September 2004 Newsletter · 2019. 7. 22. · Morris Claw (Rohmer), Jules de Grandin (Quinn), The...

Sherlock HolmesC O L L E C T I O N S

September 2004Volume 8 Number 3

“Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD)

FR

IE

ND S O F

TH

EC o n t e n t s

“A River Runs by It:Holmes and Doyle

in Minnesota”

1

An Update From The Collections

4

Acquisitions

5

Touring and Using The Collections

6

From The President

9

Two Treasures Revealed: A Manuscript and

Its Facsimile

10

Musings

11

Remembrances

12

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 1

y all accounts, the “A River Runs by It” conference held June 11–13 at the Elmer L.Andersen Library in Minneapolis was a resounding success. The conference, sponsoredby The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota, The Arthur Conan Doyle Society and TheSherlock Holmes Collections at The University of Minnesota, attracted attendees from

across the United States as well as from Canada and Britain. Regina Crossley-Harris, anenthusiastic new member of the Norwegian Explorers, and John Bergquist, a long-time stalwartof the Explorers, worked together to produce the following report, giving our readers a glimpseof the June weekend from both the novice and veteran perspective. The contributions of eachwriter are identified — JM

It was a conference with an interna-tional flavor. It was a conference with a minor and as yet unsolved mystery.In total, 125 people from Canada,England and throughout the UnitedStates were registered for the confer-ence itself, with many additional guestsattending the Saturday evening dinner.This was the backdrop for an experi-ence that truly knew no nationalboundaries.

As part of the conference, curator TimJohnson assembled many wonderfulartifacts from the Sherlock HolmesCollections for viewing in the largecentral display area. Like many others,I took time to view these precious items during the breaks between presentations. In one partition of the largest case was a cleverly made “Film andTelevision” arrangement, which included mementoes representing nearly all of theSherlock Holmes movies and TV series created over the years. As I eyed this display, I thrilled to discover that it contained an anomaly. In the upper right-hand corner, verymuch out of place, a small, possibly plaster but nicely painted bust of Professor Moriartywas scowling at the many images of the Great Detective. When I hastily looked throughthe pamphlet, which listed the antiquities being exhibited, I found that there was nomention of this small bust of Holmes’ arch nemesis –anywhere. Was it a sign from thediabolical professor himself? That, dear reader, I shall leave for you to decide. RCH

B

Sherlock Holmes CollectionsSuite 111, Elmer L. Andersen LibraryUniversity of Minnesota222 21st Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55455

Telephone: 612-624-7526FAX: 612-626-9353

Timothy J. Johnson, Curator

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections12

Mailing list corrections requested—Because of the high cost of returned newsletters,we would appreciate being informed of changesof address or other corrections.

For any inquiries contact:Timothy J. Johnson, Curator612-624-3552 [email protected]

RemembrancesIn supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have made contributions either in honor or in memory of special persons.

IN HONOR OF FROMDon and Teresa Curtis Mike and Julie McKuras

IN MEMORY OF FROMCameron Hollyer Edwin and Maureen Van Der Flaes

Continued on page 2

Harry Potter films). Peter told a num-ber of entertaining stories about thislarger than life man who meant somuch to so many Sherlockians. Otherhighlights of the evening were the pre-sentation by sculptor and artist LynetteYencho to Curator Tim Johnson andthe Sherlock Holmes Collections of hermost recent Sherlock Holmes bronzesculpture; Ben Vizoskie’s reading of BillSchweikert’s poem “When I Spend aLong Evening with Holmes”; and theimpromptu photo session with the 20strong Canadian contingent and Mrs.Doyle and their enthusiastic renditionof “O Canada.” RCH

Sunday, June 13Memorial for Richard Lancelyn Green.We all took a few minutes to “standupon the terrace” and remember thelife and works of Richard LancelynGreen. Joe Moran, John Bergquistreading a tribute from StevenRothman, Christopher Roden playing atape of Lancelyn Green at a previousconference, and Andrew Malec allshared their memories and life experi-ences of this consummate scholar andgentle person. RCH

Barbara Roden – “No Ghosts NeedApply.” Barbara took us all on a tour ofpsychic detectives, from Victorian times

to current. Ghosts stories were promi-nent in the Victorian era, and the psy-chic detective (a hybrid of ghost andmystery stories) was a natural extensionof this widespread interest. Barbaramentioned several interesting characters:Flaxman Loewe (Pritchard), John Silence(Blackwood), Carnacki (of course!),Morris Claw (Rohmer), Jules de Grandin(Quinn), The Pennoyer novels (MargeryLawrence), and others. Many of thesewere obviously modeled after Holmesand Watson. Some gained prominence,most did not, but all are interesting in

their own right as they pursue their ver-sion of detective work. RCH

Edith Meiser and Sherlock Holmes –Bob Brusic (in Bill Nadel’s stead). Ashort film was shown that displayedhighlights of Edith Meiser’s actingcareer and her contributions to theHolmes radio programs. RCH

“The Adventure of the PhantomIceberg” – the Red-Throated League.Holmes and Watson once again foiled anefarious plot of Professor Moriarty’s inthis charming Edith Meiser radioscript, acted – complete with soundeffects – by our resident players. RCH

As well as the speaker sessions andexhibit detailed by Regina, the confer-ence also included tours of theCollections, the annual meeting of theFriends of the Sherlock HolmesCollections (see Dick Sveum’s article inthis issue), vendors offeringSherlockian and Doylean books andmementoes, and numerous informalget-togethers of old and new friendsunited by their enthusiasm for Holmesand Doyle. Another conference is ten-tatively being planned for 2007. – JB

Regina Crossley-Harris and John Bergquist

“A River Runs by It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota” cont.

“A River Runs by It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota”

Mrs. Georgina Doyle

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Mike Whelan and Mrs. Georgina Doyle

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Following is a summary of the conference’s events.

Friday, June 11

Mrs. Georgina Doyle and DougWrigglesworth — “Out of theShadows.”A true British gentlewoman, with agleam in her eye that hints at her fireand humor, Mrs. Doyle spoke abouthow her newly published book, Out ofthe Shadows, came to be. This biogra-phy, gleamed from the collection of let-ters and documents in Mrs. Doyle’s pos-session, details Arthur Conan Doyle’sfirst marriage to Louise Hawkins andthe life and travails of Mary andKingsley, his children from the mar-riage. It is a story that Mrs. Doyle’shusband, Brigadier John Doyle (ConanDoyle’s nephew), wanted to write, buthis illnesses and subsequent death pre-vented him from undertaking that task.

During his part of the presentation,Doug Wrigglesworth, author of the for-ward to the book, touched on eachchapter, with Mrs. Doyle adding com-mentaries. The book speaks of LouiseHawkins’ tuberculosis, and the intro-duction of Jean Leckie long beforeLouise had passed away (information ofwhich came from new sources). AfterLouise succumbed to her illness, andConan Doyle married Jean, the narra-tive indicates that Mary and Kingsleywere increasingly isolated from the“new” family, and even hints that Jeanendeavored to erase all traces that thefirst marriage and family had ever exist-ed. Kingsley eventually was lost toinfluenza, and Mary spent many of herremaining years studying music inGermany, maintaining a relationship, ofsorts, with her father until his death.The relationship between Mary and herhalf-brothers Adrian and Denis was onethat was always strained.

The book includes many wonderfulnew photos, and a genealogical chartof the families. RCH

Phil Bergem – “The Influence ofHomes and Travels on Conan Doyle’sStories.” Phil presented a wonderfultour of locations where Sir Arthurlived or traveled, and tied them backto how they became sources for manyof Conan Doyle’s non-Sherlockiantales (although some Sherlockian ref-erences were included as well). Philtouched on the many homes of theDoyle family in young Arthur’s earlyyears. There were Hodder andStonyhurst, preparatory schools that ayoung Conan Doyle attended (basisfor the Yew Alley in The Hound of theBaskervilles), his visits to London in1874 (Madame Tussaud’s and theBaker Street Bazaar), his studies inAustria and Edinburgh, the influencesof being a ship’s doctor on differentvessels, and many, many more places.These sites were featured in the num-ber of photography articles ArthurConan Doyle produced, or were usedas a basis for such stories as “TheCaptain of the Polestar,” The WhiteCompany, “Crabbe’s Practice,” and“The Croxley Master.” RCH

Jon Lellenberg – “The Irregular Game,and Where it Came From.” Jon tookus on a trip of how “The Game” start-ed, from its tongue-in-cheek begin-nings with Ronald Knox in 1902,through the birth of the Baker StreetIrregulars in the speakeasies duringProhibition through the legal furorswith Adrian Conan Doyle to the pre-sent day. Many Sherlockian notablesand their contributions were touchedupon: Christopher Morley, Edgar W.Smith, and Vincent Starrett, to men-tion a few.

At the conclusion of his speech, Jonpresented a picture of John BennettShaw as Mycroft Holmes to TimJohnson for inclusion in the SherlockHolmes Collections. The artist isCharles A. Meyer, and the painting isdated 1990. RCH


Saturday, June 12

Dr. Gideon Hill – “A Trained Man ofMedicine.” Gideon was a very enter-taining speaker, perfect for waking upsleepy Sherlockians in the morning. Inhis presentation, supplemented witheffective visuals, he convincinglydemonstrated that Sherlock Holmeswas a surgeon in his own right.Gideon’s presentation was as masterfulas it was entertaining: carefully rea-soned but leavened with the light touchof the best Sherlockian scholarship. Dr.Paul Martin of the Norwegian Explorersplayed the foil to Dr. Hill. – JB

Les Klinger – “What Do We ReallyKnow about Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson? A Search for Verities.” Leswas given the unenviable task of fol-


The Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsis a quarterly newsletter published by theFriends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswhich seek to promote the activities, inter-ests and needs of the Special Collectionsand Rare Books Department, University ofMinnesota Libraries.

Mail editorial correspondence c/o:

EditorJulie McKuras

13512 Granada Ave.Apple Valley, MN 55124

952-431-1934952-431-5965 [email protected]

Editorial BoardJohn Bergquist, Timothy Johnson,

Jon Lellenberg, Richard J. Sveum, M.D.

Copyright © 2004University of Minnesota Library

The University of Minnesota is an EqualOpportunity Educator and Employer.

he focus for this issue is theJune conference held at theUniversity of Minnesota’sElmer L. Andersen Library, thepeople who attended it and

the display of materials exhibited inconjunction with the conference. Ihope that “A Spiritual Message” to theNorwegian Explorers from the GreatHerd of Bisons of the Fertile Plaincaught the spirit of what we hoped toextend.

There are strange things done in the land beneath the Minnesota sun

By Sherlockians I am told

Their meetings have left secrettrails and tales for others to unfold

But the nicest things they havedone, as you can all see

Is to espouse and promotecamaraderie.

I’d like to welcome Randall Stock to thegrowing list of Sherlockians who havecontributed to this newsletter. A resi-dent of Mountain View, California,Randall is the Webmaster of “The Best

of Sherlock Holmes” and a member ofThe Hounds of the Internet. Relevantto his article in this issue, his “PerfectReproductions: Some Notes onCanonical Manuscripts” appeared inthe Summer 2003 The Baker StreetJournal. He has published a number ofpapers in The Baker Street Journal andThe Hound’s Collection. He publishesseveral checklists on Conan Doylemanuscript material and Beeton’sChristmas Annual 1887 on his websitehttp://members.aol.com/shbest

Another author new to our ranks isRegina Crossley-Harris. “A River Runsby It” was her first Sherlockian confer-ence. Our thanks go to both Reginaand John Bergquist for sharing theirexperiences at the symposium.

You may have noticed that we have adifferent format for this issue. Since wehad so many wonderful visitors at theconference and throughout the sum-mer, we decided to give the 50 YearsAgo and 100 Years Ago columns a briefhiatus to allow us the room for pho-tographs. This will be a much shorterhiatus than Holmes had, and you canlook forward to the columns’ return inthe December issue.

Julie McKuras, ASH, BSI

Musings

T“A River Runs by It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota” cont.

Gideon Hill

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Les Klinger

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Regina Crossley-Harris at the June 12 banquet

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Phil Bergem and Randall Stock Phot

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lowing Gideon Hill, but he camethrough admirably. In his talk, Lespointed out how surprisingly little wereally can know for certain aboutHolmes and Watson based solely onthe Canon. For example, accepting thesixty tales as historical record, whathard “facts” do we have regarding thefamily backgrounds of Holmes andWatson? The years of their respectivebirths? The precise height and weightof either man? The precise location oftheir shared rooms? Les showed thatthe clues we have are distressinglyscanty. JB

Tom Tietze and Andrew Malec –“Conan Doyle’s Ghosts: Questionsand Answers about Spiritualism andParapsychology at the Turn of theTwentieth Century.” This presentation contrasted 20thCentury parapsychology study meth-ods with those used in Sir ArthurConan Doyle’s time. Tietze was anengaging and humorous speaker whowas introduced and assisted byAndrew Malec.

Tietze spoke of how the acceptanceand interest of spiritualism seemed tobe almost inborn to Englishmen andwomen. This is perhaps due to thehistorical influence of the Saxons andCelts on that land, people who heldtheir own strong mystical beliefs —


beliefs that were not entirely wiped outby the advent of Christianity. He thendescribed common psychical practicesthat were used by the Victorians: auto-matic writings, automatic speaking,and home circles (which were some-thing akin to séances). He also spokeof the love/hate relationship betweenthe Spiritualists and the PsychicalResearchers. On the one hand, theSpiritualists maintained that unex-plained things did happen, and thatthese phenomena represented somesort of intelligence. It was, in essence,an acceptance of things based on faith.On the other hand, the PsychicalResearchers were careful (theSpiritualists argued “too careful”) toestablish a rational basis of the phe-nomena that occurred. They appliedcoldly logical, careful methods to theirinvestigations of spiritualistic events,uncovering frauds, true, but possiblydiscrediting true events as well – fromthe Spiritualist’s point of view. Yetwithout the Spiritualists’ pursuit tocontact the other world, the PsychicalResearchers would have had nothing toinvestigate, nor the Spiritualists themeans to accredit true phenomena.

In his talk, Tietze also touched uponArthur Conan Doyle’s last ProfessorChallenger novel, The Land of Mist. He pointed out that the book fails as a novel because it is too accurate a

portrayal of what spiritualism was likein the 1920’s. An interesting note isthat Conan Doyle failed to talk aboutpsychical research as it was at thattime in this book. RCH

Barbara Rusch – “The Secret Ephemeraof the Commonplace Book, orMadison Avenue goes to Baker Street.”Did you know that Watson had hisown set of scrapbooks, and that hecollected postcard advertisements?Barbara took us on a light-hearted tourof commonplace display cards, gee-gaws, phone directories, labels and, ofcourse, postcard advertisements thatwould have been familiar to Watsonand Holmes. By the way, in introduc-ing Barbara as a speaker, JohnBergquist pointed out that the defini-tion of “ephemera” is “collectibles(such as posters or tickets) not intend-ed to have lasting value.” Well …maybe not to some people. RCH

Dan Posnansky – “Hounds Across theSea.” Dan detailed his search for, andeventual discovery of, not only a TrialState of The Hound of the Baskervilles,but a First State, First U. S. Editioncopy of that wonderful Sherlockiannovel. Dan delighted the crowd witha display of some of his own treasuretrove. RCH

Literary Societies Panel – Peter Blau,Dayna McCausland, Julie McKuras,Christopher Roden.This was a discussion session that wasopen to questions from attendees.Members of the panel compared andcontrasted their respective involve-ment in The Baker Street Irregulars,The Lewis Carroll Society of Canada,The Norwegian Explorers and theArthur Conan Doyle Society. Alsoincluded were publications from thegroups. JB

Dinner at the Holiday Inn. Peter Blauspoke about his friend John BennettShaw (whom he said as a child musthave looked like Rupert Grint, theactor who plays Ron Weasley in the


Peter Blau, Neil Gaiman (winner of the 2004 Hugo Award for his short story “ A Study in Emerald” in Shadows over Baker Street), Bev Wolov

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Continued on page 12

ave you seen Conan Doyle’soriginal holograph manu-script for “The Horror of theHeights”? Though part of

the Sherlock Holmes Collection formore than 20 years, it’s one of its less-er-known treasures. That’s changednow with the publication of an excel-lent facsimile edition. Much more thana simple manuscript reproduction, thisvolume provides a revealing study ofthe manuscript, the story, and its textu-al variations.

A checklist of facsimiles from theHolmes stories records more than 100Conan Doyle manuscript reproduc-tions. Although most of these appearas fragmentary examples in otherworks, nine major Conan Doyle fac-similes have been published. Two ofthese are for non-Sherlockian stories.

The earliest facsimiles displayed theauthor’s handwritten text but providedlittle information about the story or themanuscript itself. More recent edi-tions, particularly those in the BSIManuscript Series, included moreextensive commentary while reducingthe dimensions of the reproduction.The facsimile of “The Horror of theHeights” incorporates the best aspectsof previous facsimiles and adds severaluseful elements.

This facsimile provides the story inthree forms: images of manuscriptpages, a transcription of the manu-script, and the Stand Magazine versionof the text. Images of pages showConan Doyle’s writing and revisions.These large images nearly fill the fac-simile’s generous 11-inch pages. Inaddition, the manuscript cover, titlepage, and some related material arealso pictured.

Many of the earlier facsimiles did notprovide transcriptions. That wasunfortunate, because even the bestreproductions can be illegible at times.Transcriptions are easier to read and

can include marginal notes that areoften omitted from page images.Perhaps the most significant innovationin this facsimile is presenting the man-uscript image and its associated tran-scription on facing pages, with exactpage-to-page and line-to-line corre-spondence. About the innovations,General editor John Bergquist says,“Phil Bergem and I sat down with allthe previous Conan Doyle manuscriptfacsimiles we had and said, ‘What goodideas can we borrow from each ofthese, and what can we add that hasn’tbeen done before?’ Luckily our pub-lisher, Chris Roden, embraced the ideaof the large format and worked hard tobring in the book within the allottedbudget.”

Textual variants from important publi-cations are also noted. The editorcompared this manuscript to the story’sfirst British appearance in the Strand,its first American appearance inEverybody’s Magazine, and a laterappearance in Famous FantasticMysteries. Since book versions of thestory were based on the Strand text,you get an extensive view of the edit-ing and errors that come with publica-tion.

Arriving in November 1913, “TheHorror of the Heights” came soon afterThe Lost World (1912) and The PoisonBelt (1913). Like them it is an adven-ture story with elements of science fic-tion. Conan Doyle used both contem-porary details and extrapolation ofthen-current knowledge to establishverisimilitude. Since current readershave a very different world-view, his-torical context is important in appreci-ating this story. Fortunately the tran-scription is well annotated with scien-tific and historical information.

Notes about the manuscript, textualvariants, and contextual details appeartogether in a sidebar on each page ofthe transcription. This makes it possi-ble to read a fully annotated version of

the story without having to search forendnotes or other references. In addi-tion, readers can see the original maga-zine illustrations for the story, includ-ing five in color, at the end of thebook.

Although we call them “facsimiles,”none of the nine Conan Doyle repro-ductions are exact copies. They oftenomit some pages, trim margins, reducepage dimensions, and make otherchanges without informing the reader.However, this book adds another wel-come improvement by including a pre-cise physical description of the manu-script and associated materials. It evendescribes the watermarks on the paper!

Finally, a number of writers contributeinteresting essays and commentary.John Bergquist and Julie McKuras pro-vide background on the project and onthe Sherlock Holmes Collections.Michael Dirda and Thomas R. Tietzeeach offer insightful literary analysis.Editor Phillip Bergem introduces thestory with valuable biographical andbibliographical information. He alsosupplies the transcription, annotations,and the manuscript description.

This book’s combination of design andinformation is quite impressive. It’s avery accessible yet substantial study ofthe manuscript and the story. Whilesome facsimiles are rather dry and lim-ited, this one should appeal to both thededicated researcher and the casualscholar.

The original manuscript is part of thePhilip and Mary Kahler HenchCollection in the Sherlock HolmesCollections at the University ofMinnesota. The Horror of the Heights: AFacsimile of the Author’s HolographManuscript with Commentary (CalabashPress, 82 pp., $45.00) was producedfor the June 2004 “A River Runs by It”Conan Doyle conference and is avail-able direct from the publisher.

Randall Stock

Two Treasures Revealed: A Manuscript and Its Facsimile

H

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 9Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections4


s it all right to admit that I’mstill basking in the glow fromthe success of our conference inJune? It was a wonderful time,

and for those who attended, mythanks for your many comments andcompliments about the conference andthe exhibit. I am so appreciative ofthe many people on the conferencecommittee and the volunteers whohelped out with the various tasks dur-ing our time together. My job is somuch easier with the support of goodFriends. And what can I say about allthe gifts received by the Collectionsover the course of the weekend exceptthank you, thank you, thank you!

As you might deduce from the above,the state of the Collections is verygood. New materials continue toarrive both through purchase and giftand are being cataloged and added tothe Collections. Inventories to manu-script collections are now being creat-ed and will be incorporated intoonline finding aids using the EncodedArchival Description (EAD) standards.As these finding aids are created they

I will be available through our web pagesand online catalog. (Look for morenews on these finding aids in the nextnewsletter.) Arlene Kase and LucyBrusic are dedicated volunteers whohelp us move projects of arrangementand description forwards toward com-pletion. I was very pleased to honorArlene at the conference for her volun-teer contributions during this past year.Both Lucy and Arlene will continueworking on projects into the fall and I look forward to their weekly visits.

The companion exhibit to the conference, “A River Runs by It:Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota,” ranthroughout the summer and garnered anumber of interesting comments in thevisitor register. Some of my favoritesinclude: “And to think, this is the tip ofthe iceberg!” “Too wonderful. I’m inheaven.” “Great! Sherlock would beproud!” What was equally intriguingwere the places represented by our visi-tors after the conference (when, ofcourse, we had people from near andfar.) Later in June and through Augustwe had visitors from as far away as the

United Kingdom and Poland. Closerto home, exhibit viewers came fromsuch locales as Evanston, Illinois; SanDiego, California; Brandt, SouthDakota; Springfield, Virginia; andWhidbey Island, Washington.

It was a good summer. Conference,exhibit, gifts, cataloging, volunteers,vacation visitors and much more movedthe summer along at a very brisk pace.Now, I find myself wondering wherethe time went. But then, the old sayingseems to hold true: “time flies whenyou’re having fun.” Later in the sum-mer, during an August vacation, I stum-bled upon a Sherlockian place namethat I hadn’t seen before. Now I’m inthe process of doing a little research ofmy own, to find out if anyone has written anything about this location.I’ll keep the location a secret for themoment — it is a type of location rarelynoted in the Canon — but hope toshare some of my findings with you in a future newsletter.

Tim Johnson

From the Presidenthe Annual MembershipMeeting for The Friends ofthe Sherlock HolmesCollections was held on June

11, 2004 in the Elmer L. AndersenLibrary and was well attended withparticipants from the conference. Aspresident I welcomed the membersand then reviewed the histories of theCollections and Friends and presentedthe strategic plan. We reaffirmed ourvision, “To be the World Center for theStudy and Appreciation of SherlockHolmes.” The four initiatives that theFriends will focus on include: volun-teers, funding, growing membershipand communications.

The business meeting included com-mittee reports. Julie McKuras reportedon membership and the newsletter.Tim Johnson reported on finance andvolunteers. The volunteer of the yearaward went to Arlene Kase. The 2004Board of Directors were elected andinclude: President Richard Sveum,Vice President John Bergquist,

Secretary Julie McKuras, Treasurer TimJohnson, re-elected Members-at-LargeLucy Brusic, Michael McKuras, PatNelson and Steve Stilwell, and newMembers-at-Large Phil Bergem, MikeEckman and Gary Thaden.

We are looking for new members ofthe Sigerson Society. This specialgroup recognizes those who have givena gift, pledge or bequest of at least$10,000 for the E. W. McDiarmidCurator Endowment. CurrentSigerson Society members are Johnand Inez Bergquist, the Hubbs Family,Allen Mackler, Mary McDiarmid, Mikeand Julie McKuras, Tim Johnson andDick Sveum.

This year we initiated a special awardfor the best article in The Friends ofthe Sherlock Holmes CollectionsNewsletter. The award was named inhonor of Bryce L. Crawford, Jr. andwas awarded to John Bergquist.Fittingly, the award winning article was“Dr. Bryce Crawford, Jr. and His Contribution to the NorwegianExplorers and the Sherlock Holmes

Collections” (September 2003, Volume7, Issue Number 3).

We recognized special friends whodonated money or material to the col-lections since the last membershipmeeting. Trisha Stanton came fromNew Mexico to present a large signand was able to tell an entertainingstory that helped keep green the mem-ory of John Bennett Shaw.Christopher and Barbara Roden donat-ed additional John Bennett Shaw-JackTracy correspondence and many newbooks from the Calabash Press.

Timothy Johnson, Curator of SpecialCollections and Rare Books, Universityof Minnesota Libraries delivered theState of the Collections address. Themembership meeting ended with myplea for everyone to become a memberand consider a donation of timemoney or material to help us becomeThe World Center for the Study andAppreciation of Sherlock Holmes.

Richard J. Sveum, MD, BSI

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Barbara and Christopher Roden, Richard Sveum

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Tim Johnson and Volunteer of the Year Arlene Kase

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Dan Posnansky touring the Sherlock Holmes Collections

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections8 Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 5

Acquisitions

aren and Phil Bergem donat-ed a box of Cinni-MiniCrunch, a sweetened wheatand rice cereal. The pack-

age has an illustration of a hound-likedog dressed in trench coat and deer-stalker, holding a magnifying glass.The cereal is a Flavorite brand and isdistributed by SUPERVALU Inc. ofEden Prairie MN.

Elliott Black sent five boxes ofSherlockian and scion society materialsto the Holmes Collections.

Calabash Press and Mrs.John Doyle donated a copyof Out of the Shadows, TheUntold Story of Arthur ConanDoyle’s First Family. Mrs.Doyle and DougWrigglesworth, who wrotethe foreword to the bookwritten by Mrs. Doyle, wereamong the speakers at therecent “A River Runs by It”conference in Minneapolis.Ordering information forthis book is availablethrough the Calabash Press.

Dick Caplan presented the Collectionswith a CD re-recording from the origi-nal LP of “Voices from Baker Street.”

Stephen Clarkson donated a copy ofFirst Magazine Appearances of theSherlock Holmes Stories, which wasprinted in June 2004. Mr. Clarksonworked with Catherine Cooke todetermine the true first magazineappearances of the Sherlock Holmesstories and published the results inthis edition of 100 copies.

Steve Doyle donated copies of TheSherlock Holmes Reference Library,edited by Les Klinger and produced byGasogene Press.

Karen Ellery kept busy during therecent “A River Runs by It” conferenceand completed a counted cross-stitch

K image of Sherlock Holmes. She donat-ed it to the Collections along with aJames Sadler teapot of the GreatDetective.

The Friends of the Arthur Conan DoyleCollection of the Toronto Public Libraryand the Bootmakers of Toronto present-ed the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswith two copies of the CD “The Houndof the Baskervilles,” performed at theFootprints of the Hound conference inToronto in October 2001. The perfor-

mance utilized the script written byEdith Meiser.

Alexian Gregory donated several boxesof Sherlockian mailings, notes andmaterials to the Collections.

Lisa Horton added her M.A. Thesis tothe Collections. “The SherlockianAfterlife: Doyle’s Detective Thrives inAmerica” details how the original char-acter of Sherlock Holmes has expandedand evolved through many manifesta-tions largely because of the organizedinterest of readers and scion societieswithin the U.S. Lisa, who spent sever-al heavy research days among the soci-ety documents section of theCollections in preparation for writingher paper, noted that working with TimJohnson was an immense help and thathis “willingness to pull boxes for me

and get documents copied for me madethe experience of using the collectionbeautifully hassle-free and allowed meto use my research time efficiently. Iwouldn’t have attempted the project atall without access to and help from theSherlock Holmes Collections.” Lisa’sdegree in English Literature was award-ed from the University of Minnesota –Duluth.

Michael Kean’s note that accompaniedhis donation states “Enclosed are copies

of the latest editions of ThePondicherry PressMonograph Series for theCollections, with my compli-ments.” Volume 8 is AGolden Evening by Michael K.Mullaly and is an adaptationof his presentation to theDiogenes Club on September13, 2003. Volume 9 isStately Homes and theCutthroat Ghost by ArthurPorges. Mr. Kean edited andintroduced both volumes.

Brad Keefauver ran a verylimited edition of 17 copies

of Part 2, Chapter 3 “JohnFerrier Talks With The Prophet” from AStudy in Scarlet and donated a copy tothe Holmes Collections. What madethis booklet unique is the chapter isprinted in the Deseret alphabet, whichwas championed by Brigham Young inthe 1800s. Enclosed with the bookletwas a sheet that explained:

“ . . . the words of the clergy-man were just like the buzz ofa bee in my ear . . .”

In 1854, JohnFerrier had become well-to-doin Salt Lake City, and hisadopted daughter Lucy hadturned twelve. Brigham Youngwas seven years into building aMormon nation in Utah, andone of the ways his new nationwas going to be different wasby writing English with abrand new alphabet of thirty-

Acquisitions cont.

eight characters. It was calledthe Deseret alphabet, after theUniversity of Deseret, whereit was developed by 39-year-old George Watt. Watt was anexpert in Pittman shorthand,and may have used that for amodel.

Brigham Young thoughtthe new alphabet would bothhelp foreigners learn Englishand shorten the time it tookMormon children to learn toread and write, giving themmore time for other studies.Four books and portions of achurch newspaper were print-ed in the alphabet, and itfound its way into diaries andon to coins and signs before itceased to be promoted in1869.

Deseret means honeybee,and while a certain beekeeperundoubtedly kept a key tothe Deseret alphabet in hiscommonplace books, it seemsthat it’s only fitting that if anypart of the Canon of SherlockHolmes was to be printed inDeseret, it should be a chap-ter of A Study in Scarlet inwhich Brigham Young, thealphabet’s champion, actuallyappears.

Hugo Koch’s interest in VincentStarrett led to his recent donation of afirst edition of Starrett’s 1928 Seaportsin the Moon. Complete with dust jack-et, the book carries the inscription “ToPascal and Dorothy, for whom I wouldgladly write a paper of adjectives, wereit necessary. It is enough to say how-ever, that I inscribe this, my firstnovel, to my first publishers, with highaffection and sincere gratitude.Vincent Starrett, 1 November 1928.”Hugo’s note, which accompanied thebook, states that Pascal Covici was

Starrett’s first publisher and an impor-tant figure in the Chicago Renascence.His latest booklet, written this year anddedicated to the memory of VincentStarrett, is titled The Gift of Immortalityis Bestowed in Baker Street. Mr. Kochalso enclosed copies of this “additionalchapter to Vincent Starrett’s Seaports inthe Moon” for the Holmes Collections.

Jon Lellenberg presented to the HolmesCollections a 1990 portrait of JohnBennett Shaw in the role of MycroftHolmes. The portrait was painted byCharles A. Meyer and purchased by Jonat the annual auction held at the BSICocktail party.

James Pabian combines his passion forSherlock Holmes with a talent as aplaywright. He donated copies of fourperformed and previously unpublishedplays he’s written: “A Thread ofScarlet,” “The Hound,” “Birlstone,” and “The Four.”

Donald Redmond, citing his donationas a “much belated nod to John’s mem-ory,” donated a number of letters fromJohn Bennett Shaw as well as carboncopies of his own letters to Mr. Shaw.These letters cover the period of 1984through 1988 and often deal with Mr.Redmond’s research for Sherlock HolmesAmong the Pirates: Copyright and ConanDoyle in America 1890 – 1930. TheSherlock Holmes Collections holds acopy of this work with John BennettShaw’s bookplate.

Christopher and Barbara Roden con-tributed a copy of a 1993 audiotapethat featured Richard Lancelyn Greendiscussing Charlotte T. Drummond atthe Arthur Conan Doyle SocietyConference in Edinburgh. In additionto the tape, Christopher and Barbaradonated books from Calabash Press,more John Bennett Shaw and Jack Tracycorrespondence and an uncashed checkfrom John Bennett Shaw.

Trisha Stanton had the chance to seeher donation of The Brothers ThreeMoriarty sign in its new home at theSherlock Holmes Collections. She alsopresented the Collections with aHolmes inspired Japanese advertise-ment.

Don Terras donated a large cache ofmaterials from the Chicago area and thescion societies he’s associated with.Among the papers are issues of the“Devon County Chronicle” and“Grimpen Mire Gazette” and officerslistings, meeting notices and minutesfrom Hugo’s Companions.

Lynette Yencho added her newest sculp-ture of Sherlock Holmes to theCollections. “The Three Pipe Problem”was presented to Tim Johnson duringthe banquet at the June conference.

Charles Meyer and Jon Lellenberg

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Sue Vizoskie in the

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Henry Boote and Nicole Okon took theopportunity to tour the Collections andview the display while on a trip to theTwin Cities. Henry and Nicole are pic-tured holding some of the treasuresfrom John Bennett Shaw’s collection.

Noreen Crifo of the Bootmakers ofToronto viewed the display area andreading room of the Sherlock HolmesCollection. She is pictured her withTim Johnson.

Jill Fritz of San Diego, who has con-

tributed copies of Sherlockian pro-grams aired on Public Radio stationKPBS, toured the Andersen Library andthe exhibit prepared for “A River Runsby It.” Jill is shown in the display area.

Jane Leonard of Bluffton Indiana wasable to tour The Sherlock HolmesCollections while attending the 95thbirthday celebration for formerGovernor Elmer L. Andersen. Jane ispictured with Dorothy Rowe Shaw’s221B miniature recreation.

Don Terras and Dancy Bateman touredthe Andersen Library, the HolmesCollections, and the exhibit on displayfor “A River Runs by It.” Don laterwrote “What a great repository for somany Canonical items. You really holdthe history of the Sherlockian move-ment in trust up there.”

Ben and Sue Vizoskie used theSherlock Holmes Collections for theirresearch after attending the conference“A River Runs by It.” Sue is shownhard at work in the reading area.

Touring and Using The Collections Touring and Using The Collections

Nicole Okon and Henry Boote, holding a box of Sherlockian

ties and scarves from the collection of John Bennett Shaw

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Tim Johnson and Noreen Crifo

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Jill Fritz touring the exhibit

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Acquisitions

aren and Phil Bergem donat-ed a box of Cinni-MiniCrunch, a sweetened wheatand rice cereal. The pack-

age has an illustration of a hound-likedog dressed in trench coat and deer-stalker, holding a magnifying glass.The cereal is a Flavorite brand and isdistributed by SUPERVALU Inc. ofEden Prairie MN.

Elliott Black sent five boxes ofSherlockian and scion society materialsto the Holmes Collections.

Calabash Press and Mrs.John Doyle donated a copyof Out of the Shadows, TheUntold Story of Arthur ConanDoyle’s First Family. Mrs.Doyle and DougWrigglesworth, who wrotethe foreword to the bookwritten by Mrs. Doyle, wereamong the speakers at therecent “A River Runs by It”conference in Minneapolis.Ordering information forthis book is availablethrough the Calabash Press.

Dick Caplan presented the Collectionswith a CD re-recording from the origi-nal LP of “Voices from Baker Street.”

Stephen Clarkson donated a copy ofFirst Magazine Appearances of theSherlock Holmes Stories, which wasprinted in June 2004. Mr. Clarksonworked with Catherine Cooke todetermine the true first magazineappearances of the Sherlock Holmesstories and published the results inthis edition of 100 copies.

Steve Doyle donated copies of TheSherlock Holmes Reference Library,edited by Les Klinger and produced byGasogene Press.

Karen Ellery kept busy during therecent “A River Runs by It” conferenceand completed a counted cross-stitch

K image of Sherlock Holmes. She donat-ed it to the Collections along with aJames Sadler teapot of the GreatDetective.

The Friends of the Arthur Conan DoyleCollection of the Toronto Public Libraryand the Bootmakers of Toronto present-ed the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswith two copies of the CD “The Houndof the Baskervilles,” performed at theFootprints of the Hound conference inToronto in October 2001. The perfor-

mance utilized the script written byEdith Meiser.

Alexian Gregory donated several boxesof Sherlockian mailings, notes andmaterials to the Collections.

Lisa Horton added her M.A. Thesis tothe Collections. “The SherlockianAfterlife: Doyle’s Detective Thrives inAmerica” details how the original char-acter of Sherlock Holmes has expandedand evolved through many manifesta-tions largely because of the organizedinterest of readers and scion societieswithin the U.S. Lisa, who spent sever-al heavy research days among the soci-ety documents section of theCollections in preparation for writingher paper, noted that working with TimJohnson was an immense help and thathis “willingness to pull boxes for me

and get documents copied for me madethe experience of using the collectionbeautifully hassle-free and allowed meto use my research time efficiently. Iwouldn’t have attempted the project atall without access to and help from theSherlock Holmes Collections.” Lisa’sdegree in English Literature was award-ed from the University of Minnesota –Duluth.

Michael Kean’s note that accompaniedhis donation states “Enclosed are copies

of the latest editions of ThePondicherry PressMonograph Series for theCollections, with my compli-ments.” Volume 8 is AGolden Evening by Michael K.Mullaly and is an adaptationof his presentation to theDiogenes Club on September13, 2003. Volume 9 isStately Homes and theCutthroat Ghost by ArthurPorges. Mr. Kean edited andintroduced both volumes.

Brad Keefauver ran a verylimited edition of 17 copies

of Part 2, Chapter 3 “JohnFerrier Talks With The Prophet” from AStudy in Scarlet and donated a copy tothe Holmes Collections. What madethis booklet unique is the chapter isprinted in the Deseret alphabet, whichwas championed by Brigham Young inthe 1800s. Enclosed with the bookletwas a sheet that explained:

“ . . . the words of the clergy-man were just like the buzz ofa bee in my ear . . .”

In 1854, JohnFerrier had become well-to-doin Salt Lake City, and hisadopted daughter Lucy hadturned twelve. Brigham Youngwas seven years into building aMormon nation in Utah, andone of the ways his new nationwas going to be different wasby writing English with abrand new alphabet of thirty-

Acquisitions cont.

eight characters. It was calledthe Deseret alphabet, after theUniversity of Deseret, whereit was developed by 39-year-old George Watt. Watt was anexpert in Pittman shorthand,and may have used that for amodel.

Brigham Young thoughtthe new alphabet would bothhelp foreigners learn Englishand shorten the time it tookMormon children to learn toread and write, giving themmore time for other studies.Four books and portions of achurch newspaper were print-ed in the alphabet, and itfound its way into diaries andon to coins and signs before itceased to be promoted in1869.

Deseret means honeybee,and while a certain beekeeperundoubtedly kept a key tothe Deseret alphabet in hiscommonplace books, it seemsthat it’s only fitting that if anypart of the Canon of SherlockHolmes was to be printed inDeseret, it should be a chap-ter of A Study in Scarlet inwhich Brigham Young, thealphabet’s champion, actuallyappears.

Hugo Koch’s interest in VincentStarrett led to his recent donation of afirst edition of Starrett’s 1928 Seaportsin the Moon. Complete with dust jack-et, the book carries the inscription “ToPascal and Dorothy, for whom I wouldgladly write a paper of adjectives, wereit necessary. It is enough to say how-ever, that I inscribe this, my firstnovel, to my first publishers, with highaffection and sincere gratitude.Vincent Starrett, 1 November 1928.”Hugo’s note, which accompanied thebook, states that Pascal Covici was

Starrett’s first publisher and an impor-tant figure in the Chicago Renascence.His latest booklet, written this year anddedicated to the memory of VincentStarrett, is titled The Gift of Immortalityis Bestowed in Baker Street. Mr. Kochalso enclosed copies of this “additionalchapter to Vincent Starrett’s Seaports inthe Moon” for the Holmes Collections.

Jon Lellenberg presented to the HolmesCollections a 1990 portrait of JohnBennett Shaw in the role of MycroftHolmes. The portrait was painted byCharles A. Meyer and purchased by Jonat the annual auction held at the BSICocktail party.

James Pabian combines his passion forSherlock Holmes with a talent as aplaywright. He donated copies of fourperformed and previously unpublishedplays he’s written: “A Thread ofScarlet,” “The Hound,” “Birlstone,” and “The Four.”

Donald Redmond, citing his donationas a “much belated nod to John’s mem-ory,” donated a number of letters fromJohn Bennett Shaw as well as carboncopies of his own letters to Mr. Shaw.These letters cover the period of 1984through 1988 and often deal with Mr.Redmond’s research for Sherlock HolmesAmong the Pirates: Copyright and ConanDoyle in America 1890 – 1930. TheSherlock Holmes Collections holds acopy of this work with John BennettShaw’s bookplate.

Christopher and Barbara Roden con-tributed a copy of a 1993 audiotapethat featured Richard Lancelyn Greendiscussing Charlotte T. Drummond atthe Arthur Conan Doyle SocietyConference in Edinburgh. In additionto the tape, Christopher and Barbaradonated books from Calabash Press,more John Bennett Shaw and Jack Tracycorrespondence and an uncashed checkfrom John Bennett Shaw.

Trisha Stanton had the chance to seeher donation of The Brothers ThreeMoriarty sign in its new home at theSherlock Holmes Collections. She alsopresented the Collections with aHolmes inspired Japanese advertise-ment.

Don Terras donated a large cache ofmaterials from the Chicago area and thescion societies he’s associated with.Among the papers are issues of the“Devon County Chronicle” and“Grimpen Mire Gazette” and officerslistings, meeting notices and minutesfrom Hugo’s Companions.

Lynette Yencho added her newest sculp-ture of Sherlock Holmes to theCollections. “The Three Pipe Problem”was presented to Tim Johnson duringthe banquet at the June conference.

Charles Meyer and Jon Lellenberg

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 9Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections4


s it all right to admit that I’mstill basking in the glow fromthe success of our conference inJune? It was a wonderful time,

and for those who attended, mythanks for your many comments andcompliments about the conference andthe exhibit. I am so appreciative ofthe many people on the conferencecommittee and the volunteers whohelped out with the various tasks dur-ing our time together. My job is somuch easier with the support of goodFriends. And what can I say about allthe gifts received by the Collectionsover the course of the weekend exceptthank you, thank you, thank you!

As you might deduce from the above,the state of the Collections is verygood. New materials continue toarrive both through purchase and giftand are being cataloged and added tothe Collections. Inventories to manu-script collections are now being creat-ed and will be incorporated intoonline finding aids using the EncodedArchival Description (EAD) standards.As these finding aids are created they

I will be available through our web pagesand online catalog. (Look for morenews on these finding aids in the nextnewsletter.) Arlene Kase and LucyBrusic are dedicated volunteers whohelp us move projects of arrangementand description forwards toward com-pletion. I was very pleased to honorArlene at the conference for her volun-teer contributions during this past year.Both Lucy and Arlene will continueworking on projects into the fall and I look forward to their weekly visits.

The companion exhibit to the conference, “A River Runs by It:Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota,” ranthroughout the summer and garnered anumber of interesting comments in thevisitor register. Some of my favoritesinclude: “And to think, this is the tip ofthe iceberg!” “Too wonderful. I’m inheaven.” “Great! Sherlock would beproud!” What was equally intriguingwere the places represented by our visi-tors after the conference (when, ofcourse, we had people from near andfar.) Later in June and through Augustwe had visitors from as far away as the

United Kingdom and Poland. Closerto home, exhibit viewers came fromsuch locales as Evanston, Illinois; SanDiego, California; Brandt, SouthDakota; Springfield, Virginia; andWhidbey Island, Washington.

It was a good summer. Conference,exhibit, gifts, cataloging, volunteers,vacation visitors and much more movedthe summer along at a very brisk pace.Now, I find myself wondering wherethe time went. But then, the old sayingseems to hold true: “time flies whenyou’re having fun.” Later in the sum-mer, during an August vacation, I stum-bled upon a Sherlockian place namethat I hadn’t seen before. Now I’m inthe process of doing a little research ofmy own, to find out if anyone has written anything about this location.I’ll keep the location a secret for themoment — it is a type of location rarelynoted in the Canon — but hope toshare some of my findings with you in a future newsletter.

Tim Johnson

From the Presidenthe Annual MembershipMeeting for The Friends ofthe Sherlock HolmesCollections was held on June

11, 2004 in the Elmer L. AndersenLibrary and was well attended withparticipants from the conference. Aspresident I welcomed the membersand then reviewed the histories of theCollections and Friends and presentedthe strategic plan. We reaffirmed ourvision, “To be the World Center for theStudy and Appreciation of SherlockHolmes.” The four initiatives that theFriends will focus on include: volun-teers, funding, growing membershipand communications.

The business meeting included com-mittee reports. Julie McKuras reportedon membership and the newsletter.Tim Johnson reported on finance andvolunteers. The volunteer of the yearaward went to Arlene Kase. The 2004Board of Directors were elected andinclude: President Richard Sveum,Vice President John Bergquist,

Secretary Julie McKuras, Treasurer TimJohnson, re-elected Members-at-LargeLucy Brusic, Michael McKuras, PatNelson and Steve Stilwell, and newMembers-at-Large Phil Bergem, MikeEckman and Gary Thaden.

We are looking for new members ofthe Sigerson Society. This specialgroup recognizes those who have givena gift, pledge or bequest of at least$10,000 for the E. W. McDiarmidCurator Endowment. CurrentSigerson Society members are Johnand Inez Bergquist, the Hubbs Family,Allen Mackler, Mary McDiarmid, Mikeand Julie McKuras, Tim Johnson andDick Sveum.

This year we initiated a special awardfor the best article in The Friends ofthe Sherlock Holmes CollectionsNewsletter. The award was named inhonor of Bryce L. Crawford, Jr. andwas awarded to John Bergquist.Fittingly, the award winning article was“Dr. Bryce Crawford, Jr. and His Contribution to the NorwegianExplorers and the Sherlock Holmes

Collections” (September 2003, Volume7, Issue Number 3).

We recognized special friends whodonated money or material to the col-lections since the last membershipmeeting. Trisha Stanton came fromNew Mexico to present a large signand was able to tell an entertainingstory that helped keep green the mem-ory of John Bennett Shaw.Christopher and Barbara Roden donat-ed additional John Bennett Shaw-JackTracy correspondence and many newbooks from the Calabash Press.

Timothy Johnson, Curator of SpecialCollections and Rare Books, Universityof Minnesota Libraries delivered theState of the Collections address. Themembership meeting ended with myplea for everyone to become a memberand consider a donation of timemoney or material to help us becomeThe World Center for the Study andAppreciation of Sherlock Holmes.

Richard J. Sveum, MD, BSI

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Dan Posnansky touring the Sherlock Holmes Collections

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lowing Gideon Hill, but he camethrough admirably. In his talk, Lespointed out how surprisingly little wereally can know for certain aboutHolmes and Watson based solely onthe Canon. For example, accepting thesixty tales as historical record, whathard “facts” do we have regarding thefamily backgrounds of Holmes andWatson? The years of their respectivebirths? The precise height and weightof either man? The precise location oftheir shared rooms? Les showed thatthe clues we have are distressinglyscanty. JB

Tom Tietze and Andrew Malec –“Conan Doyle’s Ghosts: Questionsand Answers about Spiritualism andParapsychology at the Turn of theTwentieth Century.” This presentation contrasted 20thCentury parapsychology study meth-ods with those used in Sir ArthurConan Doyle’s time. Tietze was anengaging and humorous speaker whowas introduced and assisted byAndrew Malec.

Tietze spoke of how the acceptanceand interest of spiritualism seemed tobe almost inborn to Englishmen andwomen. This is perhaps due to thehistorical influence of the Saxons andCelts on that land, people who heldtheir own strong mystical beliefs —


beliefs that were not entirely wiped outby the advent of Christianity. He thendescribed common psychical practicesthat were used by the Victorians: auto-matic writings, automatic speaking,and home circles (which were some-thing akin to séances). He also spokeof the love/hate relationship betweenthe Spiritualists and the PsychicalResearchers. On the one hand, theSpiritualists maintained that unex-plained things did happen, and thatthese phenomena represented somesort of intelligence. It was, in essence,an acceptance of things based on faith.On the other hand, the PsychicalResearchers were careful (theSpiritualists argued “too careful”) toestablish a rational basis of the phe-nomena that occurred. They appliedcoldly logical, careful methods to theirinvestigations of spiritualistic events,uncovering frauds, true, but possiblydiscrediting true events as well – fromthe Spiritualist’s point of view. Yetwithout the Spiritualists’ pursuit tocontact the other world, the PsychicalResearchers would have had nothing toinvestigate, nor the Spiritualists themeans to accredit true phenomena.

In his talk, Tietze also touched uponArthur Conan Doyle’s last ProfessorChallenger novel, The Land of Mist. He pointed out that the book fails as a novel because it is too accurate a

portrayal of what spiritualism was likein the 1920’s. An interesting note isthat Conan Doyle failed to talk aboutpsychical research as it was at thattime in this book. RCH

Barbara Rusch – “The Secret Ephemeraof the Commonplace Book, orMadison Avenue goes to Baker Street.”Did you know that Watson had hisown set of scrapbooks, and that hecollected postcard advertisements?Barbara took us on a light-hearted tourof commonplace display cards, gee-gaws, phone directories, labels and, ofcourse, postcard advertisements thatwould have been familiar to Watsonand Holmes. By the way, in introduc-ing Barbara as a speaker, JohnBergquist pointed out that the defini-tion of “ephemera” is “collectibles(such as posters or tickets) not intend-ed to have lasting value.” Well …maybe not to some people. RCH

Dan Posnansky – “Hounds Across theSea.” Dan detailed his search for, andeventual discovery of, not only a TrialState of The Hound of the Baskervilles,but a First State, First U. S. Editioncopy of that wonderful Sherlockiannovel. Dan delighted the crowd witha display of some of his own treasuretrove. RCH

Literary Societies Panel – Peter Blau,Dayna McCausland, Julie McKuras,Christopher Roden.This was a discussion session that wasopen to questions from attendees.Members of the panel compared andcontrasted their respective involve-ment in The Baker Street Irregulars,The Lewis Carroll Society of Canada,The Norwegian Explorers and theArthur Conan Doyle Society. Alsoincluded were publications from thegroups. JB

Dinner at the Holiday Inn. Peter Blauspoke about his friend John BennettShaw (whom he said as a child musthave looked like Rupert Grint, theactor who plays Ron Weasley in the


Peter Blau, Neil Gaiman (winner of the 2004 Hugo Award for his short story “ A Study in Emerald” in Shadows over Baker Street), Bev Wolov

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ave you seen Conan Doyle’soriginal holograph manu-script for “The Horror of theHeights”? Though part of

the Sherlock Holmes Collection formore than 20 years, it’s one of its less-er-known treasures. That’s changednow with the publication of an excel-lent facsimile edition. Much more thana simple manuscript reproduction, thisvolume provides a revealing study ofthe manuscript, the story, and its textu-al variations.

A checklist of facsimiles from theHolmes stories records more than 100Conan Doyle manuscript reproduc-tions. Although most of these appearas fragmentary examples in otherworks, nine major Conan Doyle fac-similes have been published. Two ofthese are for non-Sherlockian stories.

The earliest facsimiles displayed theauthor’s handwritten text but providedlittle information about the story or themanuscript itself. More recent edi-tions, particularly those in the BSIManuscript Series, included moreextensive commentary while reducingthe dimensions of the reproduction.The facsimile of “The Horror of theHeights” incorporates the best aspectsof previous facsimiles and adds severaluseful elements.

This facsimile provides the story inthree forms: images of manuscriptpages, a transcription of the manu-script, and the Stand Magazine versionof the text. Images of pages showConan Doyle’s writing and revisions.These large images nearly fill the fac-simile’s generous 11-inch pages. Inaddition, the manuscript cover, titlepage, and some related material arealso pictured.

Many of the earlier facsimiles did notprovide transcriptions. That wasunfortunate, because even the bestreproductions can be illegible at times.Transcriptions are easier to read and

can include marginal notes that areoften omitted from page images.Perhaps the most significant innovationin this facsimile is presenting the man-uscript image and its associated tran-scription on facing pages, with exactpage-to-page and line-to-line corre-spondence. About the innovations,General editor John Bergquist says,“Phil Bergem and I sat down with allthe previous Conan Doyle manuscriptfacsimiles we had and said, ‘What goodideas can we borrow from each ofthese, and what can we add that hasn’tbeen done before?’ Luckily our pub-lisher, Chris Roden, embraced the ideaof the large format and worked hard tobring in the book within the allottedbudget.”

Textual variants from important publi-cations are also noted. The editorcompared this manuscript to the story’sfirst British appearance in the Strand,its first American appearance inEverybody’s Magazine, and a laterappearance in Famous FantasticMysteries. Since book versions of thestory were based on the Strand text,you get an extensive view of the edit-ing and errors that come with publica-tion.

Arriving in November 1913, “TheHorror of the Heights” came soon afterThe Lost World (1912) and The PoisonBelt (1913). Like them it is an adven-ture story with elements of science fic-tion. Conan Doyle used both contem-porary details and extrapolation ofthen-current knowledge to establishverisimilitude. Since current readershave a very different world-view, his-torical context is important in appreci-ating this story. Fortunately the tran-scription is well annotated with scien-tific and historical information.

Notes about the manuscript, textualvariants, and contextual details appeartogether in a sidebar on each page ofthe transcription. This makes it possi-ble to read a fully annotated version of

the story without having to search forendnotes or other references. In addi-tion, readers can see the original maga-zine illustrations for the story, includ-ing five in color, at the end of thebook.

Although we call them “facsimiles,”none of the nine Conan Doyle repro-ductions are exact copies. They oftenomit some pages, trim margins, reducepage dimensions, and make otherchanges without informing the reader.However, this book adds another wel-come improvement by including a pre-cise physical description of the manu-script and associated materials. It evendescribes the watermarks on the paper!

Finally, a number of writers contributeinteresting essays and commentary.John Bergquist and Julie McKuras pro-vide background on the project and onthe Sherlock Holmes Collections.Michael Dirda and Thomas R. Tietzeeach offer insightful literary analysis.Editor Phillip Bergem introduces thestory with valuable biographical andbibliographical information. He alsosupplies the transcription, annotations,and the manuscript description.

This book’s combination of design andinformation is quite impressive. It’s avery accessible yet substantial study ofthe manuscript and the story. Whilesome facsimiles are rather dry and lim-ited, this one should appeal to both thededicated researcher and the casualscholar.

The original manuscript is part of thePhilip and Mary Kahler HenchCollection in the Sherlock HolmesCollections at the University ofMinnesota. The Horror of the Heights: AFacsimile of the Author’s HolographManuscript with Commentary (CalabashPress, 82 pp., $45.00) was producedfor the June 2004 “A River Runs by It”Conan Doyle conference and is avail-able direct from the publisher.

Randall Stock

Two Treasures Revealed: A Manuscript and Its Facsimile

H

Following is a summary of the conference’s events.

Friday, June 11

Mrs. Georgina Doyle and DougWrigglesworth — “Out of theShadows.”A true British gentlewoman, with agleam in her eye that hints at her fireand humor, Mrs. Doyle spoke abouthow her newly published book, Out ofthe Shadows, came to be. This biogra-phy, gleamed from the collection of let-ters and documents in Mrs. Doyle’s pos-session, details Arthur Conan Doyle’sfirst marriage to Louise Hawkins andthe life and travails of Mary andKingsley, his children from the mar-riage. It is a story that Mrs. Doyle’shusband, Brigadier John Doyle (ConanDoyle’s nephew), wanted to write, buthis illnesses and subsequent death pre-vented him from undertaking that task.

During his part of the presentation,Doug Wrigglesworth, author of the for-ward to the book, touched on eachchapter, with Mrs. Doyle adding com-mentaries. The book speaks of LouiseHawkins’ tuberculosis, and the intro-duction of Jean Leckie long beforeLouise had passed away (information ofwhich came from new sources). AfterLouise succumbed to her illness, andConan Doyle married Jean, the narra-tive indicates that Mary and Kingsleywere increasingly isolated from the“new” family, and even hints that Jeanendeavored to erase all traces that thefirst marriage and family had ever exist-ed. Kingsley eventually was lost toinfluenza, and Mary spent many of herremaining years studying music inGermany, maintaining a relationship, ofsorts, with her father until his death.The relationship between Mary and herhalf-brothers Adrian and Denis was onethat was always strained.

The book includes many wonderfulnew photos, and a genealogical chartof the families. RCH

Phil Bergem – “The Influence ofHomes and Travels on Conan Doyle’sStories.” Phil presented a wonderfultour of locations where Sir Arthurlived or traveled, and tied them backto how they became sources for manyof Conan Doyle’s non-Sherlockiantales (although some Sherlockian ref-erences were included as well). Philtouched on the many homes of theDoyle family in young Arthur’s earlyyears. There were Hodder andStonyhurst, preparatory schools that ayoung Conan Doyle attended (basisfor the Yew Alley in The Hound of theBaskervilles), his visits to London in1874 (Madame Tussaud’s and theBaker Street Bazaar), his studies inAustria and Edinburgh, the influencesof being a ship’s doctor on differentvessels, and many, many more places.These sites were featured in the num-ber of photography articles ArthurConan Doyle produced, or were usedas a basis for such stories as “TheCaptain of the Polestar,” The WhiteCompany, “Crabbe’s Practice,” and“The Croxley Master.” RCH

Jon Lellenberg – “The Irregular Game,and Where it Came From.” Jon tookus on a trip of how “The Game” start-ed, from its tongue-in-cheek begin-nings with Ronald Knox in 1902,through the birth of the Baker StreetIrregulars in the speakeasies duringProhibition through the legal furorswith Adrian Conan Doyle to the pre-sent day. Many Sherlockian notablesand their contributions were touchedupon: Christopher Morley, Edgar W.Smith, and Vincent Starrett, to men-tion a few.

At the conclusion of his speech, Jonpresented a picture of John BennettShaw as Mycroft Holmes to TimJohnson for inclusion in the SherlockHolmes Collections. The artist isCharles A. Meyer, and the painting isdated 1990. RCH


Saturday, June 12

Dr. Gideon Hill – “A Trained Man ofMedicine.” Gideon was a very enter-taining speaker, perfect for waking upsleepy Sherlockians in the morning. Inhis presentation, supplemented witheffective visuals, he convincinglydemonstrated that Sherlock Holmeswas a surgeon in his own right.Gideon’s presentation was as masterfulas it was entertaining: carefully rea-soned but leavened with the light touchof the best Sherlockian scholarship. Dr.Paul Martin of the Norwegian Explorersplayed the foil to Dr. Hill. – JB

Les Klinger – “What Do We ReallyKnow about Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson? A Search for Verities.” Leswas given the unenviable task of fol-


The Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsis a quarterly newsletter published by theFriends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswhich seek to promote the activities, inter-ests and needs of the Special Collectionsand Rare Books Department, University ofMinnesota Libraries.

Mail editorial correspondence c/o:

EditorJulie McKuras

13512 Granada Ave.Apple Valley, MN 55124

952-431-1934952-431-5965 [email protected]

Editorial BoardJohn Bergquist, Timothy Johnson,

Jon Lellenberg, Richard J. Sveum, M.D.

Copyright © 2004University of Minnesota Library

The University of Minnesota is an EqualOpportunity Educator and Employer.

he focus for this issue is theJune conference held at theUniversity of Minnesota’sElmer L. Andersen Library, thepeople who attended it and

the display of materials exhibited inconjunction with the conference. Ihope that “A Spiritual Message” to theNorwegian Explorers from the GreatHerd of Bisons of the Fertile Plaincaught the spirit of what we hoped toextend.

There are strange things done in the land beneath the Minnesota sun

By Sherlockians I am told

Their meetings have left secrettrails and tales for others to unfold

But the nicest things they havedone, as you can all see

Is to espouse and promotecamaraderie.

I’d like to welcome Randall Stock to thegrowing list of Sherlockians who havecontributed to this newsletter. A resi-dent of Mountain View, California,Randall is the Webmaster of “The Best

of Sherlock Holmes” and a member ofThe Hounds of the Internet. Relevantto his article in this issue, his “PerfectReproductions: Some Notes onCanonical Manuscripts” appeared inthe Summer 2003 The Baker StreetJournal. He has published a number ofpapers in The Baker Street Journal andThe Hound’s Collection. He publishesseveral checklists on Conan Doylemanuscript material and Beeton’sChristmas Annual 1887 on his websitehttp://members.aol.com/shbest

Another author new to our ranks isRegina Crossley-Harris. “A River Runsby It” was her first Sherlockian confer-ence. Our thanks go to both Reginaand John Bergquist for sharing theirexperiences at the symposium.

You may have noticed that we have adifferent format for this issue. Since wehad so many wonderful visitors at theconference and throughout the sum-mer, we decided to give the 50 YearsAgo and 100 Years Ago columns a briefhiatus to allow us the room for pho-tographs. This will be a much shorterhiatus than Holmes had, and you canlook forward to the columns’ return inthe December issue.

Julie McKuras, ASH, BSI

Musings

T“A River Runs by It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota” cont.

Gideon Hill

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Les Klinger

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Continued on page 3

Regina Crossley-Harris at the June 12 banquet

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Phil Bergem and Randall Stock Phot

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Sherlock HolmesC O L L E C T I O N S

September 2004Volume 8 Number 3

“Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD)

FR

IE

ND S O F

TH

E

C o n t e n t s

“A River Runs by It:Holmes and Doyle

in Minnesota”

1


4

Acquisitions

5

Touring and Using The Collections

6

From The President

9

Two Treasures Revealed: A Manuscript and

Its Facsimile

10

Musings

11

Remembrances

12


y all accounts, the “A River Runs by It” conference held June 11–13 at the Elmer L.Andersen Library in Minneapolis was a resounding success. The conference, sponsoredby The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota, The Arthur Conan Doyle Society and TheSherlock Holmes Collections at The University of Minnesota, attracted attendees from

across the United States as well as from Canada and Britain. Regina Crossley-Harris, anenthusiastic new member of the Norwegian Explorers, and John Bergquist, a long-time stalwartof the Explorers, worked together to produce the following report, giving our readers a glimpseof the June weekend from both the novice and veteran perspective. The contributions of eachwriter are identified — JM

It was a conference with an interna-tional flavor. It was a conference with a minor and as yet unsolved mystery.In total, 125 people from Canada,England and throughout the UnitedStates were registered for the confer-ence itself, with many additional guestsattending the Saturday evening dinner.This was the backdrop for an experi-ence that truly knew no nationalboundaries.

As part of the conference, curator TimJohnson assembled many wonderfulartifacts from the Sherlock HolmesCollections for viewing in the largecentral display area. Like many others,I took time to view these precious items during the breaks between presentations. In one partition of the largest case was a cleverly made “Film andTelevision” arrangement, which included mementoes representing nearly all of theSherlock Holmes movies and TV series created over the years. As I eyed this display, I thrilled to discover that it contained an anomaly. In the upper right-hand corner, verymuch out of place, a small, possibly plaster but nicely painted bust of Professor Moriartywas scowling at the many images of the Great Detective. When I hastily looked throughthe pamphlet, which listed the antiquities being exhibited, I found that there was nomention of this small bust of Holmes’ arch nemesis –anywhere. Was it a sign from thediabolical professor himself? That, dear reader, I shall leave for you to decide. RCH

B

Sherlock Holmes CollectionsSuite 111, Elmer L. Andersen LibraryUniversity of Minnesota222 21st Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55455

Telephone: 612-624-7526FAX: 612-626-9353

Timothy J. Johnson, Curator


Mailing list corrections requested—Because of the high cost of returned newsletters,we would appreciate being informed of changesof address or other corrections.

For any inquiries contact:Timothy J. Johnson, Curator612-624-3552 [email protected]

RemembrancesIn supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have made contributions either in honor or in memory of special persons.

IN HONOR OF FROMDon and Teresa Curtis Mike and Julie McKuras

IN MEMORY OF FROMCameron Hollyer Edwin and Maureen Van Der Flaes

Continued on page 2

Harry Potter films). Peter told a num-ber of entertaining stories about thislarger than life man who meant somuch to so many Sherlockians. Otherhighlights of the evening were the pre-sentation by sculptor and artist LynetteYencho to Curator Tim Johnson andthe Sherlock Holmes Collections of hermost recent Sherlock Holmes bronzesculpture; Ben Vizoskie’s reading of BillSchweikert’s poem “When I Spend aLong Evening with Holmes”; and theimpromptu photo session with the 20strong Canadian contingent and Mrs.Doyle and their enthusiastic renditionof “O Canada.” RCH

Sunday, June 13Memorial for Richard Lancelyn Green.We all took a few minutes to “standupon the terrace” and remember thelife and works of Richard LancelynGreen. Joe Moran, John Bergquistreading a tribute from StevenRothman, Christopher Roden playing atape of Lancelyn Green at a previousconference, and Andrew Malec allshared their memories and life experi-ences of this consummate scholar andgentle person. RCH

Barbara Roden – “No Ghosts NeedApply.” Barbara took us all on a tour ofpsychic detectives, from Victorian times

to current. Ghosts stories were promi-nent in the Victorian era, and the psy-chic detective (a hybrid of ghost andmystery stories) was a natural extensionof this widespread interest. Barbaramentioned several interesting characters:Flaxman Loewe (Pritchard), John Silence(Blackwood), Carnacki (of course!),Morris Claw (Rohmer), Jules de Grandin(Quinn), The Pennoyer novels (MargeryLawrence), and others. Many of thesewere obviously modeled after Holmesand Watson. Some gained prominence,most did not, but all are interesting in

their own right as they pursue their ver-sion of detective work. RCH

Edith Meiser and Sherlock Holmes –Bob Brusic (in Bill Nadel’s stead). Ashort film was shown that displayedhighlights of Edith Meiser’s actingcareer and her contributions to theHolmes radio programs. RCH

“The Adventure of the PhantomIceberg” – the Red-Throated League.Holmes and Watson once again foiled anefarious plot of Professor Moriarty’s inthis charming Edith Meiser radioscript, acted – complete with soundeffects – by our resident players. RCH

As well as the speaker sessions andexhibit detailed by Regina, the confer-ence also included tours of theCollections, the annual meeting of theFriends of the Sherlock HolmesCollections (see Dick Sveum’s article inthis issue), vendors offeringSherlockian and Doylean books andmementoes, and numerous informalget-togethers of old and new friendsunited by their enthusiasm for Holmesand Doyle. Another conference is ten-tatively being planned for 2007. – JB

Regina Crossley-Harris and John Bergquist


“A River Runs by It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota”

Mrs. Georgina Doyle

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Mike Whelan and Mrs. Georgina Doyle

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