Crimes and their Times Did The Red Circle's namesake adventure take place in 1885 or in 1903? Or sometime in between? There's no subject in the world of Sherlock Holmes that generates more spirited debate than the chronology of the Canon. Timeline detectives have spent decades mining the fine details of each story for clues to their dates, yet consensus has proven chronically elusive. Brad Keefauver presides over the Sherlockian Chronologist Guild, an on-line society that publishes a monthly journal, Timeline. Two articles in the June 2022 issue examine "The Red Circle," where you can see just how complicated Sherlockian chronology can be. You're invited to read the issue for yourself here. And if you'd like to receive the journal regularly, just email Brad here. 3/2/24 AR 
Can it possibly be 40 years? It seems like yesterday that Jeremy Brett burst onto our TV screens as a Sherlock Holmes for the ages. . .a fine actor appearing in scripts that are notoriously faithful to the Canon. May 25 marked the date for a one-day 40th anniversary celebration of Brett's turn in Granada's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Dubbed Brettcon, it happened in Guildford, Surry, and is the brainchild of Gus and Luke Holwerda, proprietors of the 40+ episode podcast called--what else?--Sherlock Podcast. Whether or not you listen to the podcasts, and whether or not you made it across the pond for the doings in May, you'll want to spend two minutes with the lovely trailer Gus and Luke have put together for the event. Watch it here. 2/27/24 ARThe Thing’s a Play! What really happened when Holmes returned from The Great Hiatus and greeted Mrs. Hudson at 221B? Sherlockian Ray Betzner has penned a seven minute solution to that question in the form of a suitably irreverant drama, performed at the 2024 William Gillette Luncheon in New York. Carrying on Gillette’s pioneering work as Sherlock Holmes was Curtis Armstrong, himself a celebrated actor (Revenge of the Nerds, Risky Business). Opposite Curtis as Mrs. Hudson was Dr. Ashley Polasek, possibly the only Sherlockian who holds a Ph.D. in Holmes adaptations. Rounding out the cast in the role of the dummy (OK, the bust) was multi-award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig, who proved conclusively that there really are such things as small roles. Thanks to the recording made by the Red Circle’s Matt Hall, and permission to use the “intellectual” property from all involved, you’re invited to enjoy Mrs. Hudson and the Return of Sherlock Holmes here. Have fun! 1/31/24 AR
The end of an era approaches The Red Circle's own Denny Dobry has for many years welcomed fellow Sherlockians to visit his splendid recreation of the sitting-room at 221B Baker Street in his home in Reading, PA. Now, as Denny prepares to move his amazing room to a place of safekeeping, he has invited his Red Circle friends to an open house on Saturday, August 10, beginning at 11:00 am. When you visit, you'll be able to purchase books and other Sherlockiana that have been donated to the BSI Trust. Plan now to take advantage of what may be your last chance to enjoy this remarkable homage to The Great Detective. Contact Denny directly to rsvp and get directions to Reading. 7/1/24 AR
Red Circle Fall meeting to convene at Folger Shakespeare Library Taking a break from our usual luncheon meetings, the Red Circle is planning to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library on Sunday, 
September 8. We’ll be treated to an exclusive tour of the Stuart and Mimi Rose Collection, which conveniently includes the manuscript of The Valley of Fear among its many eye-popping literary treasures. The collection curator, Greg Prickman, will personally conduct the tour at 2:00 pm, and reservations will be accepted in the order they are received. Please request reservations via an email to Peter E. Blau, and we'll do our best to accommodate everyone. If you would like to know more about what you'll see at the exhibition, the Folger has kindly created a virtual tour which you can access here. Case 
#4 will be of particular interest. There's much more to see at the newly renovated and glorious Folger, including the world's largest collection of First Folios, and docents will be available to tell you some interesting stories. The Folger will be open from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, in case you'd like to come early or stay late. There is no charge for admission to the Folger, but they do request a voluntary minimum donation of $15.00 for timed entry to the exhibition. The Folger is located on Capitol Hill at 201 East Capitol Street, SE, between Second and Third Streets. Capitol South is 
the nearest Metro stop. Because there is limited street parking, Uber or Lyft might be a good choice for some. So, “The game is afoot,” as the Bard said in two plays, both to be found in the First Folio. Looking forward to seeing you at the Folger! 7/30/24 AR
What a Lovely Thing a Rose Is Tom Boswell is one of the best baseball writers we’ve ever had. For decades his regular column in The Washington Post was in the same league as the work of the legendary Sherlockian Red Smith. Boswell still files the occasional column, and his latest marks the passing of Pete Rose. He muses over the yin and yang between one of the greatest baseball players ever and the gambling habit that will forever keep him out of the Hall of Fame. It’s no surprise that Boswell concludes the column this way: “Arthur Conan Doyle once had his character Sherlock Holmes quote Flaubert: ‘The man is nothing. The work is everything.’ If Pete Rose is lucky, perhaps the future will choose to view him through that prism.” Indeed. 10/2/24 AR
Two New Sherlockian Pastiches The Red Circle’s own Michael Dirda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and columnist for The Washington Post, and it’s always especially fun when he writes about one of his favorite subjects, Sherlock Holmes. Mike's August 31 essay examines two new entries in the world of Holmesian pastiches, Nicholas Meyer’s Sherlock Holmes and the Telegram from Hell, and John Lawrence’s The Affair at Mayerling Lodge. Fair warning: after you read Mike’s column you’ll want to read both books! See the column here. 9/2/24 AR
Gomorrah by any other names The television series Gomorrah, broadcast by Sky Italia in 2014 and 2016, is again available on Max, formerly known as HBO. The series is a fictionalized account of today’s crime syndicate in Naples. The title is a pun on the syndicate’s real name, the Camorra, which is well known to those who are aware that the manuscript of “The Red Circle” accurately identifies the organization as “Camorra.” However, when the story was published the name was changed to “Carbonari.” There are subtitles in English, of course; when the series aired in Italy it was subtitled in Italian, because the dialogue is in the Neapolitan dialect rather than in proper Italian. Fair warning: the series is not for the faint-hearted. 8/19/24 PEB
The Red Circle’s June 22 meeting featured Burt Wolder’s fine presentation, “Arthur Conan Doyle: Adventurous Life, Enduring Memories.” Read Carla Coupe’s Meeting Notes here.
"The Red Circle" under the magnifying glass A low bow to Alexander E. Braun, who is publishing detailed inquiries into the Canonical adventures on the Hounds of the Internet website. He's kindly made his fine paper on our namesake story available to us, and you're welcome to read and/or download it here. It's an essential reference work. 8/4/24 AR
Holmes manuscript brings record price at auction June 26 saw five Sherlockian lots go under the hammer at Sotheby’s. The star of the show was the manuscript of the second 
Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, which sold for $960,000, making it the most valuable Sherlockian item ever sold at auction. Next up was the breathtaking original Sidney Paget illustration called “The Death of Sherlock Holmes,” which was an accurate title for the work when it was created. It shows Holmes and Moriarty grappling on the path above the Falls of Reichenbach just before the tumble into the abyss. Perhaps the most well known of Paget’s Sherlockian illustrations, it sold for $384,000, about 10% above the top end of the pre-auction estimate. Two of the other items brought good prices, and bidding on one didn’t reach the reserve. Detailed information 
about the auction is in Peter Blau's Scuttlebutt here. 7/8/24 AR STOP PRESS We now learn, and it comes as no surprise, that the purchaser of both The Sign of the Four Manuscript and the Paget "Death of Sherlock Holmes" is one of the foremost collectors of Sherlockiana in the world, friend of The Red Circle and of all Sherlockians, Glen Miranker. It is gratifying to know that these items are now part of Glen's breathtaking holdings, where they will no doubt claim considerable pride of place. Congratulations Glen! When Glen visited the Red Circle in March of 2023, he talked to us about "Why Glen Miranker Collects." If you weren't at that meeting, or even if you were, this would be a great time to look at the video of his talk. You can watch it here. 7/28/24 AR
Video now available of Curtis Armstrong's presentation of "The "B" List" The Red Circle's March 16 meeting featured a delightful presentation by the BSI's "actor and a rare one," aka Curtis Armstrong. Curtis guided us on a tour of the Canon's lesser villains, punctuated by irony, smiles and guffaws. Thanks to Matt Hall, it was all recorded, and you can watch it just by clicking the screen at the right.
Archive 2024
Here are items that have appeared on our front page feature section, "The Inner Circle," in 2024. We have included those items that may have some continuing interest; however, some of the links in the items may no longer function due to the removal from the internet of the underlying material.
To review the archives of other sections of our website, click here
