The Chronology of the Apocrypha
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“that is the biggest mystification of all” [CREE] You thought we were done with the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes? Silly you. As Inspector Baynes said, “I thought I had squeezed all the juice out of it, but I see there was a little over.” [WIST] Now we turn to a fascinating study: dating the Apocryphya. Or at least part of it. An entry by Brett Graham Fawcett in Timelines, the newsletter of the Chronologist Guild, looks at how we might assign dates to some of the stories. And it's just a Trifle. Find all of the Apocrypha series in one place...
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The Man Who Was Wanted
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“evidence was wanted” [GOLD] The final installment in our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes brings us to "The Case of the Man Who was Wanted." Its discovery and provenance seems to have been both wanted and not wanted by the Conan Doyle brothers, who discovered it thanks to a biographer of their father in the 1940s. How it came into their possession and the story behind what was once assumed to be the 61st Sherlock Holmes story — and its eventual debunking — is anything but a Trifle. Find all of the Apocrypha series in one place ( | ). If you...
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Sherlock Holmes and Edwin Drood
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“Oh! a mystery is it?” [STUD] When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Mystery of Edwin Drood was only six chapters into its 12-chapter run. There were no sketches or outlines of what would come next, so for a century and a half, scholars have puzzled over the solution. In 1968, Colin Prestige, BSI ("Captain Jack Croker") made a bold claim: that Sherlock Holmes could have handily solved the case, in "Sherlock Holmes and Edwin Drood," which appeared in Vol. 18, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal. It's this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist" episode and it's just a...
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Calling Cards
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“He sent in his card with a message” [CROO] In our own digital age, business cards are nearly artifacts of the past. And calling cards? They're so outdated we had to create this episode. Numerous individuals in the Sherlock Holmes stories present their cards to Sherlock Holmes and Holmes presents his card to a few people as well. What's the history behind calling cards and visiting cards and how did they play into the stories? It's just a Trifle. We have bonus content for our supporters: images of Victorian calling cards that might surprise you. If you...
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Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study in Scarlet?
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“Nine to seven.” “Seven to five.” [STUD] For anyone who has first experienced Sherlock Holmes through A Study in Scarlet, Chapter VIII is a shock to the system, placing us squarely in the Great Akalai Plain with John and Lucy Ferrier, and narrated by... who? Ben Vizoskie had that same question in the 2000 BSJ article "Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study in Scarlet?" which was awarded the Morley-Montgomery Award that year. Many scholars have pondered this over the years, but Ben seems to have cracked the code. And it's no Trifle. If you have a...
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Angels of Darkness
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“upon the track of the avenging angels” [STUD] The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes series continues with a three-act play that wasn't published until over a century after it was written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story of its discovery and dating is even more interesting than the play itself, which is reminiscent of the American chapters of A Study in Scarlet and is... Well, you'll hear. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Don't...
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A Most Valuable Institution
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“all the main ones in the press reports” [THOR] Sherlock Holmes knew how to use newspapers to his advantage. Time and again, we see him scanning the agony column and making clippings. He told Watson "The press is a most valuable institution if only one knows how to use it." Just how did he use it and in which cases? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content...
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Lucky Thirteen
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“thirteen in number” [HOUN] Ask the average citizen about the number thirteen, and it is likely to inspire terror, or at least some slight trepidation. Right up there with black cats and overturned saltshakers, the number thirteen has a long history associated with bad luck. But what about in the Sherlock Holmes stories? Where does the number thirteen pop up and what can we infer from it? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift....
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The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“and actor and a rare one” [SIGN] The monthly feature of Morley-Montgomery Award-winning articles continues apace, when we share these top-notch pieces of Sherlockian scholarship from the pages of The Baker Street Journal. This episode is from S.E. Dahlinger's truly remarkable 1999 article "The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew," which gives us a better understanding of William Gillette and the play that made him a household name (and a fortune). It's a large article and a very significant Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at...
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The Tall Man
Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
“I have never seen so tall a man” [SIGN] Our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes continues on, with a slightly different entry this time. Previous examples have been fully developed stories; this is simply a story outline. How it surfaced is just as interesting as the outline itself, perhaps more. The reader/listener will be left to decide if this could have made a full-blown story. Ultimately, it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you...
info_outline“upon the track of the avenging angels” [STUD]
If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.
Links
- The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes (The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library)
- The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes episode collection (Patreon | Substack)
- Other episodes mentioned:
- Trifles Episode 318 - Dr. Watson's Marriages
- I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 13: A Life in Letters
- All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
- Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com
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Music credits
Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber OrchestraPublisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band.
Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0