July 27, 1880: The battle of Maiwand. (STUD)
July 27, 1898: Hilton Cubitt first visited Holmes. (DANC)
On July 26th…
July 26, 1889: Percy Phelps recovered from Brain Fever. (NAVA)
July 26, 1898: Second dancing men with message “Am Here, Abe Slaney” appeared. (DANC)
On July 20th…
July 20, 1903: Prof. Presbury was attacked a third time by his wolf hound, Rory. (CREE)
On July 19th…
July 19, 1889: Holmes returned the missing letter to Trelawney Hope’s dispatch box. (SECO)
July 19, 1898: First Dancing Men appeared. (DANC)
On July 18th…
July 18, 1889: Lady Hilda retrieved the missing letter from beneath Eduardo Lucas’s floor. (SECO)
On July 17th…
July 17, 1889: An inquest into the death of Eduardo Lucas was held. (SECO)
July 17, 1888: Silver Blaze won the Wessex Cup. (SILV)
July 17, 1888: Holmes told Colonel Ross that Silver Blaze had killed John Straker. (SILV)
On July 16th…
July 16, 1889: Trelawney Hope and Lord Bellinger ask Holmes for help. (SECO)
On July 15th…
July 15, 1889: Eduardo Lucas was stabbed to death by his wife Mme. Fournaye. (SECO)
Vincent Starrett
“But there can be no grave for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson… Shall they not always live in Baker Street? Are they not there this moment, as one writes? Outside, the hansoms rattle through the rain, and Moriarty plans his latest devilry. Within, the sea-coal flames upon the hearth and Holmes and Watson take their well-won case… So they still live for all that love them well; in a romantic chamber of the heart, in a nostalgic country of the mind, where it is always 1895.”
― Vincent Starrett, The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes
On July 13th…
July 13, 1888: Holmes called upon Madam Lesurier. (SILV)
On July 12th…
July 12, 1895: Holmes captured Patrick Cairns. (BLAC)
On July 11th…
July 11, 1895: John Hopley Neligen was apprehended at Peter Carey’s cabin. (BLAC)
July 11, 1895: Holmes sent a telegram using the name of Captain Basil. (BLAC)
July 11, 1903: Prof. Presbury was attacked a second time by his wolf hound, Rory. (CREE)
On July 10th…
July 10, 1895: Holmes visited the scene of Peter Carey’s murder. (BLAC)
July 10, 1888: At about 2 AM, Silver Blaze killed John Straker. (SILV) Another one of my favorite stories in the Canon. I never had heard of a horse as a weapon and innocent of murder by reason of self-defense. At age 12, I did not care about racing laws, rules, and such. Now as an adult? I still don’t care about them. It’s a great story.
July 10, 1889: A letter from a foreign potentate was received in the foreign office. (SECO)
On July 9th…
July 9, 1895: John Hopley Neligan attempted to break into Peter Carey’s cabin. (BLAC)
July 9, 1895: Holmes received a wire from Inspector Hopkins. (BLAC)
John Northern Hilliard
NOTE: Click image to view in full size.
Ballade of Baker Street
NOTE: Click image to view in full size.
Sonnet on Baker Street
Christopher Morley on Sherlock Holmes; also in Profile by Gaslight
Quick, Watson, quick! (he says) the game’s afoot:
Perhaps it’s only Scandal in Bohemia,
Or maybe Speckled Band, or Devil’s Root,
Or famous sleuth who’s dying of Anaemia–
The Dancing Men, Chicago’s smartest crooks
Have given us the code: we’ll fool that party: —
These are not merely episodes in books,
But the Crusade of Holmes and Moriarty.
So bring the fiddle and the dressing gown,
And Mrs. Hudson, and brave Scotland Yard,
And Watson by the jezail bullet lamed–
We rattle in a hansom back to Town.
If this is fancy, history’s debarred:
If this is fiction, let fact be ashamed.
On July 3rd…
July 3, 1895: At 2 AM, Patrick Cairns killed Peter Carey with a harpoon. (BLAC)
Another one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fantastic word pictures. Quoting from the Canon:
And there in the middle of it was the man himself, his face twisted like a lost soul in torment, and his great brindled beard stuck upwards in his agony. Right through his broad breast a steel harpoon had been driven, and it had sunk deep into the wood of the wall behind him. He was pinned like a beetle on a card. Of course, he was quite dead, and had been so from the instant that he uttered that last yell of agony.
What a description!! His word pictures like that made me at 12 years old on the plains of Kansas move to Baker Street for the rest of my life.
On July 2nd…
July 2, 1894: John Hector MacFarlane was arrested by Lestrade. (NORW)
July 2, 1903: Prof. Presbury was attacked by his own wolf hound, Roy. (CREE)
On July 1st…
July 1, 1894: Jonas Oldacre brought his will to John Hector MacFarlane. (NORW)
July 1, 1985: Patrick Cairns first visited Peter Carrey. (BLAC)