Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street
First edition
AuthorWilliam S. Baring-Gould
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreMystery novels
PublisherBramhall House
Publication date
1962
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]

References

  1. ^ Hardy, Phil (1997). The BFI Companion to Crime. University of California Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780520215382.
  2. ^ a b c Boström, Mattias (2018). From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-8021-2789-1.
  3. ^ Redmond, Chistopher (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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b Redmond, Chistopher (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, Chistopher (2009). Sherlock Holmes Handbook (second ed.). Dundurn. p. 83. ISBN 9781770705920.
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