At a recent meeting of the Tankerville Club, our local Baker Street Irregulars scion society, Official Secretary Paul Herbert, BSI, had asked one of our number to bring in something to talk about -- any sort of artifact or collectible related to Sherlock Holmes. And so he did.
My fellow member began by pulling out a pipe tool with a head shaped like Sherlock Holmes. But that wasn't what he wanted to show us. He held up a pipe lighter with the shadow of the deerstalkered detective emblazoned on it, but that wasn't it either. He mentioned several items that he had considered and rejected.
Then he held up his Show and Tell: A somewhat battered copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes. When was it printed? He didn't know. Did it have the Christopher Morley introduction? He had to check. (It did.) The only thing my friend new about this particular edition was the only thing that counted to him:
This was the book that introduced him to Holmes.
Until then he had read and enjoyed the Hardy Boys mysteries. But when he opened The Complete Sherlock Holmes, that was a doorway into a whole new world. He used to read at night before he went to bed. When he read "The Final Problem," he was terrified until he realized that he was only halfway through the book! He immediately read "The Adventure of the Empty House" and slept well that night.
My friend was really saying that the text -- the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories -- is the most important thing. I heartily agree. If I had to, I would trade every valuable volume in my library for one dogeared copy The Complete -- just as long as it was still readable.
What's your favorite Sherlock Holmes item?
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