“THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON” TO HOLMES PART 1
IT WAS ON Friday, December 27, 1889, that Sherlockian chronicler Dr. John H. Watson visited Holmes at 221 B Baker Street and wished him “the compliments of the season.” Today … Continue reading
DR. JOHN H. WATSON—FASHIONISTO
SHERLOCKIAN CHRISTOPHER MORLEY wrote that “Watson was a couturier at heart.” Today, maybe we’d say fashionisto, masculinizing the term “fashionista,” defined in Merriam-Webster as “a designer, promotor, or follower of … Continue reading
HOLMES AND THE BARD PART 2
FOR SOMEONE whose knowledge of literature was first thought “nil” by Doctor John H. Watson, Sherlock Holmes quoted Shakespeare a goodly number of times. We started all this yesterday here … Continue reading
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
