tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4845298254416012429.post5922931985746915524..comments2018-05-28T09:46:56.759-07:00Comments on The Camden House Journal: Did the Annotated Sherlock Holmes Introduce you to the World of Sherlock Holmes?Sherlock Holmeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18360498786986965414noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4845298254416012429.post-55259193506162219702015-10-16T22:15:33.524-07:002015-10-16T22:15:33.524-07:00When I was a second-year law student, I was dilige...When I was a second-year law student, I was diligent about preparing for class, but I also had a strict rule that I had to read recreational material from 11 pm to midnight. My girlfriend, sensing a gap in my life, purchased for me the Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William S. Baring-Gould. Now I had probably read a few of the stories in the Canon in high school--I was primarily a reader of science fiction--but this time, I was hooked. It wasn't just the stories; it was the footnotes, which led to the discovery of SHERLOCKIANS and the huge body of Sherlockian scholarship. I immediately subscribed to the Baker Street Journal and read everything I could. This lead me to begin collecting Holmesiana, and reading the material I collected broadened my sense of the scholarship. Collecting lead me to occasionally lecturing about Holmes. In 1995, my wife Sharon encouraged me to try my own hand at contributing to the Sherlockian literature, and a few thousand footnotes later, I'm still at it!<br />I often say that my work owes an enormous debt to Baring-Gould; I was enabled to stand on the shoulders of this giant of Sherlockian scholars. I am always quick to admit that I had three distinct advantages over Baring-Gould: (1) I had computers and the Internet available, (2) I had access to the monumental bibliography of all things Holmesian by Ronald B. DeWaal, and (3) I got to use the Baring-Gould Annotated SH as my starting point! It's easy for me to say that if Baring-Gould had not lived and had not loved Sherlock Holmes as he so evidently did, my life would be nothing like it is today. I'm truly sorry that William Baring-Gould never got to receive the adulation and gratitude that he so deserved!<br /><br />Les KlingerLesliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09575444638150065059noreply@blogger.com