There is a Kickstarter project called Steampunk Holmes that has but three days left of fundraising and is just beyond the 50% mark. We have more information on how you can help below.
If you're not familiar with Kickstarter, it's a platform by which people with ideas can seek small amounts of funding from their communities, thus kickstarting their projects. But projects don't get funded unless the goals of the campaigns are met. And if you're not familiar with Steampunk, it's a genre that incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction, usually in a Victorian or Old West setting.
In this case, we have a passionate group of individuals, namely author P.C. Martin and the Noble Beast team led by Richard Monson-Haefel who are proposing to write a series of seven books across a variety of media - the Web, e-readers (Kindle, Nook, iBooks, etc.), audio players, tablets (Galaxy Tab, iPad, etc.), and print. The first in the series will be Steampunk Holmes: The Legacy of the Nautilus.
The plot sounds quite exicting:
The series starts in the year 1885, when Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are called in by Sherlock’s sister, Mycroft Holmes, to help find the stolen plans of a very advanced submarine, the Nautilus, recovered from the watery grave of the most notorious terrorist of the British Empire, Captain Nemo. Who stole the plans and what will they do with them? This is a job for the world's greatest Amateur Detective and his trusty bionic sidekick.
We all have a favorite Sherlock Holmes story. Whether it's the first one we read, or one that has characters, scenes or a plot that particularly resonates with us, we develop an emotional attachment to it.
We're reminded of Michael Dirda's description of the scene of himself as a fifth-grader reading The Hound of the Baskervilles for the first time, thunderstorm raging outside while he was curled up underneath the covers with an Orange Crush. [Incidentally, Mr. Dirda just won an Edgar® Award for Best Critical/Biographical Work for On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling.] When that classic phrase is shared, it sends chills up our spine:
“Footprints?”
"Footprints.”
“A man’s or a woman’s?”
Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered:
“Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!”
As we're certain that you must have your favorite story or scene, Steve Mason, a listener of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, is certain that you must have a favorite thing in the Canon. To wit, he has organized a survey that he would like your assistance with. Please use the form below to participate (and if you can't see this form due to reading this update on email or a feed reader, please click through to see the form).
When considering all the pastiches written involving Sherlock Holmes, it is rare to find one that is purely a sequel - most Sherlockian non-canon lore involves crossovers with other public domain characters, integration of science fiction and/or horror themes, or loose adaptations of the canon.
The novel servesas a sequel to "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" from 1927's The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. Much like of Conan Doyle's later Holmes work, The Baron's Revengeshares a similar hard-boiled, almost pulp-flavored edge as it tells its tale. Thankfully, one does not have to read Conan Doyle's story in order to understand The Baron's Revenge, given various callbacks to the original tale.
It's also a daring book in that it is written (except for one chapter) from Holmes' perspective. Although it would have been easy to fall into cliche and write Holmes as exceptionally omniscient, Lovisi does Holmes a great service by writing the detective at the proper emotional tone. It is easy to "hear" Holmes narrating the story. Rob Davis' illustrations throughout the book provide it with the right sense of pace and atmosphere, almost making it seem like a "lost" edition of The Strand Magazine. (Thankfully, it is a relatively quick read - I finished it within two days while commuting back and forth to downtown Chicago).
Sherlock: Season Two originally aired on BBC One in January and now we're poised for it to air on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery in the United States. One of the most intriguing characters of this new series is none other than the adventuress Irene Adler, the antagonist in the first episode "A Scandal in Belgravia."
Would you like a chance to meet Benedict Cumberbatch, the star of the new Sherlock series? Or co-creator Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue?
Even better: how would you like a chance to see excerpts from the first episode in Season 2, "A Scandal in Belgravia"? Well, here's your chance.
We have a special offer from the nice folks at PBS Masterpiece (the very same people who gave us a chance to host a Twitter chat when Season One aired in October of 2011) have presented to us and we in turn present to you. We hope that you'll be able to take the time to share this news and participate in this offer for "super fans."
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Masterpiece and PBS are hosting an evening event in New York City on Wednesday, May 2, celebrating the premiere of Sherlock, Series 2. There are limited tickets to this public event, but PBS would like you to have the chance to attend! RSVP's will only be taken via e-mail, so get your note in and please feel free to spread the word.
In case you're not convinced, here's a video clip of what you may expect to see:
And for those of you who are really into the show, here's an opportunity to lock in a pre-order of Sherlock: Season Two (price guaranteed) from Amazon.
When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
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Pre-order Sherlock: Season Two:
Pamela Bruxner, BSI ("The British Government") died on March 28, 2012 at the age of 77. Pam was a medical secretary at Maidstone Hospital and among her many talents, had a great love and knowledge of music. Her secretarial skills and musical knowledge were used to great advantage with several musical and dramatic societies. She was an Associate member of Glyndebourne, an operatic cultural institution, and hosted their annual picnic for groups of friends. The caveat to attend the picnic was that one had to help prepare an elaborate spread and carry chairs and tables to the gardens.
After the death of her musician husband, Mervyn Bruxner in 1973, Pam joined The Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Among her many contributions to the Society was her highly-acclaimed dramatization of "The Three Students," which was performed at the 1988 expedition to Oxford, with the late Bernard Davies directing and appearing as Holmes. Pam served as Meetings Secretary of the Society from 1989 to 2005, edited or co-edited nine of the Society's handbooks, was made an Honorary Member of the Society in 2003, received the Tony Howlett Award in 2006, and wrote the Foreword to Volume Two of The Best of 'The Sherlock Holmes Journal' (2011).
Pam met Geoffrey Stavert on the 1988 Switzerland pilgrimage and, to the delight of their friends, they became inseparable companions. After Geoffrey's death in 2002, Pam moved to a beautiful village on the Kent/Sussex border, where she immersed herself in local artistic and musical societies. Pam's interests also included Jane Austen, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Margery Allingham, and was a member of their societies.
Pamela Bruxner was invested into The Baker Street Irregulars in 1998 as "The British Government."
You may read her obituary from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London by clicking here.
If you have any special memories of Pam that you would care to share, please leave us a comment.
We're all aware that today marks 100 years since the R.M.S. Titanic struck an iceberg and sunk to the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean. The reason we bring it up here is because of a few minor connections with the Canon: the Marconi wireless that was used on the ship, as well as Bill Seil's book Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic Tragedy: A Case to Remember that found the great detective on board the vessel for its maiden voyage.
But we'd like to stop for a moment and simply take this auspicious occasion to remember the 1,517 people who perished that cold night exactly 100 years ago. To do so, we share this short playlist of songs that were said to have been the last played by the band: "Song d'Automne" and two different versions of "Nearer, My God To Thee" from the 1958 film A Night to Remember and of course the 1997 film Titanic.
In addition to those heartfelt notes and tragic images, we also like to listen to Gavin Bryar's very odd and mesmerizing album The Sinking of the Titanic, with its haunting sounds of creaking metal, muffled voices and wistful strings.
These videos and music are a sad reminder of the fragile souls who were taken from the world on that cold April night so long ago. May they and the R.M.S. Titanic rest in peace.
P.S. You may note that while we usually time our posts at 2:21 a.m., this one was posted at 2:20 a.m. This was in observance of the local sinking time of the Titanic.
When you make purchases from the links we share, it provides us with a stream of revenue to help keep this site running. Thank you for your generosity.
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We're used to seeing Sherlock Holmes in advertising. Indeed, the 2009 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual was dedicated to that subject. From cigarettes and other tobacco products (naturally) to home security systems, vegetables, baby powder, appliances, cereal and more, Sherlock Holmes has been part of the imagery in advertising for over a century.
"Did you notice nothing curious about that advertisement?" [3GAR]
In this case however, the target of the ad in question is the character himself. Or more specifically, the stories in which he appears.
Ad agency Lowe created minimalist ads that feature storybook characters hidden within storybook characters, to promote the book exchange service at Colsubsidio’s Libraries that allows patrons come in with one book and leave with another.
Titled "Come with a story and leave with another," the three illustrations of iconic characters (Snow White, Harry Potter and Little Red Riding Hood) each feature another famous figure embedded within their familiar faces (Sherlock Holmes, the Trojan Horse and Moby Dick, respectively).
We hope that the campaign will spark some imagination and curiosity among young readers and lead them to Sherlock Holmes.
Editor's note: Recently, an opinion piece on The University Daily Kansan by Lou Schumaker took great issue with the narrator and individual responsible for bringing Sherlock Holmes to our collective attention: Dr. Watson. He referred to Watson as "underdeveloped," going so far as to say, "the only thing he's really good for is to compliment Sherlock Holmes and propose wildly inaccurate theories at crime scenes. He's boring and slow and lifeless and famous." So we asked one of our contributors to craft a response.
If one wants a biographer, one strives to find the best one. It is the better if he is also your dearest friend. The Great Detective of No. 221B, Baker Street, was that lucky. Without John H. Watson, M.D., the world would know nothing of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Opinions run rampant within the arts, and this is a good and wonderful thing. For me the fun of it all is the conjecture itself. But I also love “playing the game,” as Sherlockians love to do. Within that realm, Holmes would be the first to stand up and defend his best pal’s good name. And as an admirer of them both, I shall do no less.
But there is more to this than simply believing in the reality of Holmes, Watson and their adventures. The process goes much deeper. As for me, I adore looking between the lines of the text or the images on the large or small screen. Painting a complete picture of the characters makes me appreciate Conan Doyle’s work all the more, as well as its current incarnations.
Indeed it could be argued that Watson (or John as he is now called) is uninteresting or even downright dull. Well, if a wounded Veteran come home from service in Afghanistan (yeah, no relevancy to our times there!) to a glum future who by fate moves in with a wacky genius who fills his life with enough adrenaline-packed adventure to sustain ten lifetimes isn’t interesting, then I guess it isn’t interesting.
As for Watson being ordinary? Yes, that is true. However, that is precisely the point. He is not a superhero, nor does he have the lightning mental reflexes of his best friend. He is normal, just like the viewers/readers. As the lens through which the audience sees Sherlock Holmes (or just plain Sherlock), the late Edward Harwicke said it best when he remarked that Watson “is the audience…Watson really is everyman.” Compared to a genius like Sherlock Holmes, most people would look dull. The differences between these two characters make them all the more intriguing. Yes, scenes without Holmes can tend to be less than stellar at times. In those circumstances, I remember the old phrase about absence making the heart grow fonder.
With the flatmates of 221B Baker Street, it’s all about balance (yes, even when they’re arguing). As ying is to yang, the two men complement each other. Particularly in the BBC’s Sherlock, their weaknesses are largely balanced by their strengths. It serves as both a point of conflict and as a plot carrier. They are so vastly different in all the obvious ways while being strikingly similar just underneath the surface. Like we all are. And who doesn’t love seeing them tell each other off? The witty banter between Sherlock and John is genius script writing, and pays homage to some of the conversations that surely their Victorian counterparts must have engaged in.
Upon a further look beneath the surface of both the text and screen versions, questions arise (at least for me): When Holmes had an injury, who dressed his wounds? When he craved the cocaine bottle, who took him out for a walk or some other nonsense to get his mind off of it? When Mrs. Hudson had an ache, who helped her to soothe it? When one of the Irregulars had a sprained ankle or an infected foot (from not wearing shoes), who tended them and asked for no money? When Sherlock says something a little too snarky for polite conversation, who is there to jerk him up short? Holmes himself might have said that such contemplations are “of course, a trifle, but there is nothing so important as trifles” [TWIS].
If I had to select one enduring quality about John Watson, it would be this: he doesn’t give a rip about the spotlight. The man knows himself and is comfortable in his own skin. True, his blood pumps at the thrill of the chase, but that is true for many people. Watson’s observation (and participation) in Holmes’s cases gives us that bird’s eye view of the Great Detective. As for doing nothing, he was a writer. This meant that he was prone to observation. While he did not possess the ability as adeptly as his associate, it still paid off. After all hanging in the background and later committing what he saw to paper (or to his laptop) made Holmes’s name a household word. I would hardly consider that a fault.
Furthermore, Watson makes up half the crime-sleuthing duo that inspired countless others ever since. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson have one of the most enduring friendships in the history of English Literature. Without that, the stories mean very little.
If my closest friend, the greatest detective who ever lived, regarded me as, “the one fixed point in a changing age” [LAST], let me just say I wouldn’t be worried about what anyone else thought. Enjoy the stories, the films and the episodes for what they are, and take from them what you will. Holmes and his Boswell will continue to be reincarnated in countless adaptations. There will always be those, as Holmes would say who turn what “should have been a course of lectures into a series of tales” [COPP]. Some directors and actors will get it right for our personal tastes, and some will not. Some adaptations will find favor, some will not. But this is immaterial. For as the penultimate lines of Vincent Starrett'spoem declare, “though the world explode, these two survive...”
And that is all that matters.
Editor's note: Jennifer has had a life-long interest in English and American literature (particularly of the 19th century), and grew up watching both the Rathbone/Bruce & the Granada incarnations of Holmes and his Boswell. Some of her favorite authors are Charles Dickens, George Gordon Lord Byron, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe. One of her two current efforts include research into the Holmes Canon for a collection of short stories centered around Dr. Watson. The other is a historic fiction novel-in-progress dealing with reform methods for London prostitutes in the Victorian Era. She has a decade of experience in the field of 19th century living history, and enjoys sharing little tidbits and musings on her blog.
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Do you appreciate Sherlockian art? Or perhaps you know someone who does. In either case, you should most definitely take a look at what Nis Jessen has created.
Jessen, an artist native to Denmark, has lavishly illustrated A Study in Scarlet in two editions: a regular and a deluxe edition. This new edition of A Study in Scarlet is fully illustrated by the Danish artist. The more than 600 striking illustrations bring new life to the original text from Beeton's Christmas Annual. This beautiful volume (in oversize: 25 x 35 cm - 10" x 14") consisting of 160 pages of text and illustrations printed on quality paper and bound in fullcolor laminated hardcover, and with dust cover.The deluxe editions are produced in a run of 1,000, come with a slipcase and are personally signed by the artist.
It's clear that Nis enjoys his work, but there must be something else to it as well. We discovered, that like Holmes, he has "art in the blood," and in Jessen's case it was not likely to take the strangest of forms, but to follow in the tradition of his ancestors who were artists and writers. If you take a look at some examples from the book, you can see what we mean:
The Foreword was written by the late Edward Hardwicke, who muses, "the drawings of the characters and Victorian London convince totally, and the action and energy of the American scenes are wonderfully conveyed."
UPDATE: If you do wish to make a purchase, please do so through http://www.jessen-gallery.dk and contact Nis' wife Flerida.
Reader Al Gregory has let us know that Jessen also offers many original pieces of artwork for sale for those who are so inclined. Those art collectors among you should take note and contact Nis Jessen to inquire about such opportunities.
We hope that you can find some inspiring artwork here that is suitable for owning - whether it's the book, some prints for framing and hanging in your Sherlockian sanctum - or as a gift for the rabid Sherlock Holmes fan in your life. It's most unusual and striking artwork that must be seen to be appreciated.
And if you do make a purchase from Nis, please tell him that the Baker Street Blog sent you.
