From: Chuck.Lavazzi@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Chuck Lavazzi)
Subject: The FAQ list, first approximation
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:27:21 GMT


	I don't know whether I'm the right person to do this or not.  I didn't
start the group, but I seem to be posting on it quite a bit and no one else
has volunteered [>:-)>] so here goes.

Q.	Which Holmes is it?
A.	Sherlock Holmes, the world's first consulting detective.

Q.	Was Holmes a real person?
A.	No, he was a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
	But that's just drab reality.  Admirers of The Master prefer the
	more colorful assumptions of "The Grand Game".

Q.	What's "The Grand Game"?
A.	Sherlockian scholarship.  Sherlockians assume that Holmes, Watson,
	and the various supporting characters really lived, and that the
	stories and novels attributed to Doyle are actually records of real	
	cases written by Watson and sold to publishers through Doyle (often
	referred to as The Literary Agent).
	Based on this assuption, Sherlockians attempt to make deductions about
	various aspects of Holmes' and Watson's lives and times.  They draw
	on information from contemporary sources and, of course, on The Canon.

Q.	What's The Canon?
A.	The collected Holmes short stories and novels which bear Doyle's
	authorship.  The various pastiches and parodies which have been
	written by others are not considered part of the Holmesian canon.

Q.	Where are Sherlockian papers published?
A.	In any off the several hundred Sherlockian journals published all over
	the world.  The oldest and most prestigious, at least in the USA, is
	The Baker Street Journal, which is published by Fordham U. press but
	edited (currently) out of St. Louis, Missouri, by Philip A. Shreffler,
	B.S.I.

Q.	B.S.I?
A.	B.S.I. = Baker Street Irregulars, the oldest and most prestigious of
	the Sherlockian societies in the USA.  The organization takes its
	name from the group of "street children" who Holmes employed as his
	unofficial police/spy organization.  The BSI was originally founded
	as a small literary club in the 1930s.  It has since grown into a
	much larger organization, with membership offered by invitation only.
	Most other Sherlockian societies consider themselves "scion"
	societies of this parent organization, at least in the USA.
	The British equivalent would be the Sherlock Holmes Society of
	London.

Q.	How many scion societies are there?
A.	Hundreds, at least, all over the world.  Nearly every town of any
	size at all in the USA boasts at least one.  Here in St. Louis, for
	example, we have at least 4:  The Noble Bachelors, The Jefferson
	Hopes, The Naval Treaty, and The Harpooners of the Sea Unicorn.

Q.	Where do those names come from?
A.	Scions traditionally take their names from persons, places, or
	events in the Canon.  The Noble Bachelors, for example, are named
	after "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor".  The Jefferson Hopes
	take their name from a character in "A Study in Scarlet" who was
	originally from St. Louis.  And so it goes.

Q.	What do the scions do?
A.	It varies considerably from group to group.  They have meetings at
	irregular(!) intervals, read papers, organize social events,
	publish journals, and generally have a fine time.

Q.	Was there really a 221-b Baker Street?
A.	No, nor is there one now.  The nearest address to the fictional 221-b
	is currently occupied by a financial institution which continues to
	receive letters addressed to Holmes on a daily basis.


	Well, it's a start, anyway.  I plan to continue to this as time
permits, dealing with questions about Holmes' drug use, his realtionship with
Irene Adler (such as it was), The Great Hiatus, and so on.  I'd appreciate
feedback from other readers of the group and suggestions for questions to be 
included in the FAQ.  Thanks.

Chuck

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: alt.fan.enya