The Sherlock Holmes Collections, University of Minnesota Libraries

NEW!! U MEDIA ARCHIVE

A number of digital resources are now available on the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive". At present this includes digital scans of Sherlockian pins, buttons, illustrations, and three-dimensional items. Simply enter "Sherlock Holmes" in the search box to see all the items currently available from the Holmes Collections.

NEW!! FRIENDS OF THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COLLECTIONS GIVING INFORMATION

Interested in becoming a Friend of the Sherlock Holmes Collections? With membership in the Friends you'll receive the quarterly newsletter that provides insights and updates about the Collections. You'll also have the satisfaction of supporting the collections and programs. Basic annual dues are $20 and may be given in honor or memory of an individual. Donations beyond the basic level are also encouraged.

There are three funds set up to support the Sherlock Holmes Collections. These are:
-- The E. W. McDiarmid Curator for Sherlock Holmes Fund (5412). This fund supports the endowed curator's position and associated programming.
-- The John Bennett Shaw Sherlock Holmes Fund (3906). This fund supports publication of the newsletter and other collection exhibits and programming.
-- The Philip S. Hench Sherlock Holmes Acquisitions Fund (1629). This fund supports acquisitions for the Collections.

We now have the ability to process gifts online. There are a number of ways that you can give to support the Sherlock Holmes Collections (please keep in mind which specific fund you'd like to support):

To give online using your credit card go to this University of Minnesota Foundation site and follow these steps:
1. Enter your gift amount, full name, and name of your spouse/partner if you'd like them credited with the gift as well.
2. In the pull-down menu for "I would like to support" select "Libraries, University".
3. In the box "Special instructions for your gift" type the name of Sherlock Holmes fund you'd like to support. You can choose and type one of the following three fund names in the box: Fund 5412 (McDiarmid Curator), Fund 3906 (John Bennett Shaw Fund), or Fund 1629 (Hench Acquisitions Fund).
4. If you'd like to give your gift in honor or memory of someone, use the final pull-down menu to indicate your choice.
5. Click the "Continue" button.
If your gift is in honor or memory of someone you will be asked to provide this information on the next screen. From there you will be directed to a US Bank site to finish your transaction.

To give by sending a check or money order payable to the University of Minnesota Foundation use this gift form. Be sure to indicate which Sherlock Holmes fund you wish your gift applied towards. Print the gift form and send with your gift to:

Sherlock Holmes Collections -- University of Minnesota Libraries
C-M 3854
P.O. Box 70870
St. Paul, MN 55170-3854

To give by setting up electronic fund transfers (EFT) to make a recurring gift directly from your bank account or credit card follow the directions on this page.

Annual renewals are also sent out in the fall issue of the newsletter, if you wish to use the regular donation envelope provided with the newsletter.

Research Tools and Useful Links

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

FINDING AIDS TO MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL IN THE SHERLOCK HOLMES COLLECTIONS

COLLECTIONS

The Baker Street Irregulars Trust, Houghton Library, Harvard University
Search Harvard's "Hollis" catalog using the keywords "Baker Street Irregulars" for holdings.
Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, Toronto Public Library
See the Collection web page for information on accessing the holdings and for digital items in the "Curator's Showcase." A search in the online catalog using the keywords "conan doyle collection" will provide additional listings.
Sherlock Holmes Collection, Marylebone Information Service, London
See the web page and additional links for information about the collection and digital exhibits.
The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection Lancelyn Green Bequest, Portsmouth
See the web page and additional links for information about the collection, exhibits, and accessing the book collection through the online catalog. A search in the online catalog under the keywords "Richard Lancelyn Green Bequest" will provide additional listings.
The Kittle Collection of Doyleana, Newberry Library, Chicago
See the web page and additional links for information on the collection. A finding aid to a portion of the collection is found at this link. A search in the online catalog under the keywords "kittle collection" will provide additional materials.
The Sub-Librarians Scion of the the Baker Street Irregulars in the American Library Association, list, "Libraries with Sherlock Holmes or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Collections"
A very useful list of additional collections with some active links to additional information.

RESOURCES

John Bergquist's Sherlockian Resources on the Internet: A Survey
Willis G. Frick's Sherlocktron's Holmepage
Alexian Gregory's The ABC of the BSI & The Florin Society
Chris Redmond's Sherlockian.net
Sherlock Holmes Society of France The Sherlockian Who's Who
Randall Stock's Conan Doyle Manuscripts Checklist

SOCIETIES, ORGANIZATIONS

The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota
The Baker Street Irregulars
The Bootmakers of Toronto: The National Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada
Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, The Toronto Reference Library
The Arthur Conan Doyle Society
Sherlock Holmes Society of London

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

2010 CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS

For those of you who missed the conference, or if you were here and want another look (or another copy), here are some of the conference publications that were included in the packet handed out to attendees.

"The Spirits of Sherlock Holmes" conference program booklet
Andersen Library exhibit booklet, "The Spirits of Sherlock Holmes"
Wilson Library exhibit booklet, "Through The Eyes of an Enthusiast -- The Allen Mackler Collection"
"The Sitting Room at 221B Baker Street: A Permanent Exhibit from the Sherlock Holmes Collections"
Sheet Music, "The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes"

Other publications of interest
1993 Norwegian Explorers Conference Proceedings, "Rogues, Rascals and Ruffians"
"Story of the Blue Carbuncle," from Pennsylvania Grit Story Companion, December 18, 1904
"The Adventure of the Red Circle," from the June 11, 1911 Boston Sunday Post
R. A. Knox, "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes," The Blue Book, v. 1, n. 2 (July 1912): 111-132
R. A. Knox, "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes," Blackfriars, v. 1, n. 3 (June 1920): 154-172
Friends of the Library Newsletter Summer 1995
E. W. McDiarmid, "The Saga of a Sherlockian Scion Society: The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota" (Norwegian Explorers, 1995)
George Hubbs, "Yes, Virginia, Sherlock Holmes Lives" (Norwegian Explorers, 1995)
"Under the Arch II" Exhibit Booklet
Sheet Music, "The Ghost of Sherlock Holmes"
"More Than a 'washed-up has-been': Textual Aspects of the Holmes Icon" (Delivered paper) (pdf, 60KB)

ART, PHOTOGRAPHY, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND OTHER DIGITAL RESOURCES

University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive" of digital resources from the Sherlock Holmes Collections
Parker Brothers, Sherlock Holmes Game, 1904

ABOUT THE COLLECTIONS

The Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Library constitute the world’s largest gathering of material related to Sherlock Holmes and his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
The Collections consist of over 15,000 items including books, journals, and a wide variety of other forms through which the transformation of the Holmes character from the printed page to a cultural icon can be traced.
The Sherlockian materials within the Collections include:

Artifacts
Audio & Video Recordings
Books
Journals
License Plates
Manuscripts
Motion Pictures & Film Strips
Musical Scores
Original Artwork
Periodicals

Personal Papers & Libraries
Playbills
Posters
Radio Scripts & Original recordings
Scrapbooks
Statuary
T-Shirts
Theatrical Programs
Toys & Games

Collections Profile

SHERLOCK HOLMES STORIES
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Between 1887 and 1927 Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories featuring the Holmes character.
The Collections include a wide range of English language editions of these works, plus translations in over fifty other languages.

SHERLOCK HOLMES STORIES
by Other Writers
Following in the footsteps of Sir Arthur, many writers have taken their own turn at creating a Holmes adventure. These imitations or pastiches have included works by Isaac Asimov, Agatha Christie, Adrian Conan Doyle (Sir Arthur’s son), Stephen King, A.A. Milne, Mark Twain, and P.G. Wodehouse. The Collections have a wide selection, both serious and lighthearted.

WRITINGS ON THE WRITINGS
These include commentaries and reference works on almost every aspect of the Holmes stories and the Victorian Era in which they are set.

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
If one wants to know more about the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the Collections have biographical material, as well as Conan Doyle’s own works of non-Sherlockian fiction and nonfiction.

JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS
The Collections hold numerous journals from Sherlock Holmes appreciation societies throughout the world. The journal collection includes complete holdings of the Baker Street Journal, from the Baker Street Irregulars of New York, and The Sherlock Holmes Journal from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Copies of The Strand Magazine, where many of the Holmes stories first appeared, are also available for consultation.

SCRAPBOOKS
The scrapbooks contain exhaustive clippings from periodicals which mention Holmes or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The scrapbooks were assembled by John Bennett Shaw and they include material from 1869 to 1994.

THE PERFORMING ARTS
The performing arts material includes audio and video recordings, musical scores, posters, scripts, theater programs, and other material related to Holmes productions.

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND POPULAR CULTURE
Numerous artifacts document the iconographic development and universal appeal of Sherlock Holmes. The typical deerstalker hat, magnifying glass and curved pipe associated with Holmes are represented in their many mediums.

History of the Collections

The Sherlock Holmes Collections began in 1974 with the purchase of James C. Iraldi’s small but distinguished library of first editions of the Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Thus, the University of Minnesota Library has been building the Sherlock Holmes Collections for more than thirty years. Direct purchases and generous donations have helped the Collections to reach their current size and comprehensiveness.
Two of the more important collections of the many that have been added since 1974 are those of Philip S. Hench and John Bennett Shaw.
Philip S. Hench M.D., was a Mayo Clinic consulting physician and a recipient of the Nobel Prize for medicine (1950), who, with his wife Mary Kahler Hench, built one of the more remarkable Sherlockian libraries ever assembled. The treasures of the Hench library include: unique copies of Beeton’s Christmas Annual, (1887) containing “A Study in Scarlet”, the first Sherlock Holmes adventure; English and American first editions of the stories; plus material related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, William Gillette, and Frederic Dorr Steele.
John Bennett Shaw, an entrepreneur from Santa Fe, New Mexico attempted to collect everything on or about Sherlock Holmes and nearly succeeded. The Shaw Collection is the most diverse, with items running the gamut from books to stuffed animals.

For more information on the history of the collection see Timothy J. Johnson, "The Adventure of the Unopened Box: Building the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries," Collection Management 29 (3/4) 2004:121-141

Using the Collections

The materials in the Sherlock Holmes Collections do not circulate outside of the reading room of the Special Collections and Rare Books Department. Photocopying is available and is subject to applicable copyright laws.
Before visiting the Collections in person, please make an appointment with the Collection Specialist for the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the address below.

Sherlock Holmes Collections
111 Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-624-3552
Fax: 612-625-5525
E-mail: Sherlock Holmes Collections

1998
Volume 2, Number 1 (PDF, 405 kb)
Volume 2, Number 2 (PDF, 602 kb)
Volume 2, Number 3 (PDF, 1.8 mb)
Volume 2, Number 4 (PDF, 430 kb)

2000
Volume 4, Number 1 (PDF, 346 kb)
Volume 4, Number 2 (PDF, 379 kb)
Volume 4, Number 3 (PDF, 492 kb)
Volume 4, Number 4 (PDF, 355 kb)

2002
Volume 6, Number 1 (PDF, 251 kb)
Volume 6, Number 2 (PDF, 289 kb)
Volume 6, Number 3 (PDF, 230 kb)
Volume 6, Number 4 (PDF, 315 kb)

2004
Volume 8, Number 1 (PDF, 2.27 mb)
Volume 8, Number 2 (PDF, 1.96 mb)
Volume 8, Number 3 (PDF, 1.16 mb)
Volume 8, Number 4 (PDF, 2.19 mb)

2006
Volume 10, Number 1 (PDF, 198 kb)
Volume 10, Number 2 (PDF, 235 kb)
Volume 10, Number 3 (PDF, 232 kb)
Volume 10, Number 4 (PDF, 234 kb)

2008
Volume 12, Number 1 (PDF, 620 kb)
Volume 12, Number 2 (PDF, 820 kb)
Volume 12, Number 3 (PDF, 949 kb)
Volume 12, Number 4 (PDF, 1.88 mb)

2010
Volume 14, Number 1 (PDF, 383 kb)
Volume 14, Number 2 (PDF, 413 kb)
Volume 14, Number 3 (PDF, 715 kb)
Volume 14, Number 4 (PDF, 351 kb)

Exhibition Catalogs

Items from the collections have been featured in a number of exhibitions. Booklets produced as a part of each exhibit are reproduced here, in PDF format and include:

Arthur Conan Doyle (1979) (PDF, 10.5MB)
Molding the Image: William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes (1983) (PDF, 2.2MB)
The Other Master: Frederic Dorr Steele (1984) (PDF, 3.3MB)
Investigating Sherlock Holmes (1985) (PDF, 1.5 MB)
The Frederic Dorr Steele Memorial Collection (1987)(PDF, 3MB)
Howard Haycraft and the Art of Detective Fiction (1993) (PDF, 2.5MB)
The Basic Holmesian Library: A Catalog (2001) (PDF, 1.47MB)
A River Runs By It: Holmes and Doyle in Minnesota (2004) (PDF, 55KB)
Victorian Secrets and Edwardian Enigmas: The Riddles of the Rooms of 221B Baker Street (2007) (PDF, 2.22MB)

The Sherlock Holmes Collections in the Media

At U. of Minnesota Libraries, a Curator Beckons Holmes, Sweet Holmes (Profile of the collection and curator in The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 16, 2011)

Case is never closed for local Sherlock Holmes fans Bill Ward article in Minneapolis Star Tribune (August 4, 2010)

The Enduring Appeal of Sherlock Holmes, Minnesota Public Radio Midmorning (April 1, 2010)

Patrick Reusse and Company, KSTP AM1500 (January 13, 2010)

Studio 360 on Sherlock Holmes (Dec. 25, 2009)

Associated Press article by Jeff Baenen on the Holmes Collections (Dec. 16, 2009)

Associated Press video on the Holmes Collections (Dec. 16, 2009)

University Relations video on the Holmes Collections (Dec. 17, 2009)

University Relations video on treasures from the Holmes Collections (Dec. 17, 2009)

Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) "NewsNight Minnesota" -- Ken Stone uncovers the Holmes Collection (Feb. 5, 2001)

MN Daily Video Report on the Holmes exhibit (Aug. 10, 2007)

WCCO TV "Finding Minnesota" -- Reporter Jeanette Trompeter highlights the Holmes exhibit and collections (July 15, 2007)

WCCO Radio "The Don Shelby Show" -- Don discusses Sherlock Holmes with curator Tim Johnson and Showboat star Chris Kehoe (June 29, 2007)

WMGT Radio "The Stan Turner Show" -- Stan discusses Sherlock Holmes with curator Tim Johnson and Norwegian Explorers president Julie McKuras (June 18, 2005)