March 2013 Volume 17 Number 1 March 2009 D S O F N Volume 13 Number 1 E T 50 Years Ago...Continued from Page 3 I H R E bottle of Courvoisier plus one fifth of the history of the scion mentioned earlier, The physical book is an interesting F New Jersey cognac, with the note: ‘Tell Thomas Hart reports that a publication artifact in itself, featuring quarter bind- the bartender to serve the Courvoisier fund was established as early as 1952 ing with textured morocco-colored first. Then by the time the Sons get to (with the princely sum of $4.00.) Hart, as endpapers of the same stock as the the New Jersey cognac, they may not treasurer of the Publication Committee, covers. spot the difference’” (250). Today, goes on to apologize to the membership Lellenberg says of Starr, “I’m convinced for “his many exhortations for funds, and Leaves from The Copper Beeches was fol- Sherlock Holmes that Julian Wolff [who took over leader- many stern admonitions against failure, lowed up by a second volume, More ship of the Baker Street Irregulars under made at meetings” over the years. Leaves from The Copper Beeches, in COLLECTIONS the title “Commissionaire” after Smith’s 1976. The Sons are still flourishing as untimely death in 1960] would have an active scion society; perhaps some- “Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD) retired as Commissionaire sooner than he day we will be able to look forward to did if Bill Starr had not died at a some- a third volume. what early age in 1976 and had been Contents around in the early ’80s to take over.” John Bergquist, BSI Francine and Wayne Swift By Peter E. Blau, ASH, BSI Leaves from The Copper Beeches was par- Francine and Wayne Swift tially financed by contributions from Illustration by H.W. Starr, captioned “The appeal t has been said that marriages between two Sherlockians are the most permanent. members of the Sons, who are listed in for the Publication Fund,” printed in Jon 1 Many Sherlockians have found it easy enough to persuade a spouse to enjoy the Lellenberg’s Irregular Crises of the Late ’Forties the acknowledgments. In his memoir of Sherlockian world, but when two people who already are Sherlockians marry they (New York, 1999) 100 Years Ago I will sooner or later merge their collections, as well as their lives. And there is no 2 custody battle, whether over the car, the house, the pets, or the children, that can possi- Continued from Page 2 bly match the difficulty of dividing a collection that has no duplicates. 50 Years Ago So for two Sherlockians it’s a matter only of the better, and never the worse. That cer- 100 Years Ago tainly was true of Wayne B. Swift and Francine Morris, who were Sherlockians when 3 they met for the first time. Francine started her Sherlockian life in Texas, where she was Remembrances a librarian; she founded The Sub-Librarians Scion of the Baker Street Irregulars in the From the President American Library Association, and In supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have made 4 was one of the founders of The contributions either in honor or in memory of special persons. Practical, But Limited, Geologists at an informal luncheon in the Zodiac In Honor Of From Musings Room at Nieman Marcus in Dallas. Peter Blau Arthur E.F. Wiese Jr. 4 When she moved to Washington she Fred Levin Cliff Goldfarb quickly became a member of The Red Circle, and was one of the ring- In Memory Of From An Update from leaders in planning the society’s full- Paul Churchill John Baesch and Evelyn Herzog For any inquiries contact: the Collections fledged costume party at the Paul Churchill Thomas Drucker Timothy J. Johnson, Curator 5 National Press Club. Paul Churchill Warren Randall 612-624-3552 or Wayne was from Nebraska, an elec- Joseph Gillies Michael Kean [email protected] of The Sherlock Photo courtesy Holmes Collections Allen Mackler Patricia Nelson Recent Acquisitions Wayne and Francine Swift trical engineer and a teacher, and an Allen Mackler Once Upon A Crime Mystery Bookstore Sherlock Holmes Collections 5 early convert to the world of com- Allen Mackler Philip Swiggum Suite 111, Elmer L. Andersen Library puters. When he moved to Washington he decided to take an adult-education course in Beatrice McCaffrie John Lockwood University of Minnesota Sherlock Holmes at a local community college and soon attended his first Sherlockian E.W. McDiarmid Michael Brahmey 222 21st Ave. S. To the Editor function, a running of The Silver Blaze (Southern Division) at Pimlico Race Track in E.W. McDiarmid Jim DeLeo Minneapolis, MN 55455 6 Maryland, where he and Francine quickly discovered they shared more than an interest E.W. McDiarmid Jeffrey Klaus Telephone: 612-626-9166 in Sherlock Holmes. They courted , and wed, and had many happy years together, shar- E. W. McDiarmid Peter Klaus FAX: 612-625-5525 ing a multitude of interests, Sherlockian and otherwise. Robert Pattrick Vincent Brosnan A Beacon of the Future Mailing list corrections requested— Wayne became a member of The Baker Street Irregulars in 1978 (as “The Giant Rat of Jan Stauber Alexian Gregory Because of the high cost of returned newsletters, 6 Jan Stauber Francine and Richard Kitts we would appreciate being informed of changes Sumatra”). Francine became a member of The Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes in Tom Stix Karen Anderson of address or other corrections. 1977 (as “Hatty Doran”) and was honored by the BSI as The Woman in 1983, and Dr. Richard Sturtz William Sturtz Remembrances awarded her Irregular Shilling and Investiture in 1994 (as “The Wigmore Street Post Timothy J. Johnson, Curator 8 Continued on page 6 series); her later books were mysteries, Her father’s advice as a lawyer proved spinster. Green also had a “girl detec- 8 Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 1 61 of them featuring detective Fleming invaluable as Leavenworth, six years tive” protagonist, Violet Strange, who Stone. She wrote several impossible in the writing, became one of the first was a debutante with a secret life as a crime novels that typically depended bestsellers in the United States, giving professional sleuth. Green was espe- on a secret passageway or chamber her the title “Mother of the Detective cially skilled at describing methods (regarded as a cheat during the Golden Novel.” (Although, as Otto Penzler has of detection and was cited as a major Age). Wells introduced a “psychic” pri- noted, the first American woman to influence by a number of later mystery vate investigator, Pennington “Penny” write a mystery novel was really Seeley writers, including Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes Wise, with Zizi, a silent movie star as Regester [1831-1885] in 1866.) Wilkie Mary Roberts Rinehart. COLLECTIONS his female sidekick. This pair of con Collins was a fan of AKG, as was artists appeared in eight of her novels. Arthur Conan Doyle, who wrote her to Once again, John Bennett Shaw’s col- Her amusing Sherlock Holmes parody, arrange a personal visit when his 1894 lection opens doors to worlds other “Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD) “The Adventure of the Clothes-line” lecture tour arrived in her hometown than the obvious. After a century, A (1915), was reprinted in The Game Is of Buffalo. (ACD - AKG correspon- CASE FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES Afoot (1994). dence, Harry Ransom Humanities still has messages for the interested Contents Research Center, UT Austin). Green’s investigator. The Redmond Donation Anna Katharine Green [1846-1935] main hero was detective Ebenezer also began as a poet, but changed Gryce of the New York Metropolitan Marilynne McKay, MD, BSI By Chris Redmond, BSI to mysteries after she published The Police Force; he was assisted in three The Redmond Donation t the end of January, three cartons, with a total of about 50 books, made the Leavenworth Case in 1878, a decade cases by “a nosy old lady detective” journey from Kingston, Ontario, to the Elmer R. Andersen Library in Min- before Sherlock Holmes’s appearance. named Amelia Butterworth, a society 1 neapolis — a gift to the Sherlock Holmes Collections, through me, from my father, the long-time Sherlockian author and collector Donald A. Redmond. 100 Years Ago A Since my father is no longer able to use his Sherlock- 2 ian library, I have been working to find good homes for the books that have lined his study, living room 50 Years Ago and hallway. Some are coming to my own collection, and some of the more valuable items are going on the 3 market to delight other collectors. In addition, some things that would most appropriately be part of the Remembrances From the President Arthur Conan Doyle Collection at the Toronto Public In supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have Library, which he helped to establish in the 1970s, are made contributions either in honor or in memory of special persons. 4 on their way there. Acquisitions It seemed to me that the mainstream Sherlockian In Honor Of From books on my father’s handmade wooden shelves didn’t Evelyn Herzog Thomas Drucker 4 include much that would be of value to the Collec- Andrew Solberg Paul Singleton tions at Minnesota — how many copies of Profile by Richard Sveum, M.D. Phil and Karen Bergem Musings Gaslight and W.G. Grace’s Last Case does a library William Vande Water Vincent Brosnan and Sherlock in L.A. actually need? However, in addition to that kind of 4 material, there were some treasures that reflected a In Memory Of From whimsical turn in my father’s collecting, and I thought Richard Lancelyn Green Andrew Malec For any inquiries contact: some of those items might be interesting to future Timothy J.