The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the World of the Great Detective

by Matthew Bunson, John Bennett Shaw

The complete A to Z Guide to the world of the great detective.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Matthew Bunson (born 1966) is an American author of more than fifty books, a historian, professor, editor, Roman Catholic theologian, Senior Contributor for EWTN, the Catholic multimedia network, Senior Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and Faculty Chair at Catholic Distance University.
He is the author of the books Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, The Vampire Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of American Catholic History, and Pope Francis, the first English-language biography of Pope Francis in 2013.
Bunson has a B.A. in history, an M.A. in Theology, a Master of Divinity, a Doctorate in Ministry and a Ph.D. in Church History from the Graduate Theological Foundation. He is on the faculty of the Catholic Distance University where he teaches Church History, including Roman Catholic-Islamic relations and Medieval and American Catholic History, and Catholic Social Teaching. He is a Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

Reviews

[David Linzee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most useful and accurate Sherlock Holmes reference I've found, and that's saying something, considering how many books about Holmes exist. I've had it since it was published, and I have never looked up anything in vain. It has an answer to every question I've ever asked. I haven't found any mistakes in it. If I'm reading "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange" and I find that Holmes has spotted "beeswing" as a vital clue but hasn't explained what it is, I go to the Encyclopedia and there's the answer. ("a shining, filmy crust formed in port and some other wines") A charming feature is that it is written as if by a contemporary of Holmes and Watson, without modern interpolations. Many useful maps and other illustrations.

[Leew49 · Rating 4 out of 5]

ENCYCLOPEDIA SHERLOCKIANA is a useful and entertaining reference for fans of Conan Doyle's master detective. The A to Z entries include informative discussions of the stories, characters, and locations not only of the Canon but also parodies, pastiches, stage plays, movies, TV and radio; as well as biographies of the principal actors in each artistic realm. Photographs, maps, diagrams and artistic illustrations add to the clarity of the discussion. There is also an excellent chronology of the Holmes stories, a complete list of entries in the Canon (enhanced by a list of standard abbreviations for each of the stories: HOUN=Hound of the Baskervilles, and SPEC= The Adventure of the Speckled Band), a biography of Doyle, a list of unpublished cases, a list of the writings of Holmes himself, the maxims of the great detective, an examination of Holmes in science fiction, the disguises he used at various times in the stories, and a list of Sherlock Holmes fan societies around the world.

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reference book; not the kind of thing that you sit down and read straight through but great to keep by your chair and dip into. I should think that anyone who is a serious fan of the Sherlock Holmes books would want to have this book. Besides for being a "complete A-To-Z Guide" there are illustrations and photographs scattered through the book. There are also some lists: For example, Dogs that appear in the stories, Sherlock Holmes in science fiction, Sherlock Holmes films, TV, and radio shows. There is also a long list of Sherlock Holmes societies in the back.

This book was originally published under both Encyclopedia Sherlockiana: The Complete A-To-Z Guide to the World of the Great Detective, and also under the title Encyclopedia Of Sherlock Holmes: A Complete Guide To The World Of The Great Detective. There is a different book with the title Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana written by Jack Tracy which I have not seen. There is also another book with a similar title that was written by Orlando Park.

[Kristina Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A valuable reference book for Sherlockians and Holmesians, particularly those also interested in films, radio, pastiches etc