Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"researches which have a medico-criminal aspect" [DYIN] This month, the Morley-Montgomery Award brings us up to the year 2006, when Harold Billings pulled out some serious research originating in Edinburgh. His article "The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes" in Vol. 56, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal helps us understand the sources Holmes may have used for his non-traditional education in the medical field. It may be more than just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant "view-halloo!" This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Harold Billings The Elements Song The Morley-Montgomery Award All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty" [FINA] As a student and practitioner of the latest forensic sciences as they pertained to the world of crime, Sherlock Holmes was on the cutting edge. He even wrote a number of monographs on topics related to crime. One might think that among them we might find "on the use of fingerprints to identify criminals." This is not the case. Why, we even had trouble finding trifling details about fingerprints in the entire Canon. Yet it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Get A Clue: A Brief History of Fingerprints in the 19th Century (Criminal Element) Sherlock Holmes: Pioneer in Forensic Science (Encyclopedia Britannica) A History of Fingerprints (Crime Scene Investigator) Francies Galton (Wikipedia) Pudd'nhead Wilson (Wikipedia) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty" [FINA] Each month, we look at a bit of Sherlockian scholarship that deserves to be unearthed and explored. Together, we consider the trifling matter is concerns. This month, we look at A.G. Macdonell's chapter "Mr. Moriarty" in the 1934 landmark publication Baker Street Studies, edited by H.W. Bell. And it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Baker Street Studies by H.W. Bell (Abebooks) A.G. Macdonell (Wikipedia) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"I can't stand his lordship" [MAZA] For hapless Americans, the titles used by peers in the Sherlock Holmes stories can be vexing indeed. One would think that Sherlock Holmes would be able to keep things straight. Between his devil-may-care attitude toward the upper class and Conan Doyle's own lack of breeding, Damian Thompson found a decided gap in the way certain members of the peerage are titled. And it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Solecism (Merriam-Webster) The Baker Street Journal All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"It confirms my diagnosis, as you doctors express it." [SIGN] Our latest Morley-Montgomery award episode features another dive into the medical world of Sherlock Holmes. But this time, it's about a diagnosis made by Dr. Watson. In 2004, Costa Rossakis, MD, BSI ("St. Bartholomew's Hospital"), a trained cardiologist, investigated exactly what was going on with the nervous Thaddeus Sholto. His article (but not his diagnosis) is just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links The Morley-Montgomery Award All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"we have had a close shave" [SIGN] Holmes was always clean-shaven, Watson always had a mustache. This is the way of the world of Sherlock Holmes as we know it. But they didn't arrive at that state naturally. Like any good Victorian gentleman who eschewed whiskers, they had to shave. As did others in the Canon. We explore a bit of the history of shaving and its applications. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links The Ultimate History of Shaving (History Cooperative) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"a bit of professional business between two gentlemen" [3GAR] In this month's Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist, we turn again to a bit of British scholarship from the 1950s. James Edward Holroyd's chapter "Dr. Watson and Mr. Wilde" in Baker Street By-Ways does an exemplary job of comparing the timelines of the great detective and the great wit, who each had a connection to a certain dinner with J.M. Stoddart of Lippincott's. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Baker Street By-Ways Legends of the BSJ: James Montgomery Some details about the Lippincott's dinner Remembering Robert Duvall as Dr. Watson (Patreon | Substack) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"a methodical revenge" [STUD] They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But what about when it's just threatened? In this episode, we do a sweep of figures in the Sherlock Holmes stories who promised or exacted revenge. Did we catch them all? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"some strange and inexplicable horror in the background" [CARD] This Morley-Montgomery award-winning article is the only one written under a pseudonym (thus far). In "The Case of 'J': A Psychoanalytic Case Study with Particular Attention to `Marriage Neurosis', one D.K. Andrews provides a 1920s medical journal-like case study. In it, Dr. Andrews presents the background of an individual every Sherlockian is familiar with, providing some Freudian analysis on decisions this individual has made. It's a fascinating approach and it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is about the questionable judgment of the head of the Baker Street irregulars. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links The Morley-Montgomery Award All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"You evidently do not know the Earl" [CHAS] For modern audiences (particularly those not familiar with British aristocracy), the titles of the nobility could be a bit confusing. In the Sherlock Holmes stories, we find our fair share of dukes, barons, and lords. But what about earls? There are only a handful of earls in the Canon, so in this episode, we spend a little time investigating the duties of earls and what it is their female counterparts are called. So grab your coronet! It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode ponders a message we never quite see. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Earl (Wikipedia) What Did an English Earl Actually Do? (History Facts) Coronet (YouTube) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"one of the brightest intellects of the University" [3STU] Of the long-running debates about the Sherlock Holmes stories (the location of Watson's wound, the true dates of "The Red-Headed League," the location of 221B Baker Street), one of the most perennial is Sherlock Holmes's university. There are cases to be made for each of the great universities, but it was Gavin Brend who made a definitive case in a chapter of his 1951 book My Dear Holmes. This Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist episode may be academic, but it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode ponders a message we never quite see. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links My Dear Holmes (Abebooks) The Sherlock Holmes Society of London Oxfords Not Brogues (Real Style) Previous episodes mentioned: Episode 310 - The Route of the Blue Carbucle All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"I must really know more before I leave him." [MISS] Professor Moriarty. We know him as the arch-rival of Sherlock Holmes. In many ways, he was the original model for the supervillain. But what do we really know about him? The answer is surprisingly little. And what we do know about him comes primarily from Sherlock Holmes. Join us as we dig a little deeper (or as deep as we can) on this Napoleon of crime. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode ponders a message we never quite see. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Previous episodes mentioned: Episode 213 - The Three Moriartys Episode 219 - Moriarty's Mathematics All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"whose interest is it that the letter should come out?" [SECO] Season 10 kicks off with another Morley-Montgomery Award winning article from The Baker Street Journal — a series we're continuing in which we look at notable pieces of Sherlockian scholarship about certain trifling issues. In Vol. 52, No. 4, Robert Schultz, BSI ("The Gloria Scott") examined "The Second Stain" for historical clues and then applied them to British foreign relations to discover, despite earlier scholars' results, that there is only one possible author of the dangerous letter. It is most definitely a Trifle. Find all of the Morley-Montgomery series in one place (Patreon | Substack). If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links The Morley-Montgomery Award Remembering Robert S. Schultz (I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"that is the biggest mystification of all" [CREE] You thought we were done with the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes? Silly you. As Inspector Baynes said, "I thought I had squeezed all the juice out of it, but I see there was a little over." [WIST] Now we turn to a fascinating study: dating the Apocryphya. Or at least part of it. An entry by Brett Graham Fawcett in Timelines, the newsletter of the Chronologist Guild, looks at how we might assign dates to some of the stories. And it's just a Trifle. Find all of the Apocrypha series in one place (Patreon | Substack). If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Episodes of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere mentioned in this episode: Episode 144: The Chronologies of Sherlock Holmes Episode 309: Holmes in an Hour or Two Episode 320: It is NOT Always 1895 All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

"evidence was wanted" [GOLD] The final installment in our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes brings us to "The Case of the Man Who was Wanted." Its discovery and provenance seems to have been both wanted and not wanted by the Conan Doyle brothers, who discovered it thanks to a biographer of their father in the 1940s. How it came into their possession and the story behind what was once assumed to be the 61st Sherlock Holmes story — and its eventual debunking — is anything but a Trifle. Find all of the Apocrypha series in one place (Patreon | Substack). If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted Classics of Sherlockiana: The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes (I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere) The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: The "Lost" Sherlock Holmes Story (Black Gate) Nova 57 Minor: The Waxing and Waning of the 61st Adventure of Sherlock Holmes (Abebooks) All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0