Elementary, My Dear Reader: How to Become a Sherlockian

All you really need for starting out as a Sherlockian is this: you must be a dyed-in-the-wool mystery buff. Most mystery fans are avid readers, but others are television and movie watchers. Many are both. Sleeping and eating are secondary pursuits to us if we fall in the latter category. Sherlock Holmes isn't the only Greatc Detective to have readers rally round him ( The Dorothy L Sayers Societyexists for the purpose of assuring the immortality of Lord Peter Wimsey and his author), but he is the one who has acquired the largest number of organizations, books, collectors of memorabilia, and the like.

No matter what mysteries you begin reading or watching, you'll eventually HAVE to read the Canon (the collected Sherlock Holmes works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle); just as all roads lead to Rome, so do all other literary detectives lead us straight to Holmes. Any library or bookstore will have Doyle's stories of Holmes on the shelves; they are a staple of detective and of post-Victorian literature. If you find yourself bitten by the more severe strain of Sherlockian bug (no doubt the cause of Tapanuli fever, or perhaps the black Formosa eruption), there are many more books, websites, and television shows and videos to pursue.

You may want to join a scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars. The BSI is the oldest and most prestigious of the Sherlockian organizations in the United States (the Sherlock Holmes Society of London is its English counterpart); many famous Sherlockians, such as Isaac Asimov, have been members. Scion societies are local organizations which meet on a regular basis to discuss Sherlock Holmes and other weighty matters, usually accompanied by food, drink, and games and puzzles.

The following lists will help the interested beginner get a better grasp of the Sherlockian world; though these are short and highly selective lists, you'll find them helpful for navigating the oceans of Sherlockiana which abound in the media.

ANNOTATED CANONICAL TEXTS
The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (Baring-Gould)
The Oxford Sherlock Holmes


COMMENTATORS ON THE CANON
(check larger bookstores or mystery bookshops)
William S. Baring-Gould
Christopher Morley
Michael Hardwick
Vincent Starrett


ON THE TUBE
PBS "Mystery" series with Jeremy Brett
"The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes" series with Ronnie Howard
Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies (also on video)


WEBSITES WORTH WATCHING
221b Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes
Sherlockian Holmepage
Sherlock Holmes Canon Word Search
Sherlock Holmes Stories on the Web
Societies and Individual Sherlockians
Mr. Frankland's (Scandalous Bohemians)
A&E -- including mystery database
ACD Society
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Literary Agent
Sherlock Festival


ON-LINE ACTIVITIES
USENET: alt.fan.holmes
listserve: Hounds of the Internet
AOL chat: Scandalous Bohemians (Mystery Forum chat, Sundays, 8 pm EST)


PASTICHES
(yet more SH stories -- but not by ACD)
Adrian Doyle, "Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"
Nicholas Meyer, "Seven PerCent Solution, "West End Horror"
Carole Douglas, "Good Night, Mr. Holmes" and other stories featuring Irene Adler
Laurie King, "The Beekeeper's Apprentice" and other novels featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes


POST-RATHBONE MOVIES
The Seven PerCent Solution
Without a Clue
Young Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes in New York
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
Crucifer of Blood
Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother


NONSHERLOCKIAN GOODIES
(and some partly Sherlockian ones)
Crime & Law Enforcement Virtual Reference
AOL UK Menu
Christopher Robin's House
Murder Links
The Reader' s Corner:Victorian Books of Roman...The Mystery Room
Welcome to the Mystery Project

You'll find these lists are by no means comprehensive -- they're fairly short, in fact. However, there's more than enough material here to keep the novice Sherlockian, or the old-hand Irregular, busy for at least a week or two. Sherlockiana, however, is addictive, and nearly as mind-boggling as the fumes of radix pedis diabolis, so be careful!

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