Save Undershaw, Mr Boström paints a picture of the famed Undershaw, not as a millstone around ACD’s neck, but as an idyllic testament to ACD’s idealization of the purity of the country and his profound attempt at realizing a personal set of aesthetics through architecture. As an added treat, quotes of descriptions of Undersahw (as it was) and it’s environs flow through the pen of a visiting journalist from 1907: describing the Drawing Room whose contents at the moment included ACD, Gothic author Bram Stoker paints the scene: “The forenoon sun was streaming through one of the mullioned windows, of which the bars were softened by the delicate fringe of green of the creepers which spread all along them. The whole room was full of soft light, which showed the fine old furniture and the multitude of dainty knick-knacks to perfection. Even the many quaint and pretty pictures seemed to stand out of the walls.” On a less up-beat, more millstoney  note, Mr Boström cites a Times piece entry for May 10, 1921: ‘to ensure an immediate sale a very low price would be accepted’. A would-be hotelier bid £4,000 and [Undershaw] was sold.” ACD, having purchased the house in 1895 out of love for both house and his ailing wife, spent a bit over £6,000.

[Text from clipping: “”Undershaw,” The Home of Sir Conan Doyle at Hindshead, Surrey, England “]

Baker Street Babes…and speaking of the Sherlockian who recently stopped speaking Swedish so he could hang out with all the English speaking Sherlockians aka Mattias Boström - Baker Street Babes “Ardy, Amy, Jenn, Maria, Sarah and Taylor chat to Mattias Boström, a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, about “New” and “Old” Sherlockians. Mattias is working on a book about the Sherlock Holmes success story at the moment, so we have plenty to talk about! What does it mean to be a Sherlockian or Holmesian these days? Do people still play The Game? What’s the difference between Sherlockian societies’ meetings and Sherlock meetups? What will happen to the Sherlock Holmes societies when the “Old” and the “New” Sherlockians meet? While we discuss these questions and more, one thing is certain: we are all united in our love for Sherlock Holmes.” Have a listen and then wonder ‘Are we united by Sherlock Holmes?’ or is the coming ‘Old’ versus ‘New’ Sherlockian Warpocalypse inevitable, destine to cry havoc and let slip the HOUNds of war? (like the Time War, but worse!) I’ll be at home tonight cleaning my Webley and hunting crop. Note: Roger Johnson and Carrie Chandler from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, served as special ‘war consultants’.  

[The Baker Street Babes go to war!]

Sir Arthur Conan Doilies wins the animated GIF of the week with Holmes and Watson going on a jaunty little walk. Good thing they’re not walking through Harlem because apparently, due to super harsh penalties for getting caught with guns and knives, gang bangers have been using canes (orthopedic or otherwise) as weapons and the cops are not amused. Sort of reminds me of the Sherlock Holmes adaptation The Deadly Necklace (1962) with Christopher Lee as the Great Detective and one Hans Söhnker as Professor Moriarty who is in possession of a few clever and deadly canes that do everything from launching killer projectiles to dispensing whiskey (possibly poisoned). No word on the Napoleon of Crime marketing his creations on the street (yet!), 

[Click here to see the dynamic gentlemen duo in action!]

Tea at 221B posted an image from the text of “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot” (1910) - in fact, it’s from the very first paragraph - one of my favorite introductions in the entire Canon: “In recording from time to time some of the curious experiences and interesting recollections which I associate with my long and intimate friendship with Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I have continually been faced by difficulties caused by his own aversion to publicity. To his sombre and cynical spirit all popular applause was always abhorrent, and nothing amused him more at the end of a successful case than to hand over the actual exposure to some orthodox official, and to listen with a mocking smile to the general chorus of misplaced congratulation….” And so Watson begins the telling of “the Cornish horror - strangest case I have handled” - as well as one of my personal all-time favorites among the 56 short stories and 4 novels of The Canon.

[Click here for complete text or click image for larger view.]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Kieran McMullen, whose latest novel Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels (MX) is a must read for Holmes pastiche, historical fiction and/or Irish history fans, bravely marches on with his ongoing series ‘The Many Watsons’ - this time profiling Mr. Athole Stewart (1879 - 1940) who played Watson once in a 1931 adaptation of “The Speckled Band.”

SherlockNYC posted a roundup of photos from their ‘We Believe in Sherlock’ brunch and photo-shoot held recently at various locations around Manhattan. Sadly, yours truly over-slept and missed enjoying the fruit of all of @SherlockNYC’s hard work and dedication to the cause bringing BBC Sherlock fans together with the more Canon-based Sherlockians: clearly, they are not aware of the War between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Sherlockians!

Film News UK reviews the April 2012 re-release of Murder By Decree (1979) and reports, rather disappointingly, that there are no special features to speak of and the print itself was not restored in any way.

Inforum, the paper of record for Fargo-Moorhead, ND, reports on an upcoming community college course that I really wish I could sit in on: “Three Faces of Sherlock Holmes” explores the evolution of the Sherlock Holmes character. Like any other Sherlock-themed course I’ve mentioned, please let us know how it is if you take it.

The Well-Read Sherlockian reviews Dan Andriacco’s No Police Like Holmes (2001) and Alistair Duncan’s An Entirely New Country: ACD, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes (2011), both on MX.

Syracuse.com posted a short piece on Laurie R. King’s Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series talk given in Syracuse, NY. 

Garfield some times likes to get into the Sherlockian swing of things too (thanks to John Baesch, ASH, BSI, SBB, SHSL, SSHB, WRI, etc.):

[Even Garfield can’t help criticizing the occasional Sherlock Holmes adaptation.]

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (March 31 - April 6, 2012)

Sherlockology ”has been named Best Fan Site in Social Media at this year’s Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences event, better known as the Shorty Awards,” which is like huge and awesome!! Congratulations to the @sherlockology crew for not only winning a major social media award, but also for propelling Sherlock Holmes into the spotlight via an international awards event as well as receiving upwards of 1 million web hits per month!! For those unfamiliar with Sherlockology.com, they are the number one BBC Sherlock fansite out there, primarily because of their pure love of Moffat’s vision of Sherlock Holmes as well as their general respect for Sherlockian culture in general (e.g. their participation in the Great Sherlock Holmes Debate). Aside from the inherent entertainment/intellectual value of BBC’s Sherlock Holmes adaptation,  Moffat/Cumberbatches’ Holmes is an excellent gateway drug into the a world where it is (of course!) always eighteen hundred and ninety five - making Sherlockology the ultimate gatekeeper! Keep up the wonderful work!

[Tune-in to the most popular and now award winning (!) BBC Sherlock-themed site on the Internetz - Sherlockology.com!]

Vintage Guide to London posted about a novel take HOUN: the “Veni Vidi Theatre Company are returning to Theatro Technis [in London] with their hit production The Hound of the Baskervilles - The Radio Theatre from 30th April 2012. Delivering a playful twist on a classic, [the play] presents the Sherlock Holmes thriller, through a ‘live’ late ‘Thirties radio broadcast. Capturing the spirit and notoriety of Orson Welles’ popular ‘Mercury Theatre On the Air’ anthology, the show centers around nine radio stars from the golden age of radio playing an away of characters, while utilizing hundreds of period sound foley props to retell the gothic tale with the panache and comic gusto as these iconic pre-war drama serials.” Welles’ Mercury Theatre performed an adaptation of William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes back in 1938 - recording available for free here - and I think the entire idea of this play sounds pretty interesting. If anyone reading this plans on seeing this play performed and would like to send me a short review I’ll happily publish with due credit + links. (Thanks to Sherlock Magazine for the tip!) 

[Two members of the cast performing The Hound of the Baskervilles - The Radio Theatre.]

Kickstarter is hosting a video game project called ‘Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Adventure Mysteries’ which “revolves around using game “tools” where you choose who/what to investigate and where to direct Holmes and Watson to solve a mystery that appears to be stumping even Scotland Yard. Using some of these tools costs you “clue points.” Your goal is to solve the case in the fewest number of clue points as possible. Perusing the four newspapers does not cost you clue points and is a great way to gather your initial set of clues. Then, use that information (along with the London Directory) to decide where to send the famous detectives (or the local ruffians – the Baker Street Irregulars) to solve these cases.” Some of the pledge amounts offer the chance to be written into the game itself. The project is even starting to receive some press.

[Nine different adventures in all.]

Barefoot On Baker Street, inspired by discussion from the Great Sherlock Holmes Debate regarding theories on how BBC Sherlock (Cumberbatch) will ‘cheat death’ and explain the events of “The Reichenbach Fall” (final moments of episode on the roof of St Barts where Moriarty commits suicide and we watch as Holmes is forced to jump off the building to stop assassins from killing his friends), wonders how Moffat and crew’s explanation will compare to the original “The Empty House” explanation. Frankly, I’ve been wondering the same thing and imagine we’ll either be super impressed or super disappointed (i.e. there’s no middle ground with this stuff!) - but of course we have many, many months until we find out. But I’m not complaining: remember that OG Sherlock fans from The Strand days had to wait like a billion internet years between “The Final Problem” (1893) and “The Empty House” (1903). If you promise not to tell anyone, I may have gone a little further in my own “The Reichenbach Fall” speculation on a Goodreads thread…shhhhh!

[A lovely view of Moffatt’s version of the Reichenbach plunge!]

F—K Yeah Granada Holmes re-posted my favorite animated GIF of the week: Jeremy Brett spending a “charming afternoon” outside the estate of Mr. Percy ‘tadpole’ Phelps while waiting for night to fall so a trap for Phelps’ late night invader can be set. “The Naval Treaty” is one of the best ACD stories and Granada adaptations as well as featuring Brett at his sartorial best. Every spring I tell myself I’m going to find a white linen ‘country suit’ like JB’s and have charming days ad infinitum. One day perhaps.

[You can almost hear Ice Cube’s ‘It Was a Good Day’ playing in the background.]

Quick Sherlock Links:

Dan Andiacco & Always1895 team-up in their first (and hopefully not last) collaborative blog post. For their debut, Mr Andriacco and myself answer the question: Who are your favorite (deceased) Sherlockians of all time (Top 5 with honorable mentions)? Let us know what you think!  

MX Publishing, speaking of Dan Andriacco author of forthcoming Holmes Sweet Holmes, recently posted an interview with Mr Andriacco about his ‘Sebastian McCabe – Jeff Cody Mystery’. I’m particularly looking forward to book three in the series: The 1895 Murder!!

Golden Gate Xpress, newspaper of SFSU, covers the campus activities of BBC Sherlock fans waging their secret war: ‘Believe in Sherlock.’ Check out the SFSU Sherlockians blog here. 

AAPG.org (the American Association of Petroleum Geologists) profiled Sherlock Holmes expert Peter Blau, beginning with the article with an enticing and provocative: “Peter Blau doesn’t like Sherlock Holmes….” OMG! (Thanks to Darlene Cypser for the link!)

Alistair Duncan reports on a talk he recently attended discussing the connection between ACD and whaling (remember that ACD was a doctor on a whaling ship when he was young). Also, Mr Duncan will be giving his own talk on ‘Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle and Barts’ on June 27, 2012. Apparently some semi-important event/meeting happened at St Barts once….

Barefoot on Baker Street reviews Mr Dan Andriacco’s first Sherlockian-themed book Baker Street Beat (MX). I highly suggest giving the ”Eclectic Collection Of Sherlockian Scribblings” a read.

Michael Pollak (BSI, “The Blue Carbuncle”), Sherlockian and New York Times writer has a short piece on The Player’s Club (Frederic Door Steele’s old hangout) in his ‘Answers to Questions About New York’. 

More Than a Philosopher drops some Zizek on Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and the Canon in general as well as summarizing some of his related posts from the blog Filmwell regarding ’The Absent Clue’ and the genre of detective fiction itself. IF you like Theory (with a capital T), check some of his other pieces out.

NBC, the American TV network, interviewed Sherlockians Alistair Duncan, Roger Johnson, Jean Upton, Kristina Manente (and others) April 4, 2012 near the Sherlock Holmes Pub in London. Getting famous-er!

Calabash Books, the venerable Sherlock Holmes publishing imprint run by Christoper and Barbara Roden, has recently started selling e-book versions of some of their out-of-print titles (e.g. Stephen Clarkson’s The Canonical Compendium) as well as older classic Sherlockian texts (e.g. Gavin Brend’s My Dear Holmes). Exciting times. 

[The cover of one of the most useful books + ebooks in existence for Sherlockians - a good ol’ index for the working Sherlockian.]

My Favorite Sherlockians - A Dialogue with Dan Andriacco

Friend and Sherlockian colleague Dan Andriacco (author of Baker Street Beat, There’s No Police Like Holmes and it’s soon-to-be-released sequel Holmes Sweet Holmes) and I were recently discussing our favorite (deceased) Sherlockians: those authors, personalities, scholars, and/or legends who have had the greatest personal inspiration/influence/impact on each of us. So as not to accidentally influence each other’s picks, we decided to each draw-up a list of our five (personal) favorite Sherlockians, keep the contents a secret from each other and then simultaneously post said list with a brief explanation for each choice (plus a few honorable mentions) on our respective blogs.

I look forward to viewing Mr Andriacco’s ‘Favorite Sherlockians’ list (cf. end of this post for link) to see where we agree/disagree as well as using our little joint blog venture to instigate an ongoing dialogue about various important Sherlockians of decades past, who may be (for the moment at least) unknown to new and burgeoning Sherlock Holmes fans. Depending on the response to our collaborative effort we will be posting follow-up remarks and cross-commentary. Anyway, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for: Always1895’s top 5 Sherlockians!! (As one would expect, in no particular order…)    

Michael Harrison

The author of one of my favorite ‘later’ Holmesian books (In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, 1972) as well as a handful of equally fascinating tomes delving into various aspects of Sherlock Holmes’ life and the times in which he lived (Cynological Mr Holmes, The World of Sherlock Holmes, The London of Sherlock Holmes, etc.), Harrison was a consummate ‘old-school’ Sherlockian (or Holmesian since he was English) who truly yearned for the magical days of the late 19th century. For a superb taste of Mr Harrison’s erudition, sense of humor, general approach to all matters Sherlockian and accent, I highly recommend listening to the audio talks hosted at the University of Minnesota’s Sherlock Holmes Collection (UMedia Archive): “Holmes Then” (1984), “The London of Sherlock Holmes” (1984) and “The Gaslight Era“ (1984). 

Vincent Starrett

For regular readers of Always1895, the inclusion of the venerable Mr Vincent Starrett - author of the groundbreaking and game changing Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1933) and author of 221B - should come as no surprise. Eclipsing even the great Christopher Morley (Morley may have started the BSI, but Starrett started what started the BSI), Starrett seems to have (almost) single handedly kickstarted what we think of today as ‘modern’ Sherlockian studies. OK, if you haven’t read VS’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, hit your internal Internet/Life pause button and either pick up the Otto Penzler SH Library Edition (222 pp., some illustrations, paperback) of the relatively inexpensive paperback reissue or pamper yourself and grab the very useful Wessex Press 75th Anniversary Edition (259 pp., illustrated, case-bound with DJ, $29.95). While (re)reading it, remind yourself VS wrote it in 1933. Next pick up a random Baker Street Journal from any decade and note how Starrett’s deceptively ‘simple’ little book spawned the intellectual industry that we know and love today.

Christopher Morley

I really didn’t mean to sound dismissive regarding Morley’s founding of the Baker Street Irregulars - as an idea whose time (c. 1934) had come and whose lasting legacy continues to not only be felt but also to influence new generations as well as grow and change with said generations, the BSI is genius. Born our of what Morley and cronies called the ‘Three Hours for Lunch Club’, the nascent BSI was just another one of Morley’s famed ‘clubs’ (a clubable man if there ever was one!) and might have sunk into the mysts of time if not for the Sherlockian next on my list (cf. below). In my opinion, Christopher Morley’s most important contribution to Sherlockian culture - along with the BSI, his numerous Sherlock-soaked articles for the Saturday Review of Literature, collected in Steve Rothman’s brilliantly edited The Standard Doyle Company, the classic Intro to the Doubleday standard omnibus edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, et al., - was acting for a time as the intellectual/inspirational ‘center’ (symbolically viewed as the Gasogene & Tantalus). Perusing through Lellenberg’s multi-volume history of the BSI** , one is convinced that the (east coast/midwest American) Sherlockian world for a time revolved around and hence was sustained and warmed by Christopher Morley.

Edgar W. Smith

If Morley was the Sol (to speak) of the Sherlockians, Edgar W. Smith was the elemental force that bound the system together. Prolific beyond belief in both the Sherlockian and business (a high-ranking General Motors company man) worlds, Smith is probably my personal favorite Sherlockian of all time (except those occasional times when I am completely broke and find myself identifying with Vincent Starrett or Frederic Dorr Steele - Lellenberg says of them in BSI History something to the effect that they often seemed to be competing in the ‘Most Destitute’ category) for a variety of reasons beginning with Smith’s first insightful yet genuinely humble letters to Starrett (lavishly praising Private Life) and Morley (cf. Lellenberg’s Irregular Memories of the ‘Thirties, Chapter 14 ‘Enter Edgar W. Smith’), continuing on through his massively inspired but impressively underfunded Pamphlet House to the eventual revival and organization of the BSI tactfully maintained (via his ‘Buttons’ persona) under the watchful eye of Morley. Whether Smith was pleading with a broke Starrett to come to the next BSI dinner or writing reverently to FDR essentially asking the war-weary president to come hang at same, Smith’s letters reveal the unique personage he must have been.

Frederic Dorr Steele

Though not nearly as famous or even recognized as original Sherlock Holmes illustrator Sydney Paget, FDS - as revealed in his letters with Starrett, Morley and Smith - was a Sherlockian whose lifetime love affair with The Master is perhaps best ‘illustrated’ via his  life long dream to illustrate the entire Canon; a dream almost made a reality thanks to the help of Edgar Smith if not for FDS’s terribly untimely death. For it denied his friends of his company and the world of his work: imagine if the Limited Edition Club (and Heritage Press) Complete Sherlock Holmes set were lavishly illustrated with only FDS illustrations? One of my favorite examples of FDS’s work is hanging in The Player’s in NYC: William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes (NORW) in the Grill Room.

Honorable mentions (in no particular order) go to: Lord Donegall, Michael Hardwick, Dr Julian Wolff, Jay Finley Christ, William S. Baring-Gould, Richard Lancelyn Green (sadly deceased before his time) and D. Martin Dakin. I’m sure I’ve forgotten plenty of my favorites, many of whom I’ll introduce or rediscover in later posts. Now let’s go check out what Dan Andriacco’s ‘Favorite Sherlockians’ are up to…..

——————-

** An absolutely essential guide to the history of Sherlock Holmes culture in the United States (seen primarily through the lens of the Baker Street Irregulars) and the individuals who inspired/fostered said culture is Jon Lellenberg’s The BSI History Series. There are five main volumes and a few supplementary publications which chart the birth and ‘formative years’ of the BSI (i.e. starting with Vincent Starrett’s letters in the 1930s, through Chris Morley’s three hours for lunch club and ending with an established BSI -spawning a myriad of satellite scion societies) with Edgar Smith at the helm. Unfortunately, many of the volumes are out of print, but you can still pick up copies on Abe Books (21 items currently available) or at speciality shops like Mysterious Books. 

[If you don’t own any of the essential Jon Lellenberg (BSI, “Rodger Prescott of evil memory”) BSI History series books, be on the lookout for these red covers - you’ll thank me later!]