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Circles . . . Red and others

Isn't irony ironic?

With every Sunday that rolls around, there is a new edition of Sherlock-Peoria. For all of you multitudes of millions anxiously waiting what's new, I hand have to come up with something new to write about. I have been diligently churning out these little rants each week. Sometimes it is late, late Saturday night when the brain attic coughs up some lame idea. And God bless Brad's soul for he prints them, religiously.

Now eleven weeks into this cycle, things seem to being coming full circle. Maybe it is just in keeping with summer re-runs.

I have written about Italians, getting even, resolving anger, and Sherlockian friendship. Well, here I go again.

Collecting has always been my first goal as a Sherlockian. From time to time, I pick Sherlockian items that I already have in my collection. I do this with the intention of putting them on e-Bay. This is a great way to add to my book-buying fund. My Sherlockian justification of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

A friend from Italy happened to be the winning bidder on several books on one of my recent auctions. Knowing the "Collector-Mentality" I possessed, he dangled some trade bait that I swallowed hook, line, and sinker. As he later told me, it was easier trading than converting his Euros into dollars and sending those across the Pond entrusted to the Ialian Postal Service. What I departed with were some odds and ends of duplicate Sacred Writings. What I ended up with were extremely rare Italian magazines.

Hmmm, rare Italian Sherlockian magazines, I thought. They turned out to so delightful that they quickly have become one of the first things to shown to new visitors.

Il Romanzo Mensile was dedicated to a different author each month. They were originally published between 1903 and 1905 and very few of these survive. In an e-mail message, my Italian friend said he has never seen the originals! The 3 original issues that featured Sherlock Holmes were reprinted in 1923, 1930, and 1931. These are what arrived this week.

The three issues I have are as follows. Il Romanzo Mensile, Feb.1923 reprinted from June 1903. This issue has REDH" "TWIS" "BOSC" "FIVE" "SCAN" "BLUE" "COPP" "ENGI". The next copy of Il Romanzo Mensile was reprinted in Aug.1930 from May 1905. This one included "STOC" "CROO" "RESI" "FINA". The third volume of Il Romanzo Mensile came out in Jan.1931 from the original that dated Nov.1903. This issue has SPEC" "IDEN" "NOBL" "BERY" "SIGN".

None of these magazines are listed any of De Waal's bibliographies. All three magazines feature the original Strand illustrations by Sidney Paget although the captions are in Italian. "LA LEGA DEI CAPELLI ROSSI. SI E' SCIOLTA. - 9 ottobre 1890" is the sign Jabez Wilson is reading in one illustration. The caption reads…." la porta era chiusa a chiave ed un cartoncino inchiodato nel mezzo diceva….." which in the original simply says "The door was shut and locked." Of course I am fond of the lines from FIVE when the ship is referred to as "Stella solitaria."

I love this game!!!

Happy collecting!