221B Cooee: The 44th Annual Enoch Pratt Saturday With Sherlock Holmes, Baltimore MD

Each year since 1980, Sherlockians have gathered in November at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in downtown Baltimore to hear presentations. It was originally called the 'Weekend With Sherlock Holmes' with the first day for Sherlockian presentations and the second day for a Sherlock film screening and discussion. Over time it evolved into 'Saturday with Sherlock Holmes' and that is the current format.

In 2013, the Baker Street Irregulars published a volume celebrating 'Three Decades of Canonical. The volume contains articles from a number of prominent Sherlockians who had presented at the meeting over the previous thirty years.

And so, this year the Saturday with Sherlock Holmes returned, the 44th such event, produced and hosted by Andy Solberg BSI. As usual it was held in the Wheeler auditorium at the Central Library branch. Each year a theme is introduced as a guiding principle, and this year it was "Mysteries in the Canon".

This is the wonder poster advertising the 2023 Saturday with Sherlock Holmes, and the speaker agenda is shown below. The agenda included Daniel Thomas BSI who has presented at all but one of the 44 meetings held to date!

Agenda for the meeting. Chair: Andy Solberg, ASH, BSI

Ross Davies, BSI - The Many Waltzes of the Dancing Men
Carla Coupe, ASH, BSI - Who Shot Charles Augustus Milverton
Daniel Thomas, BSI - The Many [sic?] Wives of Doctor Watson
Evelyn Herzog, ASH, BSI - The Original Baker Street Irregulars
Matt Hall - Australian Origins in the Canon
Patrick Ewing - The Adventure of the Persian Slipper
S. Brent Morris - A Consideration of the Disappearance of James Phillimore
Karen Wilson, ASH, BSI - The Education of Sherlock Holmes

The presentations were wonderful, and covered a broad range of topics. Ross Davies examined the fidelity of the dancing men messages shown both in the stories and in the illustrations - with humorous results. This included the passing around of messages and the code for attendees to decode. Carla Coupe presented examined the question of who really show Charles Augustus Milverton, with a number of possibilities examined. Daniel Thomas provided a comprehensive overview of the Sherlockian theories related to the number of wives Watson had.... from one to ten! Evy Herzog dicussed the Original Baker Street Irregulars. I naively thought Evy would discuss the US-based Sherlockian group, but in fact the ORIGINAL Irregulars are those that worked with Sherlock on Baker Street. Patrick Ewing discussed how tobacco could be stored in a Persian slipper, and the different types of slipper that could be referred to. As the photo below shows, props were presented to solve the mystery. Brent Morris gave a talk on freemasonry and the meaning of the phrase in Silver Blaze "There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men." Finally, Karen Wilson delivered a delightful historiography and analysis of where Holmes studied, and what he studied while in University/College.

I did not mention my talk - my very first Sherlockian presentation. It was an opportunity to discus where ACD may have sourced his Australian influences for the canon.

Ross Davis took photos of some presenters, shown below. The Saturday With Sherlock Holmes is a wonderful opportunity for those interested in Sherlock to enjoy the enthusiasm of fellow Sherlockians, laugh at the puns, and meet a few fellow Sherlockians. Definitely worth considering for the 45th meeting in 2024!