1 For the Sake of the Trust The Baker Street Irregulars Trust Newsletter Fall 2020 Issue No. 20 From the Chair By THOMAS A. HORROCKS, BSI In the Spring issue of the newsletter, the first from board member Costa Rossakis. Ap- since Autumn 2016, I provided an update on praised at just below $75,000, Costa’s gift is the various activities of the BSI Trust board comprised of approximately eleven lots of and the latest news concerning the BSI Ar- books, including 152 issues of the Strand Mag- chives. At that time, our country and the azine and eight volumes of the works of Ar- world were in the early stages of the COVID- thur Conan Doyle and 19 pandemic. When the board met during Sherlock Holmes sto- the BSI Weekend, none of us had any idea ries. what was about to hit us and the devastation Among the treas- and disruption it would have on our daily ures donated are a lives. I deeply regret that we will not have the complete run of the opportunity to see each other in person in Sherlock Holmes sto- New York City this January. On behalf of the ries published in the Strand Magazine from BSI Trust board, I wish you a safe and healthy July 1891 to April 1927, and a complete run holiday season. of the Hound of the Baskervilles in the Amer- Amidst these trying times, however, I do ican issues of the Strand Magazine, dating have some good news to report on the BSI from September 1901 to May 1902. I will ap- Trust front. In the last newsletter, I had the point a small committee of board members to pleasure to thank those who either donated advise me on the best way to realize the opti- funds or books to be sold in support the BSI mum financial potential of this marvelous gift. Archives. In this issue, I am delighted to re- We are deeply grateful to Costa for his port that in late 2019, the BSI Trust received generous support of the BSI Trust and thank the most significant donation in its history him for setting an example (Continued) 2 for others to emulate. chives, I want to thank Erika Dowell for provid- A number of individuals have supported ing in this issue an update on the Lilly Library’s the archives by donating materials such as let- renovation project. ters, manuscripts, photographs, and ephemera It is my pleasure to welcome two new relating to BSI activities and history. Editor Mi- members to the BSI Trust board, Tamar Zef- chael Pollak has provided a list in this issue of fren, BSI (“The London Library”), ASH those who donated materials, along with a list- (“Your Extensive Archive, Watson”) and Mi- ing of purchases for the archives, from 2016 chael Pollak, BSI (“The Blue Carbuncle”). through 2019. We appreciate all of those who An archivist in the New York area, have donated materials to the archives. For Tamar is a Baker Street Babe and sits on the those of you who may have such material and faculty of the Priory Scholars. She received a are not sure B.A. in English literature and medieval history what to do with from Barnard, a M.A. in archival management it or if it is ap- from NYU, and a certification as a Digital Ar- propriate for chives Specialist from the Society of American the archives, I Archivists. Tamar’s role on the board will be refer you to Les Content Manager for the BSI Trust website. Klinger’s timely Michael retired in 2016 after 27 years as article in this an editor and columnist at The New York issue. Times. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with his One of wife, Laurie Manifold, ASH, MBt, and serves the issues dis- on the board as the editor of the BSI Trust cussed during Newsletter. last January’s BSI Trust board meeting was Finally, I regret to report that Dana how best to use funds donated or generated Cameron has resigned from the BSI Trust through book sales to support the BSI archives. board. She oversaw the BSI Trust Photograph Two ideas are currently under consideration: Initiative Project, which will be taken over by an annual lecture that will promote the archives Ben and Sue Visoskie. All of us on the board and its usefulness and a fund to support re- are grateful for Dana’s work on behalf of the searchers who require travel to the Lilly Library BSI Trust. in order to consult the archives. Draft descrip- On behalf of the BSI Trust board, I con- tions of these two potential programs have been vey warm New Year wishes to all. Keep safe circulated to the board for discussion at the and be well. coming January meeting (which will be con- *** ducted via Zoom). Speaking of the BSI ar- 3 To the point: Please, please go through ‘What Can I Do?’ your own piles of would-be garbage and con- By Leslie S. Klinger, BSI sider donating to the Trust anything of poten- tial historical value. This probably does not in- “What can I do for the Baker Street Ir- clude routine mass-mailed letters or fliers or regulars?” This is a question asked by many postcards or Christmas cards from one Irregu- Irregulars, family members of departed Irregu- lar to another. It does include correspondence lars, and friends -– and while there are as many with the former answers as Irregulars, I want to focus on just leaders of the Irreg- one: “Don’t throw away that correspondence!” ulars, Edgar W. A number of years ago, our wise Wig- Smith, Tom Stix, Jr., gins perceived that if we didn’t start to preserve and Michael F. our own historical documents, we’d be unable Whelan, whose sto- to build a complete and accurate record of our ries have yet to be organization. As the editor of the History Se- told, especially cor- ries of the Baker Street Irregulars Press, this respondence relating got my attention! We were fortunate to have to the affairs of the many Irregulars and their families and friends Irregulars. It in- preserve correspondence among Christopher cludes minutes of Morley, Edgar Smith, and their fellow Irregu- private meetings and lars, and -–with a great deal of effort -– six vol- personal photo- umes of history of the Irregulars were pro- graphs. It includes duced. But the last of those admirable histories the details of the Sherlockian lives of the Irreg- ends with 1950. Subsequent years (and it’s ulars -– not just the leaders but all those who hard to believe that those number 70!) have were deeply involved over the years. It includes been little studied. e-mails with similar content (at least since that I’m proud that the Press has published bane of historians appeared on the scene). biographies of Bliss Austin and Julian Wolff. When in doubt if we want something, ask us! Work is under way on other key members. A Recently, a letter came to light between quick survey of these volumes, however, will Christopher Morley and Jerry Neal William- reveal that the editor (the dauntless Sonia son, relating to the publication of the Illustrious Fetherston) depended on oral histories in addi- Clients’ Case-Book. Now, normally, the activi- tion to written records, and in the case of Julian ties of a scion society -– albeit a venerable one Wolff, who was an indifferent correspondent, like the Clients -– is not on the radar of the the written records were thin on the ground. Baker Street Irregulars Trust. (Continued) 4 This letter, however, coming from Morley, is From the Editor revelatory of the relationship between the titular head of the Irregulars and the world of Sher- By Michael Pollak, BSI lockian scholarship. It belongs in the Irregulars’ “Archive,” for future study by scholars. This year, the Covid epidemic has given What are we doing with this material? We are many of us a heightened sense of mortality, and committed to preserving for future generations the political Krakatoa an equal sense of upheav- the tangible evidence of who the Irregulars al and uncertainty. All the more reason to re- were and what and why they acted as they did. turn to 1895, and to pass along our souvenirs of In partnership with the Lilly Library of Indiana the Sherlockian Age to the Archives. Think of University, we archive the material we receive, it as indirect immortality, with your name as a catalog it, and make it available to anyone who donor. wishes to study it. Like our namesake Irregu- As a journalist, I always thrilled at the no- lars, we try to “see tion that my bylines were stored somewhere for everything”-–but we future generations to reflect on my reporting/ need your help! lucid prose/drivel, depending on my readers’ We’re not un- point of view. I’m sure that the authors among der any illusions that us feel the same way, minus the drivel. the history of the Following up on Les Klinger’s article on Baker Street Irregu- the importance of preserving correspondence, I lars is of great social want to stress that people who “save string” for or cultural value to historical purposes never can predict just how the world at large. those documents will benefit future scholars We do believe that -– 87 years on -– the Irregu- and open an eye into history. lars will continue. As a scholar, I’m always an- A geology professor told my field trip noyed by writers who tackle a topic without do- group one time about a freshman survey course ing their homework.