Collecting Sherlockiana
By Don Hobbs

I have been collecting Sherlockiana more than thirty years. Recently, I have started questioning my own collecting habits and wondering about what direction my collection is heading. I have actually kicked around the idea of selling everything in the collection except the non-English translations. A class I once took on book collecting suggested finding a niche market and concentrating on a single area. This is a way to make one's collection unique. I believe I have found my niche market - non-English translations of the Canon and it is certainly unique.

The story of how I became interested in non-English translations of the Canon has been told numerous times but for the benefit of those who have not heard it, here it is once more. I was visiting The Library of John Bennett Shaw and at this particular time, circa 1990, my non-English collection consisted of one Polish, one German, and one Spanish. Ironically, John did not have two of the three books I owned. The light bulb came on at that time and has never gone out.

I have more than eighty-five hundred items in my Sherlockian library that include twenty-five hundred non-English translations. If I sold the six thousand items how would I feel? There is a story associated with every one of those books. I remember where I bought most of them and many have been with me since I started collecting. At times I know I could sell them and never regret it but at other times I think I would be regretful. This is one of those issues that have no real resolution.

I know in today's world market it would take deeper pockets than mine to collect everything available. When I first started buying Strand magazines, they were about $75 apiece. Now it is a bargain if a single issue with Sherlock Holmes can be bought for under $250. First edition prices have soared as well. On the other hand, there are plenty of bargains when looking for non-English translations. I have found Italian magazines, not listed in The Universal Sherlock Holmes by Ronald B. De Waal from 1899 for less than $5.00 apiece. This is just one of hundreds of examples that I could go into but I won't bore the reader with mundane details. The area on non-English or foreign language translation is under-researched. Anyone who has a copy of my The Galactic Sherlock Holmes will see have many books and how many different languages are not listed in De Waal. Besides the older publications yet discovered, there are many new foreign language editions being published each year.

Selling most of my collecting would answer the over crowding issue in my library. It would certainly free up a lot of shelf space. On the other hand, now that I have already taken the time and effort to amass all of these books, why not follow the path I have already embarked on by concentrating on non-English editions. I still buy Sherlockian books that are in English but I find these less interesting. I guess I will continue to vacillate between selling these books and keeping the non-English or just keeping the entire collection intact. Regardless of my final decision, I keep on collecting and I hope you will too.

Happy Collecting!!