July 31 2023 meeting of the Sydney Passengers with Dr Mark Jones

On Saturday evening at midnight (so, really, the very start of Sunday July 30th 2023), I logged on to a virtual meeting of the Sherlockian scion called Sydney Passengers. Living in Darnestown MD, this Sunday afternoon meeting in Sydney required me to stay up particularly late. 

There is plenty of information about the Sydney Passengers ('The Sherlock Holmes Society of Australia') at their website http://www.sherlock.on.net . Importantly, being a member includes a subscription to the wonderful 'Passenger's Log'. So while it might be difficult to ever make it to a meeting, the magazine is well worth the membership!

Like many scions, during the pandemic the Sydney Passengers (through their Captain (President, Treasurer) Bill Barnes) implemented virtual meetings, which opened up access to members where-ever they are in the world.

The presenter on this occasion was Dr. Mark Jones, with a talk entitled "Conan Doyle and John Hawkesworth". Mark lives in York in the UK, and is 'one half' of the wonderful 'Doings of Doyle' podcast. Mark spoke about John Hawkesworth, the English producer and screenwriter who produced the Granada series Sherlock Holmes, and earlier in his career created the now-lost 1967 BBC television series 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'. 

It's important to point out that this talk is based in part on a new book published by Mark called "Conan Doyle: Mystery and Adventure". The book can be purchased here: https://www.tvbrain.info/shop/books/conan-doyle-mystery-and-adventure

"Conan Doyle: Mystery and Adventure recreates the largely missing television series as never before. Drawing on the surviving scripts, production files, and the Hawkesworth archive, it provides an in-depth appreciation of a lost moment in television history, filling gaps in the story of Hawkesworth’s stellar career and the tale of Conan Doyle on screen"

An old discovery of a Beeton's in Australia - 1933

Earlier this year, Glen Miranker presented to the Red Circle on his book collecting, and one of the examples he shared was the story of his copy of the Beeton's Christmas Annual that included the very first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet. You can watch Glen's presentation at my post on that meeting: https://221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/05/why-does-glen-miranker-collect-books.html 

Glen's discussion on his Beeton's captured my imagination because the Sherlockian story intersected with my Australian-ness: his copy had at one point been owned by the Coburg Mechanic's Institute & Free Library, as evidenced by the stamp of that library within the magazine.

After the presentation while I chatted with Glen, I told him I'd look into the Coburg library that originally owned his copy (and am working on this). 

But as I was looking around I was prompted to try and find any references to Beeton's in Australian newspapers in the 20th Century (e.g. being for sale), or something equally naive. The best starting point for Australian newspapers is the National Library of Australia digitized newspapers initiative, called 'Trove' (trove.nla.gov.au).

There were a couple of hits, and this article from Sydneys 'The Sun' in 1933 (http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229052493) has a few interesting points.

The Sun,  Sunday 19 Mar 1933 

BOOK REVIEWS AND MUSIC NOTES

His First Bow

SHERLOCK HOLMES still holds his place in popular esteem. There have been scores of imitations of Conan Doyle's famous character. Most of the newcomers linger for a time, enjoy a brief day of fame — then give place to an ever-increasing swarm of rivals. But Sherlock Holmes outlives them all.

The present year will complete the first half-century of Holmes's fictional existence. The great man made his first bow to the public in "A Study In Scarlet," published in 1887, as the leading feature in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Curiously enough, in the light of his subsequent popularity, Holmes was slow in achieving fame, and the "Study" attracted little attention. Conan Doyle in his reminiscences mentions the disappointment this caused him, and he adds that it was two years before his publishers could be persuaded to bring out a second edition of the story Probably the great detective's notorious Indifference to the fair sex accounted for his lack of appeal to a generation which palpitated over "three-decker" romances.

The first edition of "A Study in Scarlet" was Illustrated with engravings bv one D. H Friston. It, was he who originated the type for all the subsequent delineations of Holmes's features. The reproduced illustration, which is the frontispiece from Beeton's Annual, is of Interest as including the four characters who figure in so many of the Sherlock Holmes stories. On the left, partially concealed by 'a pair of formidable moustachios, is our old friend Dr. Watson. Next to him, peering through the outsize magnifying glass, is Holmes himself. And not even the stove-pipe hat and luxuriant "side -boards" can detract from the hawk-like aspect with which so many later illustrators have familiarised us. It would probably puzzle the uninitiated to identify the two figures on the right; they are, in fact, those alert officers of Scotland Yard, Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson.

This Issue of Beeton's Annual containing the first edition of the first Sherlock Holmes story is now very rare. It is only a flimsy paper-bound volume, and naturally few copies have survived the vicissitudes of half a century. A current list of English first editions, while not quoting a price, states that the Annual is "Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found." So it may be of interest to note that the copy from which the illustration is reproduced was recently picked up for three pence on a Melbourne market stall. There are still first edition bargains available to the collector with sufficient enthusiasm — and patience— to hunt them out.

There are a couple of things to consider here. 

First, the article celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first Holmes story. I'm sure there were lots of such articles across the globe in 1933. In this article is an image of Holmes et al examining the "Rache" on the wall. I'll come back to this.

Second, near the end the article says "This Issue of Beeton's Annual containing the first edition of the first Sherlock Holmes story is now very rare. It- is only a flimsy paper-bound volume, and naturally few copies have survived the vicissitudes of half a century. A current list of English first editions, while not quoting a price, states that the Annual is "Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found." . I asked Phil Bergem what the "current list" is, being referred to in 1933. Phil has written several articles on the Beeton's, including a 'census' for the 2002 Norwegian Explorers Christmas Annual. Phil suggested a book such as "Books in Print" which was being published in the early 20th century, though why it would list a 50 year-old magazine is not clear. This might be a useful mystery for the Sherlockian hivemind community to solve.

Third, note the highlighting (added my me) in the very last paragraph of the article: "So it may be of interest to note that the copy from which the illustration is reproduced was recently picked up for three pence on a Melbourne market stall." Today, Melbourne is 12 hours drive from Sydney, but clearly the Beeton's - or NEWS of the Beeton's discovery - had made it to Sydney. The image in the article is apparently made DIRECTLY from the discovered Beeton's.

The image displayed in The Sun is slightly different to that in Beeton's. Was the image really taken from a discovered copy of Beeton's (with cropping for artistic reasons for the newspaper), or from another book or newspaper version of the illustration. Perhaps someone recognizes this cropping from another publication: 

Left: Illustration in 'The Sun' of 1933 purported to be from Beeton's. Right: Photo from a Beeton's facsimile (the BSI Press edition).

I wonder where this copy ended up, and the phrase 'Practically unique, and copies seldom to be found' above is actually from the sale catalog of this Beeton's or another copy in a contemporary auction listing. I can find not 'Beeton's census' published in the 1920s or 1930s.

The author of the newspaper article above was certainly in a position to hear about, and see, a Beeton's. Julian Howard Ashton has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography (https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ashton-julian-howard-5072) and was a journalist, critic and artist. His family was a well-known artist, he lived in an exclusive part of Sydney (Mosman), and was deeply engaged in the arts and immersed in the arts community there. Did he hear about the Beeton's discovery through the rare book community?

I can find no sign of any other article related to the discovery of this Beeton's. Ashton's regular column is a clearing-house for interesting tid-bits such as this piece of news, but the discovery (or sale) was not elevated to coverage in the news press.

Where did this found magazine end up? Are there any Beeton's Christmas Annuals from 1887 left in Australia? We know that Beeton's was sold in Australia (see The Passengers' Log, Vol. 10, No. 4 (7 August 2007), pp. 9-16).

There are no copies of Beeton's in Australian libraries, or listed as existing in Australia. The outstanding Beeton's census page by Randall Stock notes the 2011 sale in Victoria (where Melbourne is located) of a previously unknown copy of Beeton's (http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/australia-2011-beetons.htm). 

Perhaps this copy is still out there, on a shelf in Australia, though given the recognition of it's rarity even in 1933, this is unlikely.

In the mail: The Bootmakers of Toronto, Summer 2023

Very few Sherlockian scions publish a journal or magazine. One that does is the Toronto (Canada) scion 'The Bootmakers of Toronto'. Their magazine is called 'Canadian Holmes'. It was first published in 1973 and you can read more about it here: www.torontobootmakers.com/canadian-holmes . It's easy to subscribe to the magazine through membership with the Toronto Bootmakers at the site linked above.

The latest issue of 'Canadian Holmes' arrived in the mail recently (Vol 46, Number 3, Summer 2023), so let's see what's inside. Well, actually let's look at the cover first - a beautiful illustration by Amanda Downs of MN.

This issue has a delightful set of articles that cover the full Sherlockian space (with the exception perhaps of a pastiche, which is just fine by me).

'The view from the bow window' by Barbara Rusch describes the Golden Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria in 1897, providing some wonderful insight into the change that Victoria brought during her reign. VR indeed.

Donny Zaldin provides an overview of the fifty year history of the Bootmakers of Toronto from 1972-2022. In case you were wondering: "The Bootmakers of Toronto takes its name from the sole (pun intended) reference in the Canon, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, to “an old, black boot with the name of its maker, ‘Meyers, Toronto,’ printed on the leather inside."

Ron Levitsky provides a thoughtful essay on Boccaccio’s Decameron, found in the pocket of the dead Enoch Drebber in 'A Study in Scarlet'. The essay provides context for the evolving understanding of the Decameron in Victorian England, and Arthur Conan Doyle's motivations as a writer in placing the book in the dead Mormon's pocket.

Paul Chapman (one half of the 'Doings of Doyle' podcast team) contributes a fascinating article on the influence of Wilkie Collins' novel 'The Moonstone' on three of ACD's stories : “Uncle Jeremy’s Household” (1887), The Mystery of Cloomber (1888) and The Sign of the Four (1890). Chapman also examines the stones and the 'mysticism' of the far east appropriated in these stories.

Jim Ballinger provides a wonderful analysis of his discovery that Captain Croker in the Abbey Grange was published as Crocker in the US Collier's. He examines where the divergence in spelling took place, and speculates on why the change was made.

Mark Alberstat provides a brief article describing ACD's purchase of a piece of property on his visit to Canada in 1914.

Rob Nunn takes an iconoclastic approach, and suggests that Irene Adler is nothing more than a character in one Holmes story - nothing more and nothing less. Worth a read! 

Mark Jones, the other half of 'Doings of Doyle – The Arthur Conan Doyle Podcast' contributes a short piece arguing that 'The Man With The Watches' and 'The Lost Special' should be divorced from the apocrypha as they stand alone in their quality. Jones argues that they pre-sage the railway-based mysteries of Agatha Christie.

The magazine ends with an interview of Richard Krisciunas, a review of the Audible podcast series 'Moriarty', and a review of 'The Duration Debate: A Sherlock Holmes Chronology, by Bruce Harris'.

The articles are engaging and high quality, and I commend a membership/subscription to all Sherlockians!! Again you can join at www.torontobootmakers.com 

The Arthur Conan Doyle plaque in Sydney

Continuing from my previous post from Adelaide (https://221bcooee.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-arthur-conan-doyle-plaque-in.html), I'm in Sydney and made a point of making my way to Circular Quay, where there is a plaque dedicated to ACD. Unlike in Adelaide, the plaque dedicated to ACD is not a singleton, but a part of a large set of plaques around Circular Quay honoring Australian writers and (relevant to ACD) writers who visited Australia. The 'Sydney Writers Walk' is a set of 60 circular metal plaques embedded in the footpath, created by the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts (Sydney is the capital of New South Wales). Circular Quay (pronounced 'Key') is where the First Fleet of ships arriving in Australia with convicts established the colony, and the plaques are spaced around the Quay from the Sydney Opera House on one side to the Overseas Passenger Terminal at the other.

The Arthur Conan Doyle plaque is located on the western side of the Quay near the front of the Museum of Contemporary Art (formerly the Maritime Services Board).

Transcript:

Arthur Conan Doyle 1859-1930 "We all devoted ourselves to surf-bathing, spending a good deal of our day in the water, as is the custom of the place. It is a real romp with Nature, for the great Pacific rollers come sweeping in and break over you, rolling you over on the sand if they catch you unawares. It was a golden patch in our restless lives. — The Wanderings of a Spiritualist (1921) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, visited Australia in 1920-1921 during a series of lecture tours on spiritualism." NSW Ministry for the Arts. Writers Walk.

The view from the plaque towards the Quay looks straight across to the Sydney Opera House. While the plaque is not intended to be Sherlockian in placement, it is remarkable to note that in the 'Adventure of Gloria Scott', the convicts mutinied and the Gloria Scott was destroyed. The survivors were picked up by the 'Hotspur' and arrived in Sydney, and the passengers would have disembarked right here at Circular Quay ! 

The Arthur Conan Doyle plaque in Adelaide

I'm in Adelaide for a conference.

When Arthur Conan Doyle visited Australia in 1920 to lecture on spiritualism, he stayed at the Grand Central Hotel, which was located on the corner of Rundle Street & Pulteney Street. I've been spending quite a bit of time lately digesting ACD's book describing that visit to Australia (and NZ), titled 'The Wanderings of a Spiritualist' and published in 1921 (https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1307001h.html ).

In Adelaide, there is a plaque mounted to commemorate the fact that ACD and his family stayed at the Grand Central Hotel. I knew this because of the wonderful Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia web page that lists "all" known Doylean plaques ( https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php/Plaques ) including Australian plaques in Adelaide and Sydney. The text on the ACD Encyclopedia page notes that the plaque was "unveiled in 1995 and 2004" - what does this mean?

There's just one thing though - the Grand Central Hotel on the corner of Rundle & Pulteney Streets was demolished in 1975-76 "to make way for the multi-story carpark". Certainly a fall from grace for that particular plot of land, and the carpark remains standing on that site almost 50 years later. It is interesting to note that Mark Twain also stayed at the hotel on his visit to Adelaide. 

Left: BEFORE - The Grand Central Hotel. Right: AFTER - A multi-level car park with a Hungry Jacks fast food store on street level (the building won an award for design according to a plaque by the elevators...).

So the moment I arrived I beat a (jet-lagged) path to the historical carpark to inspect it a take some photos. The plaque took me a moment to find. It is mounted on one of the light blue vertical girders (visible above on the corner) at eye height, close to the edge of the street (rather than on the wall of the building itself.

Transcription of plaque

The Case of the Wandering Spirit

 Arthur Conan Doyle in Australia

On the vast curve of an Adelaide beach

Doyle reflects that conjuring

Sherlock back from the grave

Was elementary work

Real death is harder to persuade

Though it lets through whispers

And exposes the occasional ghost

The afterlife theory he tours

Packs curious thousands into lecture halls

But his proof of miracles is not enough

They can't connect the clues

And without Holmes himself

There to declare the mystery solved

The case remains open

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), creator of Sherlock Holmes

visited Adelaide in 1920 and stayed at 

Gibson's Grand Central Hotel 

which previously occupied this site.

Artist - Rick Martin, Poet: Steve Evans

With the assistance of the Department for the Arts and Cultural Development

The plaque is mounted on an upright girder (supporting the multi-level car park overhead) immediately at the corner of Rundle & Pulteney streets.

Another view of the plaque set against the backdrop of a Hungry Jacks 'restaurant'. Hungry Jacks is the Australian trading name for the American 'Burger King' chain. The reason for the different name is outlined at the Wikipedia site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Jack%27s .

Set into the plaque  is a 'medallion'. If one looks closely, the word 'Elementary' is ghosted into the apparently opaque circle. The medallion is the worse for wear.

Generally speaking, the plaque appears quite worn out. Comparison with the ACD Encyclopedia images make this quite clear. It could do with a good cleaning.

How did this plaque come to pass? I went to the expert, and asked the Captain of Australia's premier scion Bill Barnes, the Sydney Passengers. The 'Passenger's Log' (of Sydney, first published in 1997) started after 1996 when the plaque was installed in Adelaide, so there are no articles describing the plaque history (I think we'll fix that). But Bill did dig into his files and shared two articles from the 'News From The Diggings' newsletter published by the South Australian scion that existed at the time - 'The Sherlock Holmes Society of Australia' (dissolved in 2002 and transferred into the Sydney Passengers).

Bill provided two articles from 'News of the Diggings, and a newspaper article. Together, these tell the story of the proposal by Allen Olding from Adelaide, and the creation and slightly delayed installation of the plaque.

News From The Diggings, vol. 16, September 1995

COMMEMORATION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VISIT TO ADELAIDE OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE - SEPTEMBER 1920

September of this year brings with it the 75th anniversary of the visit to Adelaide of the creator of the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle came to Australia in 1920 in the course of his world-wide crusade on behalf of the Spiritualist movement, and he have give lectures in Adelaide between 25th and 30th September of that year, to capacity audiences at the Town Hall. His lectures were advertised and well reported in both the Register and the Advertiser.

He and his family stayed at Gibson's Grand Central Hotel, which stood on the corner of Pulteney and Rundle Streets. (The building became a department store (Foy and Gibson's) and was demolished in the mid 1970's to make was for a multi-storied car park of very functional design!

Doyle wrote quite enthusiastically of South Australia in Chapter Three of the autobiographical 'Wanderings of a Spiritualist'. The chapter runs to about 50 pages, and begins with his welcome by a letter from the then Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, followed by a description of the part played by Colonel Light in the foundation of Adelaide, his high opinion of the manner in which the city is laid out, and its amenities, etc. Then effects of the Australia-wide drought; then a couple of pages describe his visit to a winery, which I was able to identify as Hamilton's Ewell Winery at Glenelg. Now alas no more, replaced in part by a Trans Adelaide Bus Depot. Doyle spoke highly of the wines, the champagne in particular.

He writes of a dinner as guest of some Adelaide doctors, whom he describes as 'a very prosperous body of men'.

The follows a 3 page account of his visit to the Humbug Scrib Wild Life Sanctuary, to meet Tom Paine Bellchambers, a self-taught naturalist who had written articles which Doyle had read in an English magazine. The Sanctuary is still there, run by T. P. Bellchambers' grandson.

Interspersed are reports on the success of his lectures, meetings with Adelaide spiritualists, and of the support he received from the State Governor, Sir Archibald Weigall, and Lady Weigall.

At the end of the month Sir Arthur and family set off by train to fulfill speaking engagements in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with a side trip to New Zealand in between. He was prevented from speaking in Perth due to the constraints imposed by the sailing schedule of his ship, the S.S. Naldera and Tasmania by a threatened dock stike!

Bearin all this in mind, some months ago your President wrote to the Minister for the Arts of the State Government, suggesting that it might be an appropriate gesture to commemorate the anniversary by installing a plaque in the pavement adjacent to the site of Gibson's Grand Central Hotel, which was in those days the 'posh' establishment, to which most of the celebrities of the day repaired during their visits to Adelaide. 

The Minister's response was favourable, as a result of which ACO has attended conferences with representatives of the Department of the Arts, and the Adelaide City Council. (In addition to the Ministerial OK, City Council approval was needed, as the proposal had to be in line with their policy about plaques in pavements.)

ACO was asked to submit a Briefing Paper, whereupon some local artists were invited to submit designs for a plaque. The Department of the Arts is so please with the idea, they are talking of installing other plaques in a 'Writers' Walk'. commemorating visits by other famous authors, such as Mark Twain, who was here in 1895.

In the meantime, members in the other States have been alerted to the fact of Conan Doyle's visit to their capital cities, and it has been left to them to make whatever arrangements they wish to commemorate the visit. (There is already in place at Circular Quay in Sydney a plaque remembering Doyle's visit to that city.)

LATE NEWS

As will be seen from the feature published in the Arts Pages of the Adelaide Advertiser (27/9/95), the plaque has received official blessing. Designed by local artist Rick Martin, the bronze plaque will feature the word which will immediately call to mind the great detective - 'ELEMENTARY', viewed through a hand lens. It will bear the following inscription:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), creator of Sherlock Holmes, visited Adelaide in September 1920, and stayed at Gibson's Grand Central Hotel, which stood on this corner.

It is anticipated that the plaque will be fabricated, installed, and ready for unveiling by the end of November. It is hoped that the Minister of Arts, Diana Laidlaw, will officiate.

Upon being advised of the forthcoming event, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur's daughter, now in her eighties, sent her greetings, saying that she has very happy memories of Australia, and the Australian people, and of the kindness with which the Conan Doyle family were received by the Australian people. Dame Jean adds that she is touched by the plans, and will be thinking of them.

As well as being an attraction for visiting Sherlockians, the plaque will provide a centrally sited focal point for future commemorations and other events. By way of a small celebration, Adelaide are to meet for lunch 'on site' - that is to say at the Hungry Jack's fast food outlet, situated on part of the street frontage where the hotel used to be, on Sunday, 1st October, 1995. Of necessity, libations will be drunk in whatever non-alcoholic beverages are available, 

The Advertiser, Wednesday September 28, 1995

There is a very illustrious history to the corner of Rundle and Pulteney streets. It is now home to a Hungry Jacks restaurant but it is there, 75 years ago, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stayed.

The Gibsons Grand Central Hotel was there and Conan Doyle, his wife and family were guests from September 25-30, 1920. So it is fitting that the Sherlock Holmes Society will lunch at the fast-food restaurant on Sunday in honor of the visit.

Conan Doyle, who is best known for his creation of the eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes, visited Adelaide to lecture in spiritualism, a cause he dedicated himself to after the death of his son from wounds incurred in World War I. He gave five lectures at the Adelaide Town Hall, all of which were reported in The Advertiser of the time.

Doyle wrote enthusiastically of South Australia in his autobiographical novel Wandering (sic) of a Spiritualist. Adelaide is also written into Sherlock Holmes stories. In The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, the character Mary Fraser comes from Adelaide and, in The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, the villain is recognised as Henry "Holy" Peters, who "had his ear bitten in a saloon fight in Adelaide in '94".

There are now more than 300 branches of the Sherlock Holmes Society worldwide, with about 30 Adelaide members who meet once a quarter and publish a quarterly newsletter, News from the Diggings.

To further mark the 75th anniversary of his visit, Art for Public Places and the literature program of the Department for the Arts and Cultural Development, in conjunction with the Adelaide City Council and the Sherlock Holmes Society, have commissioned artist Rick Martin to design and produce a plaque to be placed in the pavement. Also, poet Steve Evans has been commissioned to write a commemorative poem.

News From The Diggings, vol. 17, September 1996

THE CONAN DOYLE COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE

It is exactly 12 months since we announced that the installation of the plaque commemorating the visit of ACD to Adelaide was ready and about the be installed. (NFTD, September 1995) Well, yours truly failed to take into account the wheels of bureaucracy, which, like the mills of God, grind slow, and it is only now, as this Issue is in the course of preparation, that the Plaque is being affixed outside the fast-food outlet which stands where Gibson's Grand Hotel used to grace the corner of Rundle and Pulteney Streets. It is expected that a small dedication ceremony will be held at the site on Sunday, 22nd September 1996. Our thanks are due to the Minister for the Arts in South Australia, Diana Laidlaw, for taking up the idea with enthusiasm, to officers and staff of 'Art for Public Places', and the Literature Program of the Department of the Arts and Cultural Development for putting up the finds: especially to Jennifer Layther, Manager of A.P.P. for the hours of work she put in. To the officers of the Adelaide City Council, without whose co-operation the thing could not have come to fruition, and to Councillor Jane Lomax-Smith, whose assistance at a critical juncture was invaluable. A.C.O. 

 

Ouch! A 1905 review of The Return of Sherlock Holmes

In looking through newspapers I came across this 1905 review of "The Return of Sherlock Holmes". It's a fairly tough review for the time. The review does not have an attribution, either of author, or of source (many Australian newspaper items were abstracted from UK or US newspapers, but usually attributed as such).

The reviewer makes several good points. The influence of Edgar Allen Poe and Gaboriau's mystery stories is well made.

I think my favourite point is that ""The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is a barefaced plagiarism". This reviewer is undoubtedly referencing the Poe story "The Gold-Bug" (which can be read here https://poestories.com/read/goldbug ) that relies on a cipher, and involves a similar approach of decoding it.

The reviewer does seem to take a jaundiced view of the stories:

The Queenslander, Saturday 27 May 1905, page 22

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

"The Return of Sherlock Holmes," by A. Conan Doyle (Longmans, Green, and Co., London, through George Robertson and Co., Brisbane) .— It goes without saying that readers of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'a books will welcome back to activity that remarkable creation Sherlock Holmes. Of course, Conan Doyle's detective stories were not new things in that form of literature .when they first caught on with the reading world, nor was even the "ingenious ratiocination" of his great central figure original. We must always remember the work of Gaboriau, of Edgar Allan Poe, and others, when we are inclined to allow ourselves to marvel at the clever ratiocination of Sherlock Holmes.

There is not sharper reasoning in any of the Sherlock Holmes series than in "The Murders of the Rue Morgue" or "The Mystery of Marie Roget," though Conan Doyle's adaptations are remarkably smart and readable. In "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" there are some good stories, but the development of them is not always clever. Sherlock Holmes says smart things and does daring things, but there is sometimes a miserable lack of ingenuity in the main ideas. We have no occasion to go farther than "The Adventures of the Norwood Builder" to get an illustration of what we mean. The hiding away of the old rascal who wished to revenge himself upon a woman by causing her son to be suspected of murder was a clumsy invention. And the main theme in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is a barefaced plagiarism. The dancing men were figures used to represent letters of the alphabet in threatening communications, and Mr. Sherlock Holmes deciphered the meaning by the very elementary method df finding the figure which appeared most frequently, and applying it to the letter e (the most frequently used letter in our language), and working the system. Now this plan was followed by Edgar Allan Foe, but with much greater cleverness than Conan Doyle has shown. 

Of course, in putting these matters pretty plainly before a generally unsuspecting public, we have no wish to detract from the gripping readableness of the continued Sherlock Holmes stories. They have certain novel features, and will be much enjoyed—but they are not creations.

Australian references to the Baker Street Irregulars and other scions

I wondered when the "Baker Street Irregulars" first appeared in the pages of Australian newspapers.

The first reference I can find was published in The Australasian in 1940 (6 July 1940):

It is surprising that such a typical Englishman as our old friend Sherlock Holmes should be so popular in America. Research work into his achievements is now being carried on over there by a society known as the Baker Street Irregulars and founded by the novelist, Mr. Christopher Morley. This society recently published a book of 15 essays by its members, which should throw interesting light on the famous sleuth's life and activities. Mr. Morley, for instance, attempts to trace a family connection between Sherlock and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Elementary . . .? 

The next article relates to the finding of an unpublished Sherlock Holmes story by Adrian Conan Doyle, and the announcement that it would NOT be published. Multiple Sherlockian scions are quote and referred to in this article 'By Dr. Watson, junr.' in The Daily Telegraph (6 Dec 1942). 

Select transcript: In Chicago, Vincent Starrett, Holmes' biographer, demanded in furious bewilderment, "In heaven's name, why?'" In Boston, the Speckled Band, a select society devoted to study of The Master's genius, solemnly denounced the ban. So did the Baker Street Irregulars (HQ., New York) ; Christopher Morley, chairman of the Sherlock Holmes Club; Ellery Queen and Dorothy Sayers; Father Ronald Knox, chairman of the Professor Moriarty Defence Society; and John Rhode, on behalf of the Detection Club. 

Bitter commentary on Australian culture is the absence of any equivalent authoritative body which could add a Commonwealth protest to this world-wide clamor."

I've bolded several people and societies above. One is left with several points: 

• First, the Speckled Band of Boston (a scion that still meets) is quoted along with the BSI.
• Second, WHAT WAS THE "Professor Moriarty Defence Society"??
• Third, while there was no Sherlockian scion/organization in Australia in 1942, there certainly is now - the primary one being the Sydney Passengers (http://www.sherlock.on.net).

I'll continue this occasional look at early references to Sherlockians in the canon soon. The next few articles - likely reprinted from British or American newspapers - are nonetheless intriguing!

Meeting Mattias - a preparatory post

When I was in Stockholm in mid-June, I was lucky enough to spend a Saturday walking through Stockholm with Mattias. When I say walking, I really mean walking - we walked for six hours! The topic of our walk was a little off-piste for Sherlockians: the Martin Beck series of ten books written by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo between 1965 and 1975. The books are best defined as police procedurals, and perfectly combine police work with the mundane humor of daily life. 

I'm writing a long blog post on our walking tour, but wanted to post a selfie Mattias took for us, and a little context for Martin Beck series - definitely worth trying, but you have to read them in order! Hopefully I'll be able to complete the Martin Beck tour post soon.

Meantime - thanks Mattias !! Luckily I should be going to Stockholm once per year so hopefully we can catch up again in 2024.

With my gracious host, Mattias Bostrom BSI, outside Eastmaninstitutet (The Eastman Institute). This was the scene of the siege and shootings in 'The Abominable Man', and the movie adaptation 'The Man On The Roof' was filmed on the same site.

The circular fountain behind us, and the steps up to the Eastmaninstitutet can be seen in this still from the 1976 movie 'The Man On The Roof' (from IMDB).

The books in question - the 'Martin Beck' series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. There were ten books in the series, as planned when the authors set out their plan. This edition from HarperCollins has the neat feature of MARTIN BECK being spelt out along the top of the spines. 

While we were walking along looking at sites, Mattias pointed to a tall building south of Solna and explained that it was a Wahloo site, but not from the Marin Beck books. He mentioned Wahloo had written a book prior to his collaboration with Sjowall called "Murder on the 31st Floor" - I've tracked down a copy and am enjoying it. Note that Per Wahloo's name was listed as "Peter".

Sherlockians of Baltimore (SOB) lunch, Saturday July 1st, 2023

Today the Sherlockians of Baltimore met for their quarterly lunch meeting, at their usual  venue: Sabatino's Italian Restaurant in the 'Little Italy' area of downtown Baltimore. Members call themselves the SOBs. There's a facebook page for the group (https://www.facebook.com/SherlockiansBaltimore), and an occasionally used Twitter account: @SherlockBmore . The SOBs were founded around 2016 after trying to relaunch the Sherlockian group called the Carlton Club of Baltimore. It transpires the Carlton Club were actively inactive, and so a new group was created - the SOBs. You can use the contacts on the Fbook page to be added to the email list, and therefore be made aware of upcoming gatherings! 

The Sherlockians of Baltimore pin

Greg tells me that "all who attend a meeting are considered to be a SOB. However, if one gives a presentation, prepares a quiz or leads a story discussion they become a Certified SOB with a Baltimore based investiture".

The scene of the luncheon: Sabatino's Italian Restaurant in the 'Little Italy' area of downtown Baltimore. Can confirm the food was great!

After several failed attempts, today was my first time attending the SOB lunch. Proceedings were chaired by Greg Ruby, who introduced two toasts. The first was by that great Doylean Ross Davies, who proposed a toast to the many Green Bags that appear in the canon (In fact, Ross had two toasts prepared - one that he wrote (and used), and one that ChatGPT wrote for him). The next toast was the traditional toast to Sherlock Holmes, which was surprisingly proposed by Mrs. Helga Hudson herself who stepped out from the cloakroom at the appointed moment. As evidenced by the photos below, Denny Dobry did a spectacular job of the toast - perhaps the best I've seen - certainly the most authentically Sherlockian! 

Mrs. Helga Hudson proposes the toast to Sherlock

The main presentation was Ira Matetsky, who travelled down from Manhattan to present. Ira is a litigator and without notes walked through the background on US Copyright Law as it relates to the Sherlock Holmes, and the twists and turns on the way to the canon being in the public domain. I recorded Ira's talk on a last moment whim, and was lucky enough to have Ira's permission (after the fact) to share the recording. Enjoy!

The final event was a discussion of Chapters 3-7 of the first part of A Study in Scarlet, and an associated quiz for those chapters (posted below), organized by the always entertaining Karen Wilson. Ewy Herzog (of ASH fame) scored 15 out of 15 !

Another wonderful scion, and one worth trying to get to if you are located in the mid-Atlantic region!