Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"Your merits should be publicly recognized." [STUD]      We continue with our monthly series of Masters Class episodes, going back to Trevor Hall's Sherlock Holmes: Ten Literary Studies .    In this case, we look at Sherlock Holmes's skill in his chosen line of work. What was he good at and how did he come by these talents. Certainly some were hereditary, but others required study.  It's just a Tr...

"toward the Triple Alliance" [NAVA]      When we're introduced to the victim in "Wisteria Lodge," it happens first by telegram — a telegram he himself signed "John Scott Eccles." Later, we hear him referred to as "Mr. Scott Eccles" and "Mr. Eccles."   What are we to make of this? Is it a compound surname, or was it Watson playing fast and loose with names? John Scott Eccles isn't the only triparti...

"over many nations and three separate continents" [SIGN]    We all know about Mary Morstan from The Sign of Four , of her marriage to Watson, and of Watson's "sad bereavement" after Sherlock Holmes returned from his hiatus in "The Empty House."   But there is evidence in a number of stories to show that Watson has been married more than once. Evidence from scholars such as Baring-Gould, Bell, Blak...

"gazing with great reverence at the famous detective" [HOUN]    When Sherlock Holmes describes himself to Watson, he says that he's a consulting detective, and then goes on to differentiate himself from two other kinds of detectives.   What did it take to become a detective, and why was Holmes different? And what other terms did he and Watson use to describe his trade along the way? It's just a Tr...

"pictures of the old masters" [ILLU]    It's the first of our monthly Masters Class episodes for Season 7, and we're kicking off a series of three discussions of works by a single author. As a reminder, these episodes take a piece of well-regarded Sherlockian scholarship and deconstruct it.   In this case, we look to Trevor Hall and his book Sherlock Holmes: Ten Literary Studies . The first up is...

"observe the spatulate finger-end" [SOLI]    Quick: in which Sherlock Holmes stories do we find the mention of a piano? You might think you know, but you also might likely be wrong.   The piano was an important part of middle-class life in Victorian England, part of an education and part of a way to attract spouses. But there's just a passing mention in a single story. It's just a Trifle.   If you...

"this insignificant-looking man inspired me" [GREE]    We all have examples of mentors in our lives. People who inspire us and coach us, helping us to grow. What examples do we see of this in the Sherlock Holmes stories?   From excellent examples to counter-examples, there are a handful of instances of experience and knowledge being passed from one person to another. It's National Mentor Month, th...

"the unknown gentleman who lost his Christmas dinner" [BLUE]    Poor Henry Baker has always been a sad, sympathetic character. Deprived of his hat and his peace offering to his wife at Christmastime, he was a victim of an unintended crime.   It seemed like the proper time of year to reflect on what life must have been like for Mr. Baker, both in the aftermath of the fracas as well as in the run-up...

"a long-suffering woman" [DYIN]      Have you considered how much (or little) we know about Mrs. Hudson, and what we take for granted? For example, her first name was Martha, she was widowed, and she retired with Sherlock Holmes.  The answers to those are: no, not sure, and definitely not. Catherine Cooke's masterful article from the Summer 2005 Baker Street Journal  combines the fanciful, the fac...

"Good old Dr. Starr!" [3GAR]    One of the creepiest looking characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories was Col. Lysander Stark, who chased after Victor Hatherly with a meat cleaver in "The Engineer's Thumb." But then we run across the name Lysander Starr in "The Three Garridebs." What gives? We track the history of the name and explore some possible origins for its use. It's just a Trifle.   If yo...

"found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China" [BLUE]    The blue carbuncle had quite a journey. Before it even arrived in the action of the story, the piece of crystallized charcoal was the object of "two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies." But once it's in London and disappears from the Countess of Morcar's possession, where does it go? Gavin Brend takes us...

"devoted to a series of walks" [WIST]    In at least four separate cases, we know that Holmes and Watson were out strolling around London. How does this square with Holmes's aversion toward exercise?   And what about other occasions in the countryside? Was Holmes a man of nature, was he gathering information, or was it something else? It's just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a Trifles ep...

"revealing what they are" [ENGR]      "By a man's finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs—by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed."    So Sherlock Holmes tells us in A Study in Scarlet. In this episode, we apply Holmes's methods to the attire of some of his clients...

"That sounds a little paradoxical." [BOSC]      The fourth short story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," gives us a host of sayings and tenets of Sherlock Holmes's philosophy. But there are also a number of things that seem contradictory.    In this Masters Class episode, Nick Utechin's look at another mystery within this story serves as an exemplary bit of schol...

"a cry for help and a splash in the water" [FIVE]      Water, water everywhere. And that just makes us think. Of the Sherlock Holmes stories, of course.   Since England is an island, it stands to reason that in the Sherlock Holmes canon, we encounter a good deal of water. But it's what's commonly associated with water that's just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a Trifles episode, let us k...

"heard upon the stairs" [SCAN]      So much of how we think about Sherlock Holmes is due to the scenes where we find Holmes and Watson at home in Baker Street.   And thanks to the illustrations of Sidney Paget, we have a pretty good idea of what that ought to look like. James Edward Holroyd wrote about this in "Our Client's Foot Upon the Stair." It's just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a...

"numerous candles did something" [HOUN]      We equate gas lamps with Sherlock Holmes — even electric lights. But we don't often think about the number of candles in the stories.   More than the number: the role played by many candles. While they may seem like simple wax objects that provide illumination, in Sherlock Holmes's case, they often provided a very different kind of illumination. It's ju...

"the line of his pedigree" [EMPT]      Colonel Sebastian Moran was called "the second most dangerous man in London" and was a formidable adversary of Sherlock Holmes. And yet, we know remarkably little about him, aside from a brief biographical entry in Holmes's index.   Nicholas Utechin takes us on a journey from India to Eton and from Crimea to Oxford that gets at "The Colonel of the Matter" in...

"to reconstruct this midnight drama" [MUSG]    A quick look through the Sherlock Holmes stories finds a good number of incidents taking place around midnight.    Why is this the case? Who could we expect to find out and about at such an hour? It's unlikely that they would have been respectable people. But it is just a Trifle.   If you have a suggestion for a Trifles episode, let us know at trifles...

"the victim of an unfortunate accident" [FIVE]      For our "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist" episode, we take a step back into 1947 to "Clients in Jeopardy" by Henry C. Clark, appearing in The Second Cab .   There were at least four instances in which Sherlock Holmes knew his clients were in danger, yet he sent them on their way. In which stories do we find these people, and are there others? It...

"the wondrous strength-giving serum" [CREE]      For our 300th episode, we thought we'd do something just a Trifle different. Following the theme of our previous episode, we're focused again on "The Adventure of the Creeping Man."   This time, however, we turn to a satirical piece that appeared in The Baker Street Journal : a piece in the style of a pharmaceutical ad for the wonder drug known as "...

"an obscure scientist who was striving in some unknown way" [CREE]      In this month's Masters Class, we turn to a Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article from The Baker Street Journal in 1973: "Lowenstein of Prague" by Jan C. Prager and Albert Silverstein.   In "The Creeping Man," a certain H. Lowenstein is reviled for supplying Professor Presbury with an experimental substance. Who was Lowenste...

"a regal and stately lady in Court dress" [CHAS]    With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, we find ourselves in a similar place as Sherlock Holmes did in 1901 with the passing of Queen Victoria: at the end of an age.   What a perfect opportunity then, to reflect on the thirteen British monarchs who appeared in the Sherlock Holmes stories. Who were they? We found thirteen — some were obvious and o...

"You still smoke the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days then!" [CROO]    When Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson first met, Watson noted he was not averse to strong tobacco and that he usually smoked what he called "ship's" himself. But later, Holmes finds him smoking the "Arcadia mixture" from his bachelor days.   Why the switch? And what was it? Robert F. Cairo, Jr. identified the Arcadia mixture...

"I caught a glimpse of a great heart" [3GAB]    Without a question, Sherlock Holmes was a master of his craft. When we look at his motivations for pursuing his career—at least on the surface—he seems like he's all business.   And yet, we have glimpses of Holmes over the course of his career when he waxes a bit more philosophical. David Stuart Davies' column "A Great Heart" in the latest issue of S...