You probably are familiar with the name and works of Vincent Starrett, one of the great American Sherlockians of the 20th century. Among his classic works were The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (no relation to the movie of that name) and the poem "221B."
He also wrote the postcard above, which is one of the wonderfully unique items in my library. He sent it on 2 March 1966 to Mr. Richard Sparks of Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with a 4-cent stamp. It came to me as a gift from my friends Dr. Joel and Carolyn Senter, owners of Classic Specialties. I think in my religious tradition we might call it a second class relic.
Do you have any Sherlockian relics?
Dan:
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing this out to me.
I agree that having a postcard (or letter) from Vincent Starrett is not only fun, but adds a nice touch to any collection. Starrett was like Sherlock Holmes, in that they both had correspondence that had the charm of variety.
If Starrett wrote back a letter, the biggest challenge is in deciphering his scrawling hand. Typewritten letters are easier, but in those manual typewriter days, they can still prove to be a challenge.
I've also posted one of his postcards, this one from 1947, at Studies in Starrett, the little blog I curate. The address is:
http://www.vincentstarrett.com/blog/2014/3/8/lqvb9k6hn56qxyujeogpedpylfjcgu
Thanks again!
Ray Betzner