My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck By Lightning

Friday Sherlock Links Compendium (February 16 - February 22, 2013)

always1895:

Sherlock Holmes Through Time & Place (August 9-11, 2013) the conference put together by The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota and the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota, posted updated conference information including a list of confirmed speakers (including some of my favorite Sherlockians Mattias Boström, Chris Redmond, Don Hobbs & Les Klinger) as well as new information on the panel discussion: “May I introduce Mr Holmes: connecting new audiences to the Canon” moderated by Pj Doyle, (ASH, BSI) featuring Elaine & Joe Coppola of the Beacon Society, Kristina Manente of the Baker Street Babes and (yours truly!) Matt Laffey of the Always1895.net. 

[Click for more info on Sherlock Holmes Through Time & Place (August 9-11, 2013).]

Baker Street Journal in “The World of Sherlockians” reflects on recent BSI developments in 2012 and ends with the statement: “We deplore and condemn the idea that proper appreciation of the stories of Sherlock Holmes should be limited to a small, elite fandom. Sherlock Holmes belongs to the world, and we applaud all who share the devotion of The Baker Street Irregulars to the memory of the Master Detective, regardless of age, sex or the medium in which they express their views.”

[Ray Wilcockson posted the above on his Facebook with a link to the BSJ statement.]

Sherlock Peoria - speaking of the BSI - in “Upon belonging to exclusive clubs” reflects on the non-democratic nature of the Baker Street Irregulars’ admittance ‘policies’. Make sure to read the comments that accompany the piece.

Slate dug up this amazing ACD questionnaire: “When some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s papers arrived at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, archivists found this mysterious questionnaire filed among his other works. Doyle signed the bottom of the sheet and indicated that he had taken the quiz on Oct. 29, 1899, at Undershaw, the family’s residence in Surrey, England. But we don’t know why or for whom he filled it out.”

[“Archives assistant Arcadia Falcone, who has worked with the Doyle papers, speculates that the quiz may have been part of a parlor game. The famous list of personal questions that Marcel Proust answered, and that Vanity Fair asks celebrities to respond to in each issue, was a fashionable diversion in the late 19th century.”]

The Holmes of the Baker Street scanned a few frames from A Sherlock Holmes Mystery: The Hound of the Baskervilles (illustrations by Stibane & Luce Daniels). As a very general rule I’ve found that Sherlock Holmes comic adaptations tend to have much better art compared to the text. Recently a very generous Sherlockian deposited his entire Sherlock comics collection into my care. Originally I had planned on simply giving all of it away to various comic-inclined Sherlockians, but as I peruse the boxes and boxes of Holmes comics from the last four decades my archival reflexes have started kicking in and I feel like they should be scanned and cataloged before breaking up the collection. For a listing of various Holmes comics, check out the Universal Sherlock Holmes (cartoons, comics, jokes). A possible future project - but for now, here’s a frame from the HOUN adaptation mentioned above:

[A Sherlock Holmes Mystery: The Hound of the Baskervilles (illustrations by Stibane & Luce Daniels).]

East Wind Coming due out in May 2013 is a new book published by MX and coauthored by British Sherlockian scholar John Hall and Japanese Sherlockian and member of the Baker Street Irregulars Hirayama Yuichi. ”One offers the other three questions, and the other answers them with all their Sherlockian knowledge. They are serious Sherlockian battles between an English knight and Japanese samurai! This volume also includes Hirayama’s Sherlockian papers published in The Musgraves, The Baker Street Journal, The Canadian Holmes and The Shoso-in Bulletin.”

[East Wind Coming approaches various Holmes-related questions from two perspectives provided by two Sherlockian scholars emerging from different traditions, loosely thought of as East and West.]

Strictly Sherlock’s Prof Tracy Revels in “Sherlock Sticks With Scholars!” reflects on the lasting power of Sherlock Holmes, especially when used as a teaching tool in the pedagogic environs of academia: “The canon makes one think about science, history, psychology, art, music, politics, government, technology, sociology, criminology, and gender relations. A thoughtful reader will confront issues of colonialism, sexism, and racism. Most importantly, the Sherlock Holmes stories are invitations to critical thinking, which is the beating heart of higher education.” Dr Thorneycroft Huxtable, M.A., Ph.D., etc. would be proud!

[Huxtable’s grand 221B entrance.]

And in Klinger vs. ACD Estate News….

Free Sherlock! posted a list of the more prominent mentions the Klinger vs ACD Estate case has garnered. The blog also set-up a way for supporters to donate to the cause: “Funds will go exclusively to offset legal fees and expenses of the litigation.” 

The Economist in “Who Owns Sherlock Holmes?” posted one of the best pieces on some of the issues surrounding the Klinger vs ACD Estate case: “An expert in the duration of copyright terms in America, Peter Hirtle of Cornell University finds no basis for the Conan Doyle estate to claim general ownership over aspects of Holmes from stories that are in the public domain. “Let’s imagine that the fact that Holmes plays the violin was included for the first time in one of the copyrighted stories,” he says via e-mail, “then it can’t be included in any new story that draws on the public domain versions.” But if the “Company” stories rely entirely on public-domain elements, then the estate has no ground to stand on, he adds.”

Publishers Weekly ”reported on suit filed by author and scholar Leslie Klinger that asks a federal court to declare that Holmes, Watson, and others of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters lie firmly in the public domain.” Listen to the 15 minute audio discussion as a podcast here.

Lyndsay Faye posted an excellent follow-up/public reply to Mr Alistair Duncan’s “Sherlockian Civil War” piece from last week on Doyleockian - Ms Faye writes: “I deeply appreciate the spirit in which this post is intended. I fear, however, one or two items may have been slightly mischaracterized - if only to my own eyes - and thought that I should make mention of them since the post was written in such tremendously good faith…”

Quick Sherlock Links:

Inspector Lestrade’s Blotter Page - a new Sherlockian blog by collector Don Hobbs - remembered Fred Levin, BSI, “a kindred soul….He was one of those rare Sherlockians that collected foreign translations of the Canon. Fred passed over Reichenbach Falls last February after suffer a debilitating stroke. His wife, Sunnie, asked me if I would help price Fred’s foreign language books and then ended up selling all of them to me for a price I could not refuse. Last week, I hopped into my Hansom Cab and headed to Skokie, Illinois to pick up those books.”

[Approximately 1/6th of Don Hobbs’ legendary collection of translations of the Canon.]

Doyleockian laments the sad state of affairs surrounding a former home of ACD (that isn’t Undershaw): “Arthur Conan Doyle’s former home at 12 Tennison Road - South Norwood is up for auction as (potentially) a conversion prospect (i.e. division into flats). The sale takes place on February 28th 2013.”

[12 Tennison Road - South Norwood.]

Dan Andriacco compares the Great Detective Sherlock Holmes to 007 James Bond in his essay “Holmes, Sherlock Holmes”. 

Barefoot on Baker Street offers her opinion on the ongoing Klinger vs ACD Estate: “I share Klinger’s views completely. He is a lawyer and fully respects that the Estate owns copyright to ten of the original stories in the US which appeared in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. His issue is that those characters are already known through the other stories which are no longer protected by copyright. So anyone should be able to use them. Not only does this make perfect legal and common sense, but it is also good for the legacy of Holmes and ultimately Doyle himself.” 

Digital Spy updated Sherlockian gaming fans regarding Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments which will comprise of eight grand cases, but unlike previous games in the series, there will be multiple ways a case can be resolved” - a reported 12 endings per case. I don’t get much of a chance to play video games, but I hope that at some point I get a chance to play a few rounds Crimes & Punishments.

[A scene from the new Sherlock Holmes game Crimes & Punishments.]

Comic Vine reviewed the comic Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon 2 (of 5) along with copious examples of the artwork. I haven’t had a chance to read any of the Liverpool Demon series, but it looks better than your average Homes comic adaptation. 

[An example of the artwork for Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon 2 (of 5). For more general information about the series in general (plus a myriad of related Sherlock links), click here.]

Best of Sherlock, one of the most informative Sherlockian sites in existence, recently updated their checklist of Paget original drawings. In “Sidney Paget Original Drawings and Artwork: A Census and Checklist Update from His Sesquicentennial” Randall Stock, BSI, the interested Sherlockian can find an exhaustive list of all known original Paget illustrations, most of which were first published in The Strand accompanying the original appearances of various Holmes adventures.

Sherlock Cares posted a lengthy “BBC Sherlock Season 3 Guide and Guesses”, using Moffat’s “Rat, Wedding, Bow” hints. 

Sherlock. Everywhere. posted the best February 21, 2013 aka 2/21/13 aka 221B Day post (if you still don’t see it, imagine that the “13” can sort look like a “B”) - as well inviting readers to “Tell a Sherlockian how much they mean to you today!”

[You can purchase your very own 221B sticker from the Baker Street Blog.]

Tea at 221B found some amazing illustrations by an artist named “Robert Fawcett…From 1952 to 1953 Adrian Conan Doyle, Arthur Conan’s youngest son, wrote a total of one dozen “Sherlock Holmes” stories with John Dickson Carr. Published in both Good Housekeeping and Colliers. All twelve stories were illustrated by Robert Fawcett. The stories were published in the book: The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes.”

[One of Robert Fawcett’s illustration from JD Carr and Adrian Doyle The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes.]