“I stooped to the eyepiece and focussed for my vision.” [SHOS]  Given Arthur Conan Doyle's training in the field of eye medicine, it's no surprise that we find a number of Sherlock Holmes characters w

“the sending of general messages” [VALL]    Sherlock Holmes was an inveterate message sender and receiver. The many notes, letters, telegrams, cryptogram, and other forms of communication that passed

“I am a poor man” [PRIO]   Time and again, we find people in the Sherlock Holmes stories who are having money problems. As in money problems drastic enough to cause them to make unfortunate decisions.

“Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting?” [SIGN]    More than once, Sherlock Holmes used someone's handwriting to guide him toward a solution. Whether it was a hastily-scribbled legal document or a red herring of...

“Holmes smiled and rubbed his hands” [WIST]    Sherlock Holmes enjoyed breakfast. But it was often interrupted. He had a variable knowledge of botany but knew enough to feel chagrined for missing green peas at 7:30. What can we tell...

“Holmes smiled and rubbed his hands” [WIST]   Did Sherlock Holmes care about teeth? There's evidence that he cared about his own teeth, as seen through his recommendation of dental hygiene, and through his remark about losing a tooth....

 “sinister atmosphere of forgotten nations,” [DEVI]  It's not quite a holiday for Sherlock Holmes in "The Devil's Foot," but rather a time away from London to be able to recuperate. "The villages which dotted this part of Cornwall"...

  “I have my eye on a suite in Baker Street” [STUD]    In the first part of this two-episode series, we looked at the Baker Street area of Victorian London and the changes that it has seen in the century and a half since...

 “we made our way back to Baker Street” [3GAR]    The address is legendary. Synonymous with its famous inhabitant, just as the deerstalker and meerschaum pipe. But it may be just as fanciful as those two accoutrements.   This...

 “Holmes, a child has done this horrid thing” [SIGN]    Many of us find our way to the Sherlock Holmes stories as children, yet there is a decided absence of children in the Canon. When we do find them, they tend to be in service...