Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street

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Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street
SherlockHolmesOfBakerStreetBaringGould.jpg
First edition
Author William S. Baring-Gould
Language English
Genre Mystery novels
PublisherBramhall House
Publication date
1962
Publication place United States
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)

Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective is a 1962 novel by William S. Baring-Gould. The book purports to be a biography of Sherlock Holmes. [1] It is considered to be the "definitive" biography of Sherlock Holmes. [2]

Some aspects of the book were loosely based on the life of Baring-Gould's paternal grandfather, Sabine Baring-Gould. [3] Many of the theories put forth by Baring-Gould have become accepted knowledge about Sherlock Holmes, [2] such as the full name "William Sherlock Scott Holmes", [2] which is used in the film Sherlock Holmes in New York starring Roger Moore [4] and the episode "His Last Vow" from series 3 of the BBC television series Sherlock . [5] Other details established by Baring-Gould, such as Professor Moriarty being Holmes' childhood mathematics tutor, [6] that Holmes was once an actor, [7] and the continuing affair and one-night stand with Irene Adler, leading up to the birth of a son (who is implied in the book to be Nero Wolfe), [8] have continued to be a part of the Great Game and have been used in other Sherlockian pastiches. [6] The book also offers one of the earliest versions of Sherlock Holmes meeting Jack the Ripper. [9]

Five years later in 1967, Baring-Gould would go on to publish The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, which would also be considered definitive, [10] [11] at least until Leslie S. Klinger published The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes in 2004–2005. [12] [13] Baring-Gould used many biographical details that he invented in Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street for his two annotated volumes. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ Hardy, Phil (1997). The BFI Companion to Crime. University of California Press. p.  168. ISBN   9780520215382.
  2. 1 2 3 Boström, Mattias (2018). From Holmes to Sherlock . Mysterious Press. p. 321. ISBN   978-0-8021-2789-1.
  3. ↑ Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook (second ed.). Dundurn. p. 180. ISBN   9781770705920.
  4. ↑ Barnes, Alan (2011). Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Titan Books. p. 224. ISBN   9780857687760.
  5. ↑ Mellor, Laura (November 26, 2014). "111 things You Might not Know About Sherlock Season 3". Den of Geek . Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Allen Eyles (1986). Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration . Harper & Row. pp.  105-106. ISBN   0-06-015620-1.
  7. ↑ Greenberg, Martin; Lellenberg, John L.; Stashower, Daniel (2009). Sherlock Holmes in America . Skyhorse Publishing. p.  50. ISBN   9781602399341.
  8. ↑ Redmond, Christopher (2002). In Bed With Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle's Stories of the Great Detective. Dundurn. p. 57. ISBN   9781770700376.
  9. ↑ Doyle, Steven; Crowder, David A. (2010). Sherlock Holmes For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 239. ISBN   9780470484449.
  10. ↑ Hickling, Alfred (December 3, 2004). "A four-pipe poseur". The Guardian . Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook (Second ed.). Dundurn. p. 81. ISBN   9781770705920.
  12. ↑ Weingarten, Marc (December 30, 2004). "Case of the Lawyer With a Sherlock Holmes Bent". The New York Times . Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  13. ↑ Redmond, Christopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook (second ed.). Dundurn. p. 83. ISBN   9781770705920.
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