HOLMES AND THE BARD OF AVON PART 1
HOW WELL did the world’s greatest consulting detective know his Shakespeare? Based on Dr. John H. Watson’s initial assessments, not very much at all. On the other hand, Sherlockian scholars … Continue reading
THE CHASLES VRAIN-LUCAS SCAM PART 2
YESTERDAY IN Part 1, Michel Chasles was ecstatic having bought a letter from fellow Frenchman Denis Vrain-Lucas. This letter proved that French scientist Blaise Pascal had figured out gravitation before … Continue reading
THE CHASLES VRAIN-LUCAS SCAM PART 1
SOMETIMES PASSIONATE highly intelligent people are the easiest marks. Or so it seemed with 19th-century French mathematician Michel Chasles. Chasles had a passion for collecting antiquarian ephemera; fellow Frenchman Denis … Continue reading
AS HARD-BOILED AS A SHAMUS’S SIMILE PART 2
YESTERDAY AT SimanaitisSays, we talked about the difference between similes and metaphors, defined the word “shamus,” and extolled mystery author Raymond Chandler as a master of all three. Today, I … Continue reading
AS HARD-BOILED AS A SHAMUS’S SIMILE PART 1
RAYMOND CHANDLER said hard-boiled literature of the 1920s and 1930s “made most of the fiction of the time taste like a cup of luke-warm consommé at a spinsterish tea room.” … Continue reading
HOLMES AND AEROPLANES PART 2
BORN IN 1854, Sherlock Holmes matured during decades of significant scientific development. In particular, internal combustion promised concentrated power to accompany the flight experiments described yesterday in “Holmes and the … Continue reading
HOLMES AND AEROPLANES PART 1
BY THE TIME aeroplanes reliably flew in British skies, the world’s first consulting detective Sherlock Holmes was already bee-keeping in his retirement. However, he had excellent opportunity to see fledgling … Continue reading
HOLMES IN ERROR, GOOSEWISE?
THERE’S CONTROVERSY resulting from Dr. John H. Watson’s chronicling of “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.” The gemstone of this title, belonging to the Countess of Morcar, was allegedly found … Continue reading
HOLMES AND RUGBY (MOSTLY RUGBY) PART 2
Yesterday at SimanaitisSays, we encountered the challenge of understanding rugby jargon, part of “The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter.” Here in Part 2, we profit from editor Leslie S. Klinger’s … Continue reading
HOLMES AND RUGBY (MOSTLY RUGBY) PART 1
IN HIS YOUTH, Dr. John H. Watson played rugby, or rugger, as it was also called at the time. He mentions this in chronicling “The Sussex Vampire,” a Holmes adventure … Continue reading
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