The Baker Street Irregulars
The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley.[1] The nonprofit organization numbers some 300 individuals worldwide.[2] The group has published The Baker Street Journal — an "irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana" — since 1946.[1]
History
The BSI was an outgrowth of Christopher Morley's informal group, "3 Hours for Lunch" which discussed art and literature.[3] The first inaugural meeting of the BSI was held in 1934 at Christ Cella's restaurant in New York City.[4] Initial attendees included William Gillette, Vincent Starrett, Alexander Woollcott, and Gene Tunney.[3] Morley kept meetings quite irregular but after ceding leadership to Edgar W. Smith, meetings became more regular.[3][5]
The organization long resisted admitting women, something not altered until 1991.[3] This policy spawned a female-centered organization, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes.[5]
Members of the society participate in "the game"[6] which postulates that Holmes and Doctor Watson were real and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was merely Watson's "literary agent".[7]
Membership
Membership is by invitation only[5] based on criteria unknown to the public.[3] Members take on a name inspired by the canon[8] with the head of the organization known as "Wiggins".[3] Since its inception, the organization has only had 683 members.[9]
Notable members
Notable members of the Baker Street Irregulars include the following:
- Karen Anderson[10]
- Poul Anderson[3]
- Curtis Armstrong[11]
- Isaac Asimov[3]
- William S. Baring-Gould[8]
- Anthony Boucher[8]
- Jan Burke[8]
- Bert Coules[12]
- August Derleth[13]
- Michael Dirda[6]
- Frederic Dorr Steele[4]
- Lyndsay Faye[14]
- Robert L. Fish[13]
- Neil Gaiman[15]
- John Gardner[10]
- Richard Lancelyn Green[7]
- Michael Harrison[16]
- Laurie R. King[8]
- Leslie S. Klinger[10]
- Nicholas Meyer[10]
- David F. Musto[17]
- Otto Penzler[10]
- Ellery Queen[3]
- Michael J. Quigley[18]
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (honorary)[19]
- Richard B. Shull
- Vincent Starrett[3]
- Daniel Stashower[20]
- Frederic Dorr Steele[21]
- Rex Stout[3]
- Eve Titus[22]
- Harry Truman (honorary)[19]
- J. N. Williamson[10]
- Douglas Wilmer[10]
The Baker Street Journal
The original iteration of the BSJ was started in 1946 as an academic journal but it ceased in 1946.[3] In 1951, Edgar Smith began publishing it again as a quarterly and it has continued publication since that time.[3]
Scion societies
The BSI has spawned numerous "scion societies",[4] many of which are officially recognized by the BSI. The first was The Five Orange Pips of Westchester County, New York in 1935.[3] Others include Canada's The Bootmakers of Toronto.
References
- ^ a b "Baker Street Irregulars 1923-2007: Guide". Houghton Library, Harvard Library. Harvard University. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "The Baker Street Irregulars Trust". ZoomInfo. March 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur; Klinger, Leslie S. (2005). The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. lxiii–lxvi. ISBN 0-7394-5304-1.
- ^ a b c Bunson, Matthew (1997). Encyclopedia Sherlockiana: an A-to-Z guide to the world of the great detective. Macmillan. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-02-861679-0.
- ^ a b c Faye, Lyndsay (March 22, 2012). "Inside the Baker Street Irregulars". Tor.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Dirda, Michael (February 2, 2012). "Sherlock Lives!". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Grann, David (December 13, 2004). "Mysterious Circumstances". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Kaska, Kathleen (March 29, 2014). "A Society like None Other: The Baker Street Irregulars Celebrates 80 Years". Kings River Life. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Lynch, Michelle N. (January 28, 2018). "Exeter man admitted to exclusive Sherlock Holmes literary society". Reading Eagle. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g "List of Invested BSI, Two-Shilling Award Recipients, and The Woman" (PDF). BSI History Resources. The Baker Street Irregulars Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2017/07/episode-125-revenge-of-sherlockian-nerd.html
- ^ Blumenberg, Taylor (January 10, 2016). "Episode 71: Bert Coules". Baker Street Babes. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ a b Zeffren, Tamar (September 26, 2015). "The 1971 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Claire, Nancy (September 15, 2013). "Sherlockian Girl Goes Wilde: An Interview with Lyndsay Faye". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- ^ Zeffren, Tamar (October 31, 2016). "The 2005 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Zeffren, Tamar (March 12, 2016). "The 1985 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ "In Memoriam: Dr. David Musto". Yale Daily News. October 13, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
- ^ Monty, Scott (January 8, 2017). "The 2017 BSI Weekend Ended in Friendship".
- ^ a b Mehegan, David (November 28, 2005). "Guilt by association: For 65 years, a Boston club has made Sherlock Holmes mysteries a scholarly pastime". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Shashower, Daniel (July 10, 2015). "Why Sherlock Holmes Endures". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ "Frederic D. Steele, An Illustrator, 70". The New York Times. July 7, 1944. Retrieved 2016-01-28.
- ^ Zeffren, Tamar (May 19, 2016). "The 1993 BSI Dinner". The BSI Trust. Retrieved January 3, 2018.