A Scion Society of The Baker Street Irregulars
Numismatists Do Not Fear Change
“… my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.” – The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter (GREE) In 1968, the Monnaie de Paris struck this 68mm bronze medal to commemorate the life of Horace Vernet. The obverse features a right facing bust of Vernet. The reverse has the French imperial eagle as the central… Continue Reading
“She was accustomed to use slang of the kind.” – The Adventure of The Noble Bachelor (NOBL) At a recent meeting of the The Society of The Naval Treaty of Annapolis, there was a handout featuring Victorian underworld slang. I have excerpted several that are relevant to our interests here. Albert – A gold watch… Continue Reading
“It was a quarter to ten before we reached London Bridge…” – The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter (GREE) London Bridge is mentioned in The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter as Holmes and Watson rush to rescue Mr. Melas from his abductors. London Bridge and the nearby London Bridge Station are also referenced in the following… Continue Reading
“There are five sovereigns here,” said he, walking up to me, “which will, I hope, be a sufficient fee.” – The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter (GREE) The above quote is the only reference to money or a coin in The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter and is found at line 233 of the story. The… Continue Reading
“We have not yet met our Waterloo, Watson…” – The Adventure Of The Abbey Grange (ABBE) This week marks the bicentennial of the pivotal Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon’s troops were defeated by combined troops from Great Britain and Prussia. In the stories of the Canon, there are numerous references to Waterloo Bridge and Waterloo… Continue Reading
“If you have a fancy to see your name in the next honours list….” – The Adventure of The Bruce Partington Plans (BRUC) From Lucy Mapstone’s June 10, 2015 story in the Daily Mail: Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t manage to pick up an Oscar Award this year. But he is set to receive of the most… Continue Reading
“This fortress – built by nature for herself; This blessed plot, this Earth, this realm, this England!” – Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon Phillip St. John Basil Rathbone was born on this date in 1892. To many Sherlockians, including your author, he is the personification of Sherlock Holmes. In this post, we will discuss… Continue Reading
“The stage lost a fine actor…” – A Scandal In Bohemia (SCAN) Sir Christopher Lee died, earlier this week, at the age of 93. Lee would be involved in 5 Holmesian films, playing 3 different characters. In the 1959 film, Hound of the Baskervilles, Lee would play Sir Henry Baskerville. Three years later, Lee would play… Continue Reading
“He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.” – The Adventure of The Final Problem (FINA) Deutsche Sherlock Holmes Gesellschaft, a Sherlock Holmes society based in Germany, has annouced the date of it’s next biannual conference, SherloCon. The 2016 version will be held April 22-24, 2016 in Saarbrücken and the conference theme will be the 125th… Continue Reading
“In my profession all sorts of odd knowledge comes useful…” – The Adventure of The Three Garridebs (3GAR) We are introducing a new irregular feature – “Has Anything Escaped Me?” – to discuss items of possible interest that don’t fall into our story discussions or into the world of numismatics. Some of our, ahem, older readers… Continue Reading