William S. Baring-Gould (1913–1967)

Full disclosure: I bought this book because it has illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, but it turned out to be pretty decent in terms of written content as well. I previously read the Baring-Gould’s book which explores the Mother Goose nursery rhymes in depth (which I bought for its Arthur Rackham illustrations), and similarly the author explores the development and content of the limerick with a particular focus on its English-ness. Mostly I found myself being distracted by the humourous show more bent of the poems themselves, whose rhythm is impossible not to get stuck in your head very quickly, but I was surprised to discover that so many well known authors and artists wrote limericks themselves. Obviously the form is a simple one that can be picked up by almost anyone, and the trend of popularity even among the academics of the Victorian age guaranteed their widespread creation, so honestly I shouldn’t have been surprised at all - why not dash off a limerick or two to impress one’s friends with your wit and sarcasm, since everyone was doing it! I didn’t make it through reading every single limerick in the alphabetized section, since there are so many examples, but this is definitely a good book to dip into from time to time when less frivolous poetry gets to be too serious. show less

Right off the bat I need to tell you Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street is better read after you have consumed every Rex Stout mystery starring the portly private detective. I guarantee you will have many more ah-ha moments if you already know the cases. Baring-Gould fills his book with a mountain of facts but they are oddly assembled; a veritable mishmash of all things Nero Wolfe (and Archie Goodwin). Everything from fashion, and facial tics to food and every case in between is show more scrutinized. It's as if Baring-Gould combed the pages of every mystery, never missing a single detail, to build a character profile and biography of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin.
Baring-Gould also has some interesting theories. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that Baring-Gould thinks Sherlock Holmes fathered Nero Wolfe. He draws thought-provoking connections between Holmes and Wolfe, including the similar phrases they utter. show less

Quirky work, but the definitive annotated Holmes until Leslie S. Klinger's version came along. Mixes historical explanations with Baring-Gould's own chronology and inventive explanations. He was one of the best at playing the Game, though his chronology in particular can be (and has been) challenged. I took away a half star for the lack of an index for easily finding an individual story, since they are arranged not in Canonical publication order but according to the editor's imaginative show more chronology. If you are interested in arguing over how many wives Dr. Watson had, you need this set. If you have not read the Holmes stories before, do not start here. Either the Oxford editions or the New Annotated would be better choices for new readers. show less

I pulled this out intending to do my annual Christmas read of The Blue Carbuncle, but made the mistake of glancing at the introduction. 12 chapters of introduction later, I finally read The Blue Carbuncle yesterday.

Baring-Gould didn't so much as introduce the annotated volumes and write a short but thorough biography of not only Conan Doyle, but Sherlock, Watson (to a lesser extent) and several chapters of pure out-and-out speculation of exactly where 221B Baker Street was, the layout of show more the rooms (was Watson on the third floor, or the second?; did Sherlock have 2 doors out of his bedroom?), and what kinds of furniture might or might not have been there. His cited sources include all the great 'scholars' of Sherlock Holmes: Morely, Starr, etc. and I have to say, these men needed more fresh air.

I'm sort of kidding, but sort of not - reading the annotations is fascinating. These men treat Holmes as though he were not only a real life historical figure, but a static one. The dichotomy is surreal. For example, Baring-Gould discusses the furniture in the flat, and the it seems that if Holmes had been a real person, these men (and yes, they're all almost without exception, men) expected him to have never, ever changed or moved any of the furniture.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Blue Carbuncle, as I always do, though the annotations included quite a few snide comments by one Magistrate S. Tupper Bigelow, who impressed me as a complete prat, who needed to be reminded it's a story and even Conan Doyle was allowed to take creative liberties. There was also a whole discussion on whether or not Doyle intended to use the word commute and whether or not it implied Holmes had royal blood. That made me roll my eyes and cry 'oh, horse sh*t' loud enough to make MT laugh. Overall though, the rest of the annotations were thoroughly interesting, if not always informative, and they gave me a deeper context for enjoying a story that's already a firm favorite of mine. show less