While researching my book, The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book, I amassed a collection of Holmes reference books that now occupy much of my bookshelf. Occasionally, I pull one down, dust it off, reread it, and am reminded of the enjoyment I experienced while gathering hundreds of Holmes trivia facts. One of my favorites is A Sherlock Holmes Companion, a collection of essays and articles written about Holmes and edited by Peter Haining. P. G. Wodehouse, Franklin Roosevelt, Basil Rathbone, Winifred Paget, John Bennett Shaw, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle contributed to the compendium.
Here are some great Holmes trivia gleaned 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 have discovered Sherlock Holmes’ will in which the detective leaves Dr. Watson five thousand pounds and any books he wanted, his dictionary went to Lestrade, a collection of poetry to Tobias Gregson, a copy of each of his monographs to Scotland 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 their twelve best Holmes stories. Conan Doyle drew up his own list, placed it in a sealed 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 his essay, Sherlock Holmes Was An American, in The Baker Street Journal, he was critically attacked 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.
My parents are away celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I've been stopping by their house to take care of their cat while they're away. On my visit today, I began rummaging through some of their book cases to see what looked interesting. I saw a few books on the shelf that were written by my grandfather, Nathan L. Bengis. later, when i got home, I decided to do a Google search on his name. I am bowled over by the pages of hits. It amazes me that he's been gone for over 30 years, yet his name still appears in recent blog posts. Thank you for making me smile today.
Hi Andia,
Thanks so much for your post. I will google your grandfather and look up his books. With the reissuing of my Sherlock Holmes book, I would love to post more information about Sherlockians from the past. Your grandfather sounds like an interesting fellow.
Kathleen
Andia,
If you have copies of any of your grandfather's articles on Holmes, please send me one. I would love to read it. You can contact me via my webpage: kathleenkaska@hotmail.com.
Thanks.