Fine Books & Manuscripts

[SHERLOCKIANA]. A Sherlockian “Commonplace Book” from a Baker Street Journal Contributor with Various Letters from Members and Related Ephemera. 1947. 86 pp. spiral bound notebook of C. Russell Small (ownership inscription on contents page), member and contributor to the “The Baker Street Journal”; completely full of notes in manuscript, Baker Street Irregular ephemera, newspaper clippings of Sherlock Holmes articles, letters and postcards from notable Sherlockian authors including Vincent Starrett (also with signed envelope) and Jay Finley Christ, and correspondence from the publisher of The Baker Street Journal, Ben Abramson. [Also:] a letter addressed to a Mr. McMahon from Mr. Small with a “silly” request but noting that “all Sherlock Holmes fans are most seriously silly” as he asks that Mr. McMahon take photos of Baker St. between Dorset St. and Blandford St. as Small was confident that this is where the supposed fictional 221b Baker St. was located including a hand drawn map for reference. Mr. Small was “hoping to catch a view of a house with a side-door or with ‘two bells’ for an upstairs and downstairs apartment (you may recall Holmes ’17 steps’)”. Included are the two requested snapshots showing 46 Baker St. and 50 Baker St. Sherlock Holmes maintained an extensive collection of commonplace books in which he recorded all manner of information that came to his attention. As described in Doyle’s stories, the detective spent hours compiling and cross–indexing his books which were referred to as these commonplace books.