While researching my book, The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and QuizBook, I amassed a collection of Holmes reference books that now occupy muchof my bookshelf. Occasionally, I pull one down, dust it off, reread it, and amreminded of the enjoyment I experienced while gathering hundreds of Holmestrivia facts. One of my favorites is ASherlock Holmes Companion, a collection of essays and articles writtenabout Holmes and edited by Peter Haining. P. G. Wodehouse, Franklin Roosevelt,Basil Rathbone, Winifred Paget, John Bennett Shaw, and Sir Arthur Conan Doylecontributed to the compendium. Here are some great Holmes triviagleaned from Haining's book. If you haven't added it to your collection,you don't know what you're missing. 1. In 1955, Sherlockian Nathan L. Bengis claims to havediscovered Sherlock Holmes' will in which the detective leaves Dr. Watson fivethousand pounds and any books he wanted, his dictionary went to Lestrade, acollection of poetry to Tobias Gregson, a copy of each of his monographs toScotland Yard, and the remainder of his estate to Mycroft.
2. Conan Doyle published an article in the Strand magazine in March 1927, asking his readers to list theirtwelve best Holmes stories. Conan Doyle drew up his own list, placed it in asealed envelope, and gave it to the editor to be revealed and compared later. Feeling that his detective had outlived his time, Conan Doyle, in the article, announced his plan to bid farewell to Holmes and all future stories. 3. From 1942 until his death three years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt was a member of the Baker Street Irregulars. When he published hisessay, Sherlock Holmes Was An American,in The Baker Street Journal, he was criticallyattacked for his theory.The photo of the book cover was taken from amazon's web page.A Sherlock Holmes Companion was published in 1980 by Barnes & Noble Books.
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