The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

The Sherlock Holmes Society Journal

The Sherlock Holmes Journal is published twice a year, usually in July and December. It is the official voice of the Society and contains its Transactions, news and reviews, letters and editorial notes. It is also home to the most erudite scholarship, publishing learned articles from Holmesians world-wide who have something to say on any aspect of Sherlock Holmes and his world. It has been appearing without a break since the first issue in May 1952.

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Book reviews

The most recent issue, Winter 2011, contains the following articles, as well as the usual reviews and letters:

Editorial: "SURELY THAT IS BAKER STREET"

In July, Roger Johnson and Jean Upton spent a day with the cast and crew, filming scenes for The Reichenbach Fall, the third episode in Series II of Sherlock.

EDITORIAL NOTES

An Italian admirer of Jeremy Brett has endowed a scholarship awards programme in his honour at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Our Australian member Craig Calvert has created an impressive model of the sitting-room at 221B. On 6 July the Society sponsored the second Silver Blaze Wessex Cup at Kempton Park. A "modern-day take" on Sherlock Holmes is planned for American television; meanwhile shooting has begun in St Petersburg for a new Russian series. We mourn the loss of Eileen Holman, John Wood and John Neville.

CRITERIA FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PROFESSOR PRESBURY'S MANSION by Bernard Davies

Assuming that "Camford" is really Oxford, where would the Professor's house be, and how should we recognise it? (Participants in the Society's 1988 visit to Oxford each received a photocopy of the typescript, but the article is published here for the first time.)

THE SOURCES OF RONALD KNOX'S SATIRE: A REAPPRAISAL by Benoit Guilielmo

Knox's target was not Biblical exegesis but literary criticism.

THE OXFORD WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 2011 by David & Audrey Jones

Whatever Mgr Knox's sources, this year we celebrated "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes" where the paper was first presented.

TRANSACTIONS

Carrie Chandler reports on the Richard Lancelyn Green Memorial Lecture, given this year by Sir Christopher Frayling, whose theme was the origin of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

SHERLOCK'S BIG FINISH by M J Elliott

Big Finish is preparing its second series of Sherlock Holmes audio dramas. Matthew Elliott interviewed the man behind it, Nicholas Briggs - actor, director and occasional writer - who plays the great detective.

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES: RADIO THEATRE

Robert Graham reviews a remarkable adaptation of Simon Williams' stage play, inspired by the productions of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air in the late 1930s.

HA HA HOLMES!

Geoff Bradley reviews the follow-up to Ha Ha Homicide!, Ha Ha Hamlet! and Ha Ha Hitler!

THE DEATH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES!

Holmes is killed and then resurrected by his creator. A curious play, seen (and enjoyed) in extreme weather conditions by Geoff Bradley.

THE SUPERNATURAL ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Nicholas Utechin reviews another play by Don't Go Into The Cellar: a dramatic presentation of "The Sussex Vampire", "The Creeping Man" and "The Devil's Foot".

HOLMESIAN REFLECTIONS by John Preston

Our regular columnist looks at the dates in Sherlock Holmes's life.

EDWARD HARDWICKE, 1932-2011 by Michael Cox

Michael Cox, who cast him in the rôle, remembers one of Dr Watson's finest interpreters.

"IT SEEMS TO ME..." by Auberon Redfearn

Dr Redfearn considers the dates in that curious case, "The Creeping Man".

I AM AN OMNIVOROUS READER

Book reviews by David Stuart Davies, Alistair Duncan, M J Elliott, Audrey Jones, Guy Marriott, Desmond Tyler, Nicholas Utechin and Roger Johnson.

WIGMORE STREET POSTBAG

Letters to The Sherlock Holmes Journal.

"THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION AS TO THE AUTHORSHIP"

Contributors to this issue of The Sherlock Holmes Journal.

With this issue there is also a Diamond Jubilee Supplement, marking the 60th anniversary of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. The contents are:

THE SECOND RETURN by Greg Darak

Sixty years ago, the Borough of St Marylebone staged a Sherlock Holmes Exhibition in Baker Street, as part of the Festival of Britain. From that exhibition our Society was born.

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP by John Baesch and Evelyn Herzog

Two American members offer a few observations, based on personal experience, of the special relationship between the Baker Street Irregulars of New York and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.

A CAPITAL JUBILATION! By Carrie Chandler

In May we celebrated the Society's Diamond Jubilee with a weekend of events, including dinner at the House of Lords, by courtesy of Baroness Rendell of Babergh, Laurence Owen's exciting new audio production of The Hound of the Baskervilles, something nutritious at Simpson's, and a tour of Holmesian London in a vintage open-top omnibus.

"WHAT DO YOU SAY TO A RAMBLE THROUGH LONDON?" by Richard Burnip

Our member Richard Burnip is both a professional actor and a guide for London Walks. He specialises (of course) in Holmes, Watson and Conan Doyle.

A CASE OF BIOGRAPHICAL IDENTITY by Alistair Duncan

The writer of The Norwood Author: Arthur Conan Doyle and the Norwood Years (1891 - 1894) and An Entirely New Country: Arthur Conan Doyle, Undershaw and the Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes casts an eye over some of the more important biographies of Holmes's creator.

"WELL, HERE'S YOUR GOOD HEALTH, LANDLORD, AND PROSPERITY TO YOUR HOUSE" by Roger Johnson

The story of our Society is inextricably entwined with that of the famous Sherlock Holmes pub, which also owes its existence to the Sherlock Holmes Exhibition of 1951.

"YOUR BEER SHOULD BE EXCELLENT"

For our 60th anniversary, the President commissioned a special Jubilee Ale, and Reggie Musgrave designed the splendid label.

LIMEHOUSE BLUES by Bernard Davies

A previously unpublished paper in which our late Honorary Member examines the legend of London's notorious Chinatown - a legend unknown to Sherlock Holmes!

BEING A MEMBER OF TWO SOCIETIES by Paul H Tubb

Mr Tubb belongs to both the P G Wodehouse Society and the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Which team should he support in the Victorian Cricket Match?

BEHIND THE SCENES - HOW THE SOCIETY IS OILED by Nicholas Utechin

Some observations on the running of the Society, by the longest-serving member of Council. And he means "oiled" in the nicest possible sense of course.

"THERE CAN BE NO QUESTION AS TO THE AUTHORSHIP"

Contributors to the Diamond Jubilee Supplement.

A DIAMOND DITTY: HOLMAGE TO SIXTY SOCIETY YEARS

In 1897, the Bishop of Wakefield wrote a hymn for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, which was set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan. In 2011, Dr Auberon Redfearn wrote a new set of words for our Society's Diamond Jubilee.

Journal

For more information about the journal, contact:

The Sherlock Holmes Journal
Roger Johnson
Mole End
41 Sandford Road
Chelmsford
CM2 6DE

e-mail: rojerjohnson@yahoo.co.uk

Latest Newsletter

District messenger as Adobe PDF No. 319: 31 January 2012


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