Let's Play.

Sherlockiana is many things to many people, and quite properly so. Being almost a mythical trickster figure, Sherlock Holmes had so many interests and aspects that even a kaliedescope would have a hard time displaying a true view of him, and, indeed, the kaliedescope of the Sherlockian world is still trying to capture that true image to this day.

We can debate the “trueness” of movie incarnations of the detective. We can go to club meetings and compare our reactions to the stories with our fellow enthusiasts. We can collect. We can write pastiches. We can do so many things in our search for Sherlock, but my particular favorite will always be the Grand Game of Sherlockian “scholarship.”

A recent editorial in The Baker Street Journal struck a particular chord in me that has had me thinking a lot about the Grand Game of late. Even though the original chord (and resulting fervor on the internet, as many of you were witness to), seems to have been something of a misunderstanding, it was good to be reminded once more of what an important part Sherlockian scholarship plays in the enjoyable pursuit of Holmes.

This issue, therefore, features this Grand Old Game of ours. You’ll notice a few “Most Valuable Players” mentioned throughout, as well as a slightly revised version of my attempt to find some guidelines for the game originally posted on the internet, and a more level-headed view of the aforementioned Baker Street Journal editorial by a past editor of that journal, Bill Cochran. All that, and, of course, our usual mix of what Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press calls “sense and nonsense.”

I hope you enjoy it, as always, and if you don’t, well, write me something that is enjoyable for our next issue. We all like seeing a good player take the field.

— The Publisher and Editor-In-Chief