Sherlock HolmesC O L L E C T I O N S

September 2000Volume 4 Number 3

“Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD)

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Some PersonalRecollections of the Early

Days of the SherlockHolmes Collections

1100 Years Ago

250 Years Ago

3From the President

4Acquisitions

4Musings

5An Update from the Collections

6Using the SherlockHolmes Collections

8E.W. McDiarmid: A Friend To All Who Knew Him

9A McDiarmid Bibliography

10Remembrances

12Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 1

Some Personal Recollections of the EarlyDays of the Sherlock Holmes CollectionsBy Andrew Malec, B.S.I.

am pleased to be afforded thisopportunity to draw together someof my earliest memories of thedevelopment of the Sherlock

Holmes Collections, as well as some ofmy encounters with E.W. McDiarmid("Mac") and others who played vital rolesduring this period.Though I relate theseevents from a person-al perspective, I am infact recording theaccomplishments ofothers who generallychose to downplaytheir significant con-tributions to thebeginnings of whathas become thelargest SherlockHolmes collection inthe world. Duringmost of the time inquestion I was morean observer and ben-eficiary of their tremendous labors thanan active participant. Holmes was lostwithout his Boswell and they, too deservea chronicler.

My first indication that the University ofMinnesota Library was demonstratingspecial interest in Sherlock Holmes camewhen I read of the acquisition of theJames C. Iraldi collection in TheMinnesota Daily, in 1974, during my

undergraduate days. I attended my initialNorwegian Explorers meeting in 1975(on the occasion of John Bennett Shaw’sfirst visit to Minnesota) but did not meetMac though we had exchanged corre-spondence—he was in the hospital recov-ering from a heart attack. In those days

the Iraldi collection was housed in WalterLibrary under the supervision of KarenNelson Hoyle, Curator of the Kerlan andHess collections. I began to do volunteerwork with the collection but it cannot besaid my endeavors then amounted tomuch.

Mac and I eventually met and kept intouch as I became active in the Explorers.Indeed, it was largely due to his influ-

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Sherlock Holmes CollectionsSuite 111, Elmer L. Andersen LibraryUniversity of Minnesota222 21st Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55455

Telephone: 612-624-7526FAX: 612-626-9353

Timothy J. Johnson, Curator

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections12

Mailing list corrections requested—Because of the high cost of returned newsletters,we would appreciate being informed of changesof address or other corrections.

RemembrancesIn supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have made contributions either in honor or in memory of special per-sons. Due to the number of people who made donations in Mac McDiarmid’s memory, we will list them as one group.

IN HONOR OF FROMAnonymous Ted FriedmanNancy Beiman Laura KuhnDr. Howard Burchell Richard M. CaplanBob Burr Laura KuhnMark Conrad Laura Kuhn"The Insoluble Puzzles" Laura KuhnCarole McCormick Laura KuhnAustin McLean Charles PressBob Thomalen Paul Singleton221Beach Alexian Gregory

IN MEMORY OF FROMErrett W. McDiarmid Cheryl Anderson, Thomas Arlander, Pauline Cartford, Mary Cermak,

Susan Davern, Wendell and Marjorie DeBoer, Frank and Genevieve Di Gangi, Pj Doyle, Karen Ellery, Joan Fabian, Aurelio and Marana Floria, Paul and Ruth Fonstad, Lisl Gaal, Alma Gaona, Belen Gaona-Keithley, Thomas and Lynda Garnett, Dennis and Caroline Gebhard, David Hammer, Robert Holloway, Karen Hoyle, Margaret S. Hubbs, Marjorie Jambor, Carol Johnson, Hugh Klein, Janice Dolejki, Bobbi Masquelier, Richard and Rosemary McHugh, D. E. Meyer, Robert Minish, Forrest G. Moore, Frederick and Lynda Morlock, Terry Mueller, Merlin and Gladys Nelson, Susan Nelson, Carol Pavlik, David and Margaret Peterson, Michael and Janice Pluta, Laura Rice, Lucy C. Robertson, Albert and Julia Rosenblatt, Sally Ruvelson, Edward Stanford, Richard J. Sveum, Mabel Thompson, Karen Titrud, Jane Von Hagen, Judith Brown-Wescott,

Arthur Conan Doyle Leslie S. KlingerDennis France Julie McKurasDennis France J. L. WeinerCapt. Wiley Sampson Robert F. Cairo, Jr.Dorothy Rowe Shaw Karen Ellery

For any inquiries contact:Timothy J. Johnson, Curator612-624-3552 orjohns976@tc.umn.edu

Continued on page 10

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Peter Blau, Mac McDiarmid, Michael WhelanAugust 1998 Founders' Footprints Conference

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E.W. Ziebarth, "Sigerson" Mac McDiarmid, Bryce L. Crawford, Jr.Three of the Founders of the Norwegian Explorers

November 1998

Andrew Malec and Mac McDiarmid, July 1983

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John Bennett Shaw filed a copy of"The Making of Sherlock Holmes",written by A.M., in his notebook ofperiodical articles from the periodbefore 1903. In the Vol. 14, 1900issue of The Young Man, A.M. notedDr. Arthur Conan Doyle's statement:"Sherlock Holmes…is the literaryembodiment of my memory of aProfessor of Medicine at EdinburghUniversity".

That professor was Dr. Joseph Bell, afourth generation physician in a familyknown throughout Edinburgh,Scotland. He was born there on Dec.2, 1837, and was the eldest son of Dr.Benjamin and Cecilia Bell. He attend-ed the University of Edinburgh, "themost celebrated medical school in theworld" (Liebow 40) and graduated in1859. He became house surgeon, andin 1863, was appointed assistant sur-geon to his father and to Dr. Patrick H.Watson. During a diphtheria epidemicin 1864, Bell contracted the disease,which left him with a high pitchedvoice and jerky gait. In 1865, he mar-ried Edith Murray, but their happyunion was short-lived; Edith died nineyears later.

Bell was the editor of The EdinburghMedical Journal from 1873 through1896. He wrote a number of articlesand authored two books, Manual ofSurgical Operations and Notes onSurgery for Nurses, the latter reflectinghis life-long interest in bettering thefield of nursing. He was very religious,had a good sense of humor, and dili-gently kept a journal. He had aninterest in criminal psychology andhandwriting analysis, noting "Theimportance of the infinitely little is

incalculable", (Bell 45) and evenattempted to identify Jack the Ripperat the time of the crimes. Bellreceived numerous medical honors,achieving the position of President ofthe Royal College of Surgeons, andwas well liked by patients, fellow fac-ulty and students.

One of those students was ArthurConan Doyle. He was chosen by Bellto be his out-patient clerk, allowinghim close observation of the doctor’sinteraction with patients. Bell wasknown for his powers of deduction,impressing upon students the need touse all of their senses in making adiagnosis. As Ely Liebow states, "JoeBell gave Doyle the scientific method,the voice, the stoic face, but most ofall the true touchstone, the aspect ofHolmes that instantly and foreverraised him above all other detectivesand made him more recognizable thanalmost any other literary creation: theingenious, insouciant, lightningdeduction…" (10)

In May, 1892, Conan Doyle acknowl-edged that Bell was his model for theGreat Detective. Bell, a modest manwho bore a tremendous physicalresemblance to Holmes, stated fondlythat Doyle had "…made a great dealout of very little, and his warmremembrance of one of his old teach-ers has coloured the picture." (Carr73). But others saw the same resem-blance. In an April 5, 1893 letter toConan Doyle, fellow University ofEdinburgh alumnus Robert LouisStevenson wrote "Only the one thingtroubles me: can this be my old friendJoe Bell?" (Nordon 25)

In the years to come, Conan Doyle’sbiographers would place varyingdegrees of emphasis on Bell’s influenceupon the character of Holmes. JessieM. E. Saxby, a friend of Bell’s, wroteher own recollection of the physician’skind nature to "…show his absoluteunlikeness, save in one respect, toConan Doyle’s masterpiece." (Saxby

100 Y E A R S A G O

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections2

12) The 1955 publication of IrvingWallace’s The Fabulous Originals,which included a chapter about JosephBell called "The Real SherlockHolmes", prompted Adrian ConanDoyle to threaten legal action againstWallace. Adamant in his quest tohave his father seen as the true modelfor Holmes, Adrian reacted negativelyto Hesketh Pearson’s references to Bellin his 1943 Conan Doyle, His Life andArt, and called the book a "fakeogra-phy", according to Jon Lellenberg.Adrian had helped shape JohnDickson Carr’s 1949 The Life of SirArthur Conan Doyle, and in the samefashion, insisted that William Baring-Gould review with him the introducto-ry chapters of The Annotated SherlockHolmes, excluding any reference toWallace’s book. He sent Baring-Goulda manuscript, "The Real SherlockHolmes", which was originally intend-ed but not used as the introduction toPierre Nordon’s Conan Doyle. Thisessay and Adrian’s correspondence arepart of the Baring-Gould papers,donated to the University ofMinnesota. In his pamphlet "TheReal Sherlock Holmes", E. W.McDiarmid questions the distinct pos-sibility that "…it must have occurredto him (Adrian) that Baring-Gouldmight use it to help him in his cam-paign to have his father universallyaccepted as Sherlock Holmes."(McDiarmid 6)

Dr. Joseph Bell died in his belovedEdinburgh on October 4, 1911, andhis funeral was one of the largest thecity had seen. Was he the only modelfor Sherlock Holmes? The author ofthis featured 100 Year piece, A. M.,wrote of Dr. Bell "…however cleverthe professor may be, it is not likelythat the world would have heard ofhim without the genius of the novelist,and it is due to Dr. Doyle, even morethan to Dr. Bell, that we have such afascinating character as SherlockHolmes in modern fiction."

Julie McKuras

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 11

The Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsis a quarterly newsletter published by theFriends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswhich seek to promote the activities, inter-ests and needs of the Special Collectionsand Rare Books Department, University ofMinnesota Libraries.

Mail editorial correspondence c/o:

EditorJulie McKuras

13512 Granada Ave.Apple Valley, MN 55124

952-431-1934952-431-5965 Faxmike9750@aol.com

Editorial BoardBruce Southworth, Dr. Richard Sveum,

Timothy Johnson

Copyright © 2000University of Minnesota Library

The University of Minnesota is an EqualOpportunity Educator and Employer.

Early Days of The Sherlock HolmesCollections work by F.D. Steele, and the "particu-larly noteworthy … William Gillettematerial, which is primarily from theGillette estate." Stern concluded withthe opinion "the scope and quality ofthe Hench Collection could probablynot be duplicated today." Though thiswas early in Stern’s career, and hewould subsequently participate in theformation of some equally importantcollections, it is still an indication ofthe impression it made at the time.

The Hench bequest received consider-able publicity among Holmes enthusi-asts but not as well known is that cer-tain valuable items listed in the 1966Metzdorf appraisal did not come withthe rest of the collection in 1978.Included among the missing were twoleaves from the manuscript to TheHound of the Baskervilles, the fullmanuscript to the non-Holmes story"The Horror of the Heights," a numberof significant early Arthur Conan Doyleletters, and some 70 additional sketch-es and drawings by Frederic DorrSteele. These items were subsequentlydiscovered in a bank vault and deliv-ered to the University in 1983 courtesyof the Henchs’s son John Hench—andthanks in large part to some quietdiplomacy on the part of Explorer JackD. Key, our man in Rochester.

But what did come in 1978 was morethan enough to get started. The firstexhibit was mounted and a relatedbrochure was printed entitled "ArthurConan Doyle: an Exhibit from theMary Kahler and Philip S. HenchCollection July 18-September 30,1979". This exhibit set the pattern formost of my subsequent work with thecollections and my relationship withMac and others at the Library.Whereas Mac remained in overallsupervision of cataloging and develop-ment of the collections I worked onthe technical side with Austin McLeanand John Jenson, the SpecialCollections Curator and AssociateCurator respectively. Austin had the

unenviable task of editing my text forthe exhibit brochure, a compositionreplete with schoolboy howlers andwritten in what he accurately describedas my "turgid prose." This work, bythe way, would have justifiably lapsedinto permanent obscurity had it notbeen posted on the Internet by a cur-rent incumbent of Special Collections.John Jenson was much involved in thephysical mounting of this and subse-quent exhibits, in the early days bene-fiting from the invaluable input oflibrary assistant Kathy Tezla.

Mac meanwhile was busy withattempts to secure funding to allowthe collections to be catalogued andotherwise made accessible. Equallyinvolved with these efforts was the lateRonald M. Hubbs whose wise counsel,personal integrity, and widely-respect-ed recommendations were crucial fac-tors in obtaining the grants. Macalways acknowledged this, but Hubbspreferred to avoid the limelight evenmore than our Sigerson. Their jointsuccess led to, among other things, mygainful employment with SpecialCollections between 1979 and 1981during which time an initial cataloguewas prepared and numerous otherprojects undertaken. More expansiveaccounts of these and other adven-tures, however, must be deferred toanother time.

What I hope is apparent from theabove account is the selfless mannerwhich characterized the involvementof many of those who made such significant contributions to the earlydevelopment of the Sherlock Holmescollections at the University ofMinnesota. I was fortunate to havebeen in the right place at the righttime but it was people like Mac,Austin McLean and Ronald Hubbswho were responsible for first bringingthe collections here and then ensuringsomething could be done with themonce they arrived. Patient effortsbehind the scenes yielded tremendousdividends, laying the groundwork forall that has been subsequentlyachieved. This modesty was especial-ly true of Mac. He was usually happyto take part in the work and fun butlet others take the credit. He playedthe game for its own sake, perhaps thetruest indicator of a follower of themaster detective Sherlock Holmes.

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July 1983"Adventures on the Air"

John Bennett Shaw, Austin McLean, Edith Meiser, Mac McDiarmid

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50In 1991, Mac McDiarmid donated hisSherlockian books to the SherlockHolmes Collections. Among the booksand booklets in his library was "TheMissing Three" written by Jay FinleyChrist, Alias Langdale Pike. It wasprinted in a small 4-page pamphlettitled Christmas 1950, and published byChrist’s own Fanlight Press, which hecreated for his Sherlockian writings.His article begins:

In 1935, in introducing a play edited by Vincent Starrett, Frederic Dorr Steele wrote that he had illustrated 29 of the 33 Sherlock Holmes tales which were publishedfrom 1903 onward. Edgar Smith’s Baker Street Inventory (1945) lists 26 of those 33 titles, under Steele’s name. The discrepancy need no longer exist, for, due to the alertness of my good friends in the photographic laboratory of the University of Chicago, seven new Sherlockian drawings have turned up…The drawings were published in The Louisville Courier – Journal.

Christ goes on to identify these draw-ings, "one for each of the seven tales."Those missing from Mr. Smith’s invento-ry were "The Sussex Vampire", "TheThree Garridebs", and "The IllustriousClient".

In Irregular Proceedings of the Mid‘Forties, Jon Lellenberg describes J.Finley Christ as "…one of the BSI’s pil-lars in the late ‘Forties and ‘Fifties, andone of its greatest contributors to theWritings About the Writings." (108).Born in 1884, Christ was a Professor of

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Business Law at the University ofChicago from 1920 through 1950. Hebecame interested in both the BSI andEdgar W. Smith’s Profile by Gaslight afterreading Vincent Starrett’s "Books Alive"column in the Chicago Tribune. In1944 he began corresponding withStarrett, who invited him to join the BSI.Christ proved himself an esteemedSherlockian scholar in the years tocome, contributing to The Baker StreetJournal and Sherlock Holmes Journal, aswell as with his other writings.

He also wrote for the Chicago Tribunecolumn "A Line O’Type or Two" underthe names "…J. A. Finch and LangdalePike whom he referred to as his‘agents’." (Terras 48) He authored anumber of pamphlets under his pseudo-nyms, including "Flashes by Fanlight","Gleanings by Gaslight", "Soundings inthe Saga", "Sherlock’s Anniversaries" and"Finch’s Final Fling". Two of his workswere published in 1947, and theyremain milestones in Sherlockian schol-arship. His An Irregular Chronology ofSherlock Holmes of Baker Street, pub-lished by Fanlight House, is an orderingof the Holmes stories. An IrregularGuide to Sherlock Holmes of BakerStreet was the first index to the Canon.This was published by ArgusBooks/Pamphlet House., and was anidea proposed by Christopher Morley asearly as 1938, according to Lellenberg.Jay Finley Christ devised the four-letterreference key to the Canon, still in usetoday. That same year, he was the firstto teach a collegiate course devoted tothe Master Detective. His six sessionswere titled "Sherlock Holmes of BakerStreet".

Christ was a member of The SherlockHolmes Society of London, Chicago’sThe Hounds of the Baskerville (sic), andone of the early members of Hugo’sCompanions. He was instrumental infounding and participating in the earlyyears of The Illustrious Clients ofIndianapolis as well. In 1949, hereceived his shilling and investiture of"The Final Problem". He died on

December 10, 1963, after a two year ill-ness. The Two-Shilling Award wasbestowed upon him posthumously in1964. When Julian Wolff wrote ofChrist’s passing, he stated "We have lostone of our immortals."

Christ’s letters to Vincent Starrett arepart of the Vincent Starrett Collection atthe University of Minnesota.

Julie McKuras

References:Christ, Jay Finley. "The Missing Three". Chicago:

The Fanlight Press, 1950.Lellenberg, Jon. "Hounds Bounding from a Yellow

Fog: The Unleashing of Jay Finley Christ". Chicago, 9 Oct. 1993.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Crises of the Late‘Forties. New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Proceedings of theMid ‘Forties. New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1995.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Records of the Early‘Forties. New York: Fordham University Press,1991.

Rabe, W. T., ed. 1961 S’ian Who’s Who andWhat’s What. Ferndale, MI: OLD SOLDIERS OF BAKER STREET, U.S.A., 1961.

Terras, Donald J., ed. Hugo’s CompanionsChicago. Evanston, IL: Windy City Press, 1999.

Wolff, Julian, ed. "Stand with Me Here Upon the Terrace…". The Baker Street Journal. Volume14, Number 1 (1964): 54.

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections10

A small delegation from the Librarywent down to Rochester, Minnesota topick up the most important itemswhile I waited impatiently during anseemingly endless Library School classbefore I could rush over to see them(by now the Holmes materials hadmoved to Wilson Library). Later JohnJenson and I picked up the rest of thecollection and I took particular satis-faction in writing long letters to vari-ous correspondents describing it:despite its significance, it was all butunknown to the Sherlockian world atlarge.

The Hench collection was appraisedby the antiquarian dealer Peter L.Stern in January, 1979. In a letteraccompanying the appraisal Stern wasfulsome in his praise of the Henchs’saccomplishment, noting the runs offirst editions, the "high quality" manu-script material, the "outstanding" art-

Early Days of The Sherlock Holmes Collections Continued from Page 1

ence, in addition to encouragementfrom rare book librarians AustinMcLean, John Jenson, and CarolUrness, that I chose to pursueLibrarianship as a profession and thuswas on hand for what was to come.

During one of my visits to Mac I askedhim about a reference to theNorwegian Explorer archives which Ihad come across in an essay by PhilipHench. I inquired why the archiveshad not been deposited with theLibrary and was given to understandthat it was being held back in connec-tion with the hoped-for eventualacquisition of a notable Holmes collec-tion assembled by Hench and his wifeMary. I further gathered that thiseffort had been quietly underway for anumber of years.

The time shifts to 1978, shortly after Ihad entered the University’s Library

School, the year the Explorers antholo-gy Cultivating Sherlock Holmes waspublished. Philip Hench was amongthe dedicatees of this book, which insome ways represented the culmina-tion of the wooing process whichbrought the Hench treasures toMinnesota. Events moved swiftly afterthat for Mrs. Hench had decided todonate the collection to the Universitythus fufilling what evidently had beenthe intention of her husband, whopassed away in 1965. Soon I was sit-ting in Mac’s office reading with grow-ing excitement an inventory andappraisal of the collection prepared byRobert F. Metzdorf in 1966. Detailedwere such splendors as four copies ofBeeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887,three copies of the even more elusivefirst separate 1888 edition of A Studyin Scarlet, and many other rarities toonumerous to mention here.

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ac McDiarmid is wellknown for his work withthe Sherlock HolmesCollections and with the

Norwegian Explorers. Following is alisting of his writings in books and periodicals.

"Salute to Sherlock Holmes", E.W. McDiarmid and Theodore C. Blegen. Sherlock Holmes: MasterDetective,edited by Theodore C. Blegen and E. W. McDiarmid. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1952.

"Professor Sherlock Holmes, Ph.D." Exploring Sherlock Holmes, edited by E. W. McDiarmid and Theodore C. Blegen. La Crosse, WI:Sumac Press, 1957.

"Reichenbach and Beyond". BSJ Christmas Annual, 1957, edited by

Edgar W. Smith. 34 – 43."Epithets In The Canon". The Baker

Street Journal. Vol. 19, #3 (September 1969). 144-148.

"Are There Others? Sherlock Holmes’s Opinion of Watson". Cultivating Sherlock Holmes, edited byBryce L. Crawford, Jr. and Joseph B.Connors. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1978.

The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota.La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1982.

"The Case of the Missing Text". Baker Street Miscellanea, Winter 1982. 1–6.

"The Real Sherlock Holmes". La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1984.

Medical Casebook of Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, by Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key. Malabar, FL:Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1984. Foreword by E. W. McDiarmid.

The Sherlock Holmes Crossword, by Albert and Julia Rosenblatt. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1985.

Foreword by E. W. McDiarmid."The Priory School: The Case of the

Classic Case". The Baker Street Dozen, edited by Pj Doyle and E. W. McDiarmid. New York: Congdon & Weed, Inc. 1989.

NOTE: The 1987 hardcoveredition of The Baker Street Dozendoes not include this essay.

"Sherlock Holmes’s Later Career". Studies in Scarlet. Dubuque, IA: Gasogene Press, 1989. 147 – 153.

"Howard Haycraft, 1905 – 1991". Explorations. December, 1991. 8.

"Bibliographical Note: ‘The Red-Headed League’." Explorations. March, 1992. 8-9.

A Basic Holmesian Library. E. W. McDiarmid and Peter Blau. Minneapolis: No Litter Press, 1995.

The Saga of a Sherlockian Scion Society.Minneapolis: The Norwegian Explorers. 1995.

Julie McKuras

A McDiarmid Bibliography

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 9Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections4

E.W. McDiarmid: A Friend To All Who Knew HimFrom the President

he Annual MembershipMeeting of the Friends of theSherlock Holmes Collectionstook place on August 2, 2000

in the new Elmer L. Andersen Library,with a reception held in the GivensConference Suite. Several Friends weregiven a tour of the underground stor-age area where the Sherlock HolmesCollections is kept.

The Business Meeting started with areview of our mission to support theUniversity of Minnesota Libraries andour goal to become the world centerfor the study of Sherlock Holmes andrelated subjects. We sadly noted thedeath of Friends Dennis France, E.W.McDiarmid and Dorothy Shaw sinceour last meeting. We then reported onnew business. Our current member-ship stands at 325, an increase fromlast year. The Finance report noted afund balance of $23,100.03 in theJohn Bennett Shaw Fund and an acqui-sition budget of $3,617.06 from thePhilip S. Hench Endowment. EditorJulie McKuras reported on theNewsletter. The Nominating

Acquisitions

n the spirit of collectors such asJohn Bennett Shaw and MacMcDiarmid, individuals continueto donate materials to the

Sherlock Holmes Collections. It is with their help that the Collectionsstrive toward the goal of becoming theworld center for the study of SherlockHolmes.

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Committee presented the slate of can-didates and the membership approvedfor officers: President Richard Sveum,VP Ruth Berman, Secretary JulieMcKuras and Treasurer TimothyJohnson. The 2000 Friends Board willinclude: John Bergquist, Judy Ham,Jamie Hubbs, Allen Mackler, MikeMcKuras, and Bruce Southworth. Ourspecial thanks go to Inez Bergquist forcompleting a three year term servingon the Friends Board.

Curator Tim Johnson presented theVolunteer of the Year Award, "With ourCanonical Gratitude for KeepingForever Green the Collections of theMaster", to Lucy Brusic. The State ofthe Collections Address was given byTim Johnson who announced plans toestablish the Errett W. McDiarmidCuratorship for the Sherlock HolmesCollections. A Special Tribute to E. W.McDiarmid was delivered by Pj Doyle,Julie McKuras, John Bergquist, J.Randolph Cox and Timothy Johnson.

The meeting ended with our traditionalauction, which raised $900 for theMcDiarmid Curatorship. I want tothank everyone who attended andhelped us celebrate our most successfulyear and our new home in theAndersen Library.

Richard J. Sveum, M.D.Sveum001@tc.umn.edu

ased on a spoken appreciationdelivered at the Annual Meetingof the Friends of the SherlockHolmes Collections at the

University of Minnesota on August 2, 2000.

In Pj Doyle’s moving eulogy, in AndrewMalec’s informative article in this issue,and in the various reminiscences deliv-ered at the annual meeting of theSherlock Holmes Collections, a constanttheme is the modesty of the man thatmany of us would come to know andcherish as "Mac." This scholarly man ofgreat accomplishment had a trait of truenobility, the gift of treating others far lessaccomplished as fellow comrades.

I first met Mac in early 1978. As a recentgraduate of the University of Minnesotaand novice Sherlock Holmes enthusiast,I had done some research to determinewhether the Twin Cities had a scionsociety of the Baker Street Irregulars. Ihad come upon a years-old reference tothe Norwegian Explorers of Minnesotathat mentioned the contact as one E.W.McDiarmid. Dr. McDiarmid? ProfessorMcDiarmid? Dean McDiarmid?, Ithought to myself with some trepidation.

When the Minneapolis Star published anentertaining article in January, 1978,about a Norwegian Explorers meeting atthe U of MN Campus Club, I learnedthat Professor McDiarmid was indeedstill the leader of the group that he hadco-founded in the Forties. I musteredmy courage and wrote him a letter care-fully listing my qualifications: myNorwegian ancestry, my status as analumnus of the U of M, and my knowl-edge of the Canon. He promptly wroteme a cordial reply, stating that he wouldbe glad to add my name to the mailinglist and that the only qualification formembership was "a true interest in theexploits of the Master." I attended the

Bnext meeting and timidly introducedmyself to the esteemed former dean,who immediately put me at ease withhis gracious manner. I was so gratefulthat this learned, accomplished manwould treat a novice like me as a col-league from the start. The stories ofother Norwegian Explorers’ introduc-tions to Mac are remarkably similar.

I was fortunate to join the NorwegianExplorers at a time when Mac was seek-ing contributions to the Explorers' thirdanthology. I hesitantly submitted myfledgling piece of Sherlockian scholar-ship and was thrilled when Mac enthusi-astically accepted it for publication. Justas he had graciously accepted me as afellow member, he had graciouslyaccepted me as a fellow contributor. I, asa novice scholar, was overjoyed to beappearing in a casebound, fine-print edi-tion alongside luminaries much mysenior such as Mac, Bryce Crawford, Jr.,E.W. Ziebarth, Ronald Hubbs, JosephConnors, and John Bennett Shaw.

Over the years Mac’s quiet enthusiasmand gentle encouragement helpedchange for me what might have beenmerely a passing interest into what hasgrown into a fulfilling life-long avoca-tion. For that I’ll always be in his debt.

The last time I saw Mac was at theNorwegian Explorers’ annual dinner lastDecember. My wife, Inez, and I were for-tunate to be seated at the same tablewith Mac and Bryce Crawford, Jr., a fel-low co-founder of the Explorers. I wastouched as Mac, ever the gracious com-panion, reminded Bryce of my ownmodest contributions to the literature ofHolmes. (Editor’s Note: John Bergquist’s"Holmes, Watson, and Wine" appearedin Cultivating Sherlock Holmes, a 1978publication of the Norwegian Explorers.)

In early May of this year, Inez and I werelooking forward to a trip to Switzerlandto attend the Millennium Congress ofHolmesian Societies. After a twenty-fiveyear wait, I was finally going to seeReichenbach Falls, which Mac himselfhad never visited. Our high spirits weredampened when we heard of Mac’s pass-ing only days before we were due toleave. Fortunately, though, the timing ofevents gave me an opportunity to pay aspecial tribute to our fallen mentor. Aswe listened to Pj Doyle give her eulogyto Mac at his memorial service, merehours before our plane was to take off,the idea came to me to leave a mementoof him at Reichenbach. After the serviceI told Pj of my plans, and she generouslygave me a copy of the eulogy.

Some days later, I stood at the very spotabove the "dreadful cauldron" whereHolmes and Moriarty had waged theirtitanic struggle. Inez and the rest of ourinternational group had gone aheadtoward the inn at the top of the falls. Ilingered, and alone with the swirlingmist and roaring torrent, I carefullywedged my copies of Pj’s eulogy and theprogram from the memorial servicebehind the white star that marks the spotof the struggle. I would like to think thatMac would have been pleased.

I have read that death can be comparedwith a stone that has fallen into a pool.The stone itself sinks from view, but itsends out ripples that can spread farfrom their source. The ripples of scholar-ship and genuine friendship that Macsent out will continue to energize andnurture the Norwegian Explorers andthe entire Sherlockian World as long asat least one Sherlockian strives to keepgreen the memory of the Master.

John Bergquist

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Laura Kuhn of Allen Park, MI donated a number of playbills and newspaperclippings.

The uncorrected proof of The SherlockHolmes Triviography and Quiz Book byKathleen Kaska was recently donated bythe publisher, Taylor PublishingCompany.

One mystery? Who donated the pam-phlet "The Adventure of the IgnobleBachelor" by A. Conan Doylie. Therewas no identification with the pamphlet.

Jennie Paton's audio-visual collectionhas started to arrive, as noted in TimJohnson's column. We will have moreinformation on this in a subsequentissue.

Julie McKuras

100 Years Ago Continued from Page 2

In May of this year, the PBS program"MYSTERY!" presented, as noted ontheir website, "a two-part drama basedon Dr. Bell’s previously unknownundercover work, recently discoveredin private letters and papers andbrought dramatically to life on MurderRooms: The Dark Beginnings of SherlockHolmes…Scriptwriter David Pirie notesthat Murder Rooms is ‘based on a truestory. It has been known for a longtime that Joseph Bell…was a model forSherlock Holmes. What is not so wellknown is that – alongside his medicalwork – Bell was carrying out secretinvestigations for the Crown’."

References:Bell, Dr. Joseph. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes." Baker Street Journal, Vol. 2, #1 (1947): 45-49.Blathwayt, Raymond. "A Talk with Dr. Conan Doyle". The Bookman May 1892: 50-51.Carr, John Dickson. The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2nd edition, 1990.Lellenberg, Jon L. The Quest for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern University Press, 1987.Liebow, Ely M. Dr. Joe Bell, Model for Sherlock Holmes. Bowling Green: Bowling Green UniversityPopular Press, 1982.McDiarmid, E. W. The Real Sherlock Holmes. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1984.Saxby, Jessie M. E. Joseph Bell, An Appreciation By An Old Friend. Edinburgh and London: Oliphant,Anderson and Ferrier, 1913.Wallace, Irving. The Fabulous Originals. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955.

Using the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsormer police detective SteveRobinson of Gilbert, Arizonahas turned his investigativeskills to Vincent Starrett.

Steve recently spent five days at theElmer L. Andersen Library working ona comprehensive bibliography ofVincent Starrett’s works, includingmagazine and newspaper articles, andis considering a future biography ofStarrett. Steve hopes that collectors ofStarrett materials will contact him, inhopes that they are able to providehim with additional bibliographicalinformation on the newspaper andmagazine articles. Steve can be con-tacted at 170 E. Guadalupe Rd., #144,Gilbert, AZ 85234, or by email at vamberry@earthlink.net

On June 29, Larry and Ann Koppersof Leawood, Kansas, former members

of The Great Alkali Plainsmen, visitedThe Sherlock Holmes Collections and were given a tour by Curator Tim Johnson.

Angelo Barratta and LauraLeigh Mason, of Phoenix,Arizona, took time out fromtheir Minnesota vacation tomeet Tim Johnson and tourthe Collections.

Phot

o by

Jul

ie M

cKur

as

Ann and Larry Koppers, with John Bennett Shaw's file on the Great Alkali Plainsmen

F

Musingst is impossible to convey every-thing that was special about MacMcDiarmid. He spoke little of hisown accomplishments, and for

many, it is only after Mac’s passing thatwe learned how diverse those accom-plishments were. Mac was a librarian,author and scholar, co-founder of ascion society, and bibliophile, to namesome of his accomplishments. We havetried to cover each of these aspects withour choices in articles this issue.

Andrew Malec has written of the build-ing of the Sherlock Holmes Collections,and those who played important roles.Mac’s leadership in the NorwegianExplorers, interest in Holmes, andposition with the library enabled himto attract Sherlockian collections andcollectors. Mac was instrumental inobtaining the Hench library in 1978.Austin McLean, former Curator ofSpecial Collections and Rare Books,still speaks with excitement of the drivewith Mac and Bryce Crawford, Jr. toRochester, Minnesota to see Hench’scollection. Austin recently describedMac as "the key" in amassing the

world’s largest collection ofSherlockiana. We hope that the pass-ing of years will not dim the memoryof the man who guided the Collectionswith a steady hand.

John Bergquist’s article, taken from hisoral presentation made at the AnnualFriends meeting last month, discussesthe man behind Mac’s titles, and therole he played in helping many discov-er the joys of being a Sherlockian. Forour 50 Year Article, we’ve chosenMcDiarmid’s personal copy of J. FinleyChrist’s "The Missing Three". Our 100Year Old Article about Dr. Joseph Bellis one of the earliest written referencesto the man who was the model forSherlock Holmes; Mac’s "The RealSherlock Holmes" is one of the references.

Richard Sveum has written of therecent Annual Meeting of the Friendsof the Sherlock Holmes Collections.We were pleased to have special visi-tors Paul Smedegaard and Fred andSunnie Levin present with theMcDiarmid family as we remembered

Mac. Two of Mac’s daughters, Anneand Mary, and his grandson Jim Deleoand family, joined us. It was withdelight that Anne McDiarmid showedus what she brought to keep Mac’sgreat-granddaughter Kristiana busy; aWinnie-the-Pooh coloring book.Winnie is wearing a deerstalker, and sobegins the next generation ofMcDiarmid-inspired Sherlockians.Tim Johnson, in his Update on theCollections, gives our readers a glimpseat his vision for the Collections, avision that I hope we can all share andmake possible.

So, in one issue we have tried to touchupon the librarian, the author andscholar, the co- founder of a 52 year-old scion society, and the bibliophile.We were fortunate to have MacMcDiarmid with us for so many years,and hope that we can carry with us thememory of what might have been hisbest gift; true friendship.

Julie McKuras

I

Paul Smedegaard, Tim Johnson, Fred and Sunnie Levin August 2, 2000

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 5Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections8

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An Update From the Collectionst the Annual Meeting of theFriends of the Sherlock HolmesCollections, I presented my"State of the Collections"

address. Here, in abbreviated form, arethe address highlights.

I am pleased to report that the state of theCollections is excellent. Since ourAugust, 1999 meeting, we successfullymoved most of the collection fromWilson Library to our new home inAndersen Library, beginning in lateSeptember 1999 and finishing in earlyMarch 2000. Some of the memorabilia,some framed pieces, movie posters, andfile cabinets containing the Shaw corre-spondence are yet to be moved. We arein the process of resizing shelving toaccommodate quarto and folio items andconsolidating the collections in our uppermezzanine storage area. As items are cat-aloged they will be reshelved by Libraryof Congress classification number, retain-ing the DeWaal number in the biblio-graphic record. New acquisitions andgifts continue to arrive, most notably theaudio/visual collection of Jennie Paton.

Over the last year we mounted twoexhibits related to the Collections. InJanuary we had the opportunity to dis-play a number of items from the ShawCollection for the annual BSI weekend inNew York. (see the March, 2000 issue fordetails) In June, with the wonderful con-tributions of Derham Groves and hisarchitectural students in Australia, wemounted the exhibit "Better Holmes andGardens" in Wilson Library. A small cata-log was produced in both print andonline versions, along with a web-mount-ed photographic tour of the exhibit. Thisexhibit, too, has been well received as isevident by the declining number of print-ed catalogs.

On the staffing side of things Beth Bogle,my Library Assistant, continues to offerhelpful service to those with an interest inthe Collections. She has been assisted byour volunteers: Dick Sveum, JulieMcKuras, and Lucy Brusic. My continuedthanks goes to all of them. They make it areal joy as we work together on the variousprojects engendered by the Collections andyou, our very interested patrons.In June we submitted a grant proposal tothe National Endowment for theHumanities to provide nearly $100,000in funding for a digital panoramic pho-tography project. The project aims todigitally photograph and place on theInternet all of our three-dimensionalobjects. These panoramic displays willallow researchers Web access to the amaz-ing realia found in the Collections. Mythanks to those who wrote letters of sup-port and additional expertise as we pre-

pared this proposal. We should receiveword next Spring on the status and hope-ful acceptance of our proposal.

A true highlight of the year is the HubbsFamily gift that will facilitate cataloging amajority of the Collections and move ustoward an endowed staff position. Theproject began in January and the first six-month report has been issued to theHubbs Family and the Friends of theCollections on our progress. Much of thisfirst period was used to establish policiesand procedures, but even so 520 pieceswere cataloged through May. We expect amuch higher count when we issue ournext six-month report in January 2001.Plans are also moving ahead on ourdevelopment goals. I am pleased to reportthat we have: raised about $23,100 inunrestricted funds, received permissionfrom both the family and the University

A

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Richard Sveum and Anne McDiarmid

to create an endowed position, "TheErrett W. McDiarmid Curator of theSherlock Holmes Collections," collected$1,722 in memorial monies from theMcDiarmid family, received a first "lead"estate planning gift from an anonymousdonor of $25,000, and planned futuremailings announcing the endowmentcampaign and inviting contributions. You will be hearing more in the days andmonths ahead about our efforts to estab-lish this endowed chair in honor andmemory of "Mac".

Finally, let me report that it was anhonor and privilege to have membersof the McDiarmid family present at the Annual Meeting of the Friends ofthe Sherlock Holmes Collections. Mac meant so much to theCollections, to the Libraries, and to the profession at large. I was pleasedthat the family could be with us as we spent time together remembering avery special man.

I met Mac for the first time in the early1980s, while in library school here at theUniversity. I was in a class on academiclibrarianship, taught by DavidBerninghausen. During the class, I keptseeing a man, moving almost ethereallythrough the stacks visible through theopen door. Berninghausen, aware of themovement, finally commented: "That'sMac McDiarmid, former UniversityLibrarian, who's interested in SherlockHolmes. We have a Holmes collectionand I believe he's working on it." Therewas a hint of envy or admiration inBerninghausen's voice, but I couldn'tquite make out the connection. (MaryMcDiarmid informed me, after I sharedthese comments during the AnnualMeeting, that Mac and Berninghausenwere close friends and often played golftogether.) At the time I was intrigued, butmy teacher's comment brought the classback into focus and I tucked Mac andHolmes into the back of my mind.

phot

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Jim Deleo, Mary McDiarmid, Tim Johnson

The memory was revived the day I cameto interview for this position. Early in themorning I was introduced to the staff ofSpecial Collections and during thosepleasantries my eye caught sight of some-thing on a far shelf. It was this--a desknameplate that read "E. W. McDiarmid."I knew, in a sense, that I had come fullcircle and would again make a connec-tion with that ethereal man of the stacks.

The reunion was short and sweet. I willforever treasure those moments of reintro-duction at the 1998 conference, the visits,the hushed conversation about theCollections during an event at Eastcliff(where Mac had the chance to meet mywife), and that wonderful dinner withMac and Bryce at his condo and the lin-gering discussion after dinner aboutHolmes and Leonard Merrick. I'll keephis nameplate by my desk as a constantreminder of his life and work. I will misshim. Hail and farewell.

Tim Johnson

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 7Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections6

An Update From the Collectionst the Annual Meeting of theFriends of the Sherlock HolmesCollections, I presented my"State of the Collections"

address. Here, in abbreviated form, arethe address highlights.

I am pleased to report that the state of theCollections is excellent. Since ourAugust, 1999 meeting, we successfullymoved most of the collection fromWilson Library to our new home inAndersen Library, beginning in lateSeptember 1999 and finishing in earlyMarch 2000. Some of the memorabilia,some framed pieces, movie posters, andfile cabinets containing the Shaw corre-spondence are yet to be moved. We arein the process of resizing shelving toaccommodate quarto and folio items andconsolidating the collections in our uppermezzanine storage area. As items are cat-aloged they will be reshelved by Libraryof Congress classification number, retain-ing the DeWaal number in the biblio-graphic record. New acquisitions andgifts continue to arrive, most notably theaudio/visual collection of Jennie Paton.

Over the last year we mounted twoexhibits related to the Collections. InJanuary we had the opportunity to dis-play a number of items from the ShawCollection for the annual BSI weekend inNew York. (see the March, 2000 issue fordetails) In June, with the wonderful con-tributions of Derham Groves and hisarchitectural students in Australia, wemounted the exhibit "Better Holmes andGardens" in Wilson Library. A small cata-log was produced in both print andonline versions, along with a web-mount-ed photographic tour of the exhibit. Thisexhibit, too, has been well received as isevident by the declining number of print-ed catalogs.

On the staffing side of things Beth Bogle,my Library Assistant, continues to offerhelpful service to those with an interest inthe Collections. She has been assisted byour volunteers: Dick Sveum, JulieMcKuras, and Lucy Brusic. My continuedthanks goes to all of them. They make it areal joy as we work together on the variousprojects engendered by the Collections andyou, our very interested patrons.In June we submitted a grant proposal tothe National Endowment for theHumanities to provide nearly $100,000in funding for a digital panoramic pho-tography project. The project aims todigitally photograph and place on theInternet all of our three-dimensionalobjects. These panoramic displays willallow researchers Web access to the amaz-ing realia found in the Collections. Mythanks to those who wrote letters of sup-port and additional expertise as we pre-

pared this proposal. We should receiveword next Spring on the status and hope-ful acceptance of our proposal.

A true highlight of the year is the HubbsFamily gift that will facilitate cataloging amajority of the Collections and move ustoward an endowed staff position. Theproject began in January and the first six-month report has been issued to theHubbs Family and the Friends of theCollections on our progress. Much of thisfirst period was used to establish policiesand procedures, but even so 520 pieceswere cataloged through May. We expect amuch higher count when we issue ournext six-month report in January 2001.Plans are also moving ahead on ourdevelopment goals. I am pleased to reportthat we have: raised about $23,100 inunrestricted funds, received permissionfrom both the family and the University

A

phot

o by

Jul

ie M

cKur

as

Richard Sveum and Anne McDiarmid

to create an endowed position, "TheErrett W. McDiarmid Curator of theSherlock Holmes Collections," collected$1,722 in memorial monies from theMcDiarmid family, received a first "lead"estate planning gift from an anonymousdonor of $25,000, and planned futuremailings announcing the endowmentcampaign and inviting contributions. You will be hearing more in the days andmonths ahead about our efforts to estab-lish this endowed chair in honor andmemory of "Mac".

Finally, let me report that it was anhonor and privilege to have membersof the McDiarmid family present at the Annual Meeting of the Friends ofthe Sherlock Holmes Collections. Mac meant so much to theCollections, to the Libraries, and to the profession at large. I was pleasedthat the family could be with us as we spent time together remembering avery special man.

I met Mac for the first time in the early1980s, while in library school here at theUniversity. I was in a class on academiclibrarianship, taught by DavidBerninghausen. During the class, I keptseeing a man, moving almost ethereallythrough the stacks visible through theopen door. Berninghausen, aware of themovement, finally commented: "That'sMac McDiarmid, former UniversityLibrarian, who's interested in SherlockHolmes. We have a Holmes collectionand I believe he's working on it." Therewas a hint of envy or admiration inBerninghausen's voice, but I couldn'tquite make out the connection. (MaryMcDiarmid informed me, after I sharedthese comments during the AnnualMeeting, that Mac and Berninghausenwere close friends and often played golftogether.) At the time I was intrigued, butmy teacher's comment brought the classback into focus and I tucked Mac andHolmes into the back of my mind.

phot

o by

Jul

ie M

cKur

as

Jim Deleo, Mary McDiarmid, Tim Johnson

The memory was revived the day I cameto interview for this position. Early in themorning I was introduced to the staff ofSpecial Collections and during thosepleasantries my eye caught sight of some-thing on a far shelf. It was this--a desknameplate that read "E. W. McDiarmid."I knew, in a sense, that I had come fullcircle and would again make a connec-tion with that ethereal man of the stacks.

The reunion was short and sweet. I willforever treasure those moments of reintro-duction at the 1998 conference, the visits,the hushed conversation about theCollections during an event at Eastcliff(where Mac had the chance to meet mywife), and that wonderful dinner withMac and Bryce at his condo and the lin-gering discussion after dinner aboutHolmes and Leonard Merrick. I'll keephis nameplate by my desk as a constantreminder of his life and work. I will misshim. Hail and farewell.

Tim Johnson

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 7Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections6

100 Years Ago Continued from Page 2

In May of this year, the PBS program"MYSTERY!" presented, as noted ontheir website, "a two-part drama basedon Dr. Bell’s previously unknownundercover work, recently discoveredin private letters and papers andbrought dramatically to life on MurderRooms: The Dark Beginnings of SherlockHolmes…Scriptwriter David Pirie notesthat Murder Rooms is ‘based on a truestory. It has been known for a longtime that Joseph Bell…was a model forSherlock Holmes. What is not so wellknown is that – alongside his medicalwork – Bell was carrying out secretinvestigations for the Crown’."

References:Bell, Dr. Joseph. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes." Baker Street Journal, Vol. 2, #1 (1947): 45-49.Blathwayt, Raymond. "A Talk with Dr. Conan Doyle". The Bookman May 1892: 50-51.Carr, John Dickson. The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2nd edition, 1990.Lellenberg, Jon L. The Quest for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern University Press, 1987.Liebow, Ely M. Dr. Joe Bell, Model for Sherlock Holmes. Bowling Green: Bowling Green UniversityPopular Press, 1982.McDiarmid, E. W. The Real Sherlock Holmes. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1984.Saxby, Jessie M. E. Joseph Bell, An Appreciation By An Old Friend. Edinburgh and London: Oliphant,Anderson and Ferrier, 1913.Wallace, Irving. The Fabulous Originals. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955.

Using the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsormer police detective SteveRobinson of Gilbert, Arizonahas turned his investigativeskills to Vincent Starrett.

Steve recently spent five days at theElmer L. Andersen Library working ona comprehensive bibliography ofVincent Starrett’s works, includingmagazine and newspaper articles, andis considering a future biography ofStarrett. Steve hopes that collectors ofStarrett materials will contact him, inhopes that they are able to providehim with additional bibliographicalinformation on the newspaper andmagazine articles. Steve can be con-tacted at 170 E. Guadalupe Rd., #144,Gilbert, AZ 85234, or by email at vamberry@earthlink.net

On June 29, Larry and Ann Koppersof Leawood, Kansas, former members

of The Great Alkali Plainsmen, visitedThe Sherlock Holmes Collections and were given a tour by Curator Tim Johnson.

Angelo Barratta and LauraLeigh Mason, of Phoenix,Arizona, took time out fromtheir Minnesota vacation tomeet Tim Johnson and tourthe Collections.

Phot

o by

Jul

ie M

cKur

as

Ann and Larry Koppers, with John Bennett Shaw's file on the Great Alkali Plainsmen

F

Musingst is impossible to convey every-thing that was special about MacMcDiarmid. He spoke little of hisown accomplishments, and for

many, it is only after Mac’s passing thatwe learned how diverse those accom-plishments were. Mac was a librarian,author and scholar, co-founder of ascion society, and bibliophile, to namesome of his accomplishments. We havetried to cover each of these aspects withour choices in articles this issue.

Andrew Malec has written of the build-ing of the Sherlock Holmes Collections,and those who played important roles.Mac’s leadership in the NorwegianExplorers, interest in Holmes, andposition with the library enabled himto attract Sherlockian collections andcollectors. Mac was instrumental inobtaining the Hench library in 1978.Austin McLean, former Curator ofSpecial Collections and Rare Books,still speaks with excitement of the drivewith Mac and Bryce Crawford, Jr. toRochester, Minnesota to see Hench’scollection. Austin recently describedMac as "the key" in amassing the

world’s largest collection ofSherlockiana. We hope that the pass-ing of years will not dim the memoryof the man who guided the Collectionswith a steady hand.

John Bergquist’s article, taken from hisoral presentation made at the AnnualFriends meeting last month, discussesthe man behind Mac’s titles, and therole he played in helping many discov-er the joys of being a Sherlockian. Forour 50 Year Article, we’ve chosenMcDiarmid’s personal copy of J. FinleyChrist’s "The Missing Three". Our 100Year Old Article about Dr. Joseph Bellis one of the earliest written referencesto the man who was the model forSherlock Holmes; Mac’s "The RealSherlock Holmes" is one of the references.

Richard Sveum has written of therecent Annual Meeting of the Friendsof the Sherlock Holmes Collections.We were pleased to have special visi-tors Paul Smedegaard and Fred andSunnie Levin present with theMcDiarmid family as we remembered

Mac. Two of Mac’s daughters, Anneand Mary, and his grandson Jim Deleoand family, joined us. It was withdelight that Anne McDiarmid showedus what she brought to keep Mac’sgreat-granddaughter Kristiana busy; aWinnie-the-Pooh coloring book.Winnie is wearing a deerstalker, and sobegins the next generation ofMcDiarmid-inspired Sherlockians.Tim Johnson, in his Update on theCollections, gives our readers a glimpseat his vision for the Collections, avision that I hope we can all share andmake possible.

So, in one issue we have tried to touchupon the librarian, the author andscholar, the co- founder of a 52 year-old scion society, and the bibliophile.We were fortunate to have MacMcDiarmid with us for so many years,and hope that we can carry with us thememory of what might have been hisbest gift; true friendship.

Julie McKuras

I

Paul Smedegaard, Tim Johnson, Fred and Sunnie Levin August 2, 2000

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 5Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections8

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 9Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections4

E.W. McDiarmid: A Friend To All Who Knew HimFrom the President

he Annual MembershipMeeting of the Friends of theSherlock Holmes Collectionstook place on August 2, 2000

in the new Elmer L. Andersen Library,with a reception held in the GivensConference Suite. Several Friends weregiven a tour of the underground stor-age area where the Sherlock HolmesCollections is kept.

The Business Meeting started with areview of our mission to support theUniversity of Minnesota Libraries andour goal to become the world centerfor the study of Sherlock Holmes andrelated subjects. We sadly noted thedeath of Friends Dennis France, E.W.McDiarmid and Dorothy Shaw sinceour last meeting. We then reported onnew business. Our current member-ship stands at 325, an increase fromlast year. The Finance report noted afund balance of $23,100.03 in theJohn Bennett Shaw Fund and an acqui-sition budget of $3,617.06 from thePhilip S. Hench Endowment. EditorJulie McKuras reported on theNewsletter. The Nominating

Acquisitions

n the spirit of collectors such asJohn Bennett Shaw and MacMcDiarmid, individuals continueto donate materials to the

Sherlock Holmes Collections. It is with their help that the Collectionsstrive toward the goal of becoming theworld center for the study of SherlockHolmes.

T

I

Committee presented the slate of can-didates and the membership approvedfor officers: President Richard Sveum,VP Ruth Berman, Secretary JulieMcKuras and Treasurer TimothyJohnson. The 2000 Friends Board willinclude: John Bergquist, Judy Ham,Jamie Hubbs, Allen Mackler, MikeMcKuras, and Bruce Southworth. Ourspecial thanks go to Inez Bergquist forcompleting a three year term servingon the Friends Board.

Curator Tim Johnson presented theVolunteer of the Year Award, "With ourCanonical Gratitude for KeepingForever Green the Collections of theMaster", to Lucy Brusic. The State ofthe Collections Address was given byTim Johnson who announced plans toestablish the Errett W. McDiarmidCuratorship for the Sherlock HolmesCollections. A Special Tribute to E. W.McDiarmid was delivered by Pj Doyle,Julie McKuras, John Bergquist, J.Randolph Cox and Timothy Johnson.

The meeting ended with our traditionalauction, which raised $900 for theMcDiarmid Curatorship. I want tothank everyone who attended andhelped us celebrate our most successfulyear and our new home in theAndersen Library.

Richard J. Sveum, M.D.Sveum001@tc.umn.edu

ased on a spoken appreciationdelivered at the Annual Meetingof the Friends of the SherlockHolmes Collections at the

University of Minnesota on August 2, 2000.

In Pj Doyle’s moving eulogy, in AndrewMalec’s informative article in this issue,and in the various reminiscences deliv-ered at the annual meeting of theSherlock Holmes Collections, a constanttheme is the modesty of the man thatmany of us would come to know andcherish as "Mac." This scholarly man ofgreat accomplishment had a trait of truenobility, the gift of treating others far lessaccomplished as fellow comrades.

I first met Mac in early 1978. As a recentgraduate of the University of Minnesotaand novice Sherlock Holmes enthusiast,I had done some research to determinewhether the Twin Cities had a scionsociety of the Baker Street Irregulars. Ihad come upon a years-old reference tothe Norwegian Explorers of Minnesotathat mentioned the contact as one E.W.McDiarmid. Dr. McDiarmid? ProfessorMcDiarmid? Dean McDiarmid?, Ithought to myself with some trepidation.

When the Minneapolis Star published anentertaining article in January, 1978,about a Norwegian Explorers meeting atthe U of MN Campus Club, I learnedthat Professor McDiarmid was indeedstill the leader of the group that he hadco-founded in the Forties. I musteredmy courage and wrote him a letter care-fully listing my qualifications: myNorwegian ancestry, my status as analumnus of the U of M, and my knowl-edge of the Canon. He promptly wroteme a cordial reply, stating that he wouldbe glad to add my name to the mailinglist and that the only qualification formembership was "a true interest in theexploits of the Master." I attended the

Bnext meeting and timidly introducedmyself to the esteemed former dean,who immediately put me at ease withhis gracious manner. I was so gratefulthat this learned, accomplished manwould treat a novice like me as a col-league from the start. The stories ofother Norwegian Explorers’ introduc-tions to Mac are remarkably similar.

I was fortunate to join the NorwegianExplorers at a time when Mac was seek-ing contributions to the Explorers' thirdanthology. I hesitantly submitted myfledgling piece of Sherlockian scholar-ship and was thrilled when Mac enthusi-astically accepted it for publication. Justas he had graciously accepted me as afellow member, he had graciouslyaccepted me as a fellow contributor. I, asa novice scholar, was overjoyed to beappearing in a casebound, fine-print edi-tion alongside luminaries much mysenior such as Mac, Bryce Crawford, Jr.,E.W. Ziebarth, Ronald Hubbs, JosephConnors, and John Bennett Shaw.

Over the years Mac’s quiet enthusiasmand gentle encouragement helpedchange for me what might have beenmerely a passing interest into what hasgrown into a fulfilling life-long avoca-tion. For that I’ll always be in his debt.

The last time I saw Mac was at theNorwegian Explorers’ annual dinner lastDecember. My wife, Inez, and I were for-tunate to be seated at the same tablewith Mac and Bryce Crawford, Jr., a fel-low co-founder of the Explorers. I wastouched as Mac, ever the gracious com-panion, reminded Bryce of my ownmodest contributions to the literature ofHolmes. (Editor’s Note: John Bergquist’s"Holmes, Watson, and Wine" appearedin Cultivating Sherlock Holmes, a 1978publication of the Norwegian Explorers.)

In early May of this year, Inez and I werelooking forward to a trip to Switzerlandto attend the Millennium Congress ofHolmesian Societies. After a twenty-fiveyear wait, I was finally going to seeReichenbach Falls, which Mac himselfhad never visited. Our high spirits weredampened when we heard of Mac’s pass-ing only days before we were due toleave. Fortunately, though, the timing ofevents gave me an opportunity to pay aspecial tribute to our fallen mentor. Aswe listened to Pj Doyle give her eulogyto Mac at his memorial service, merehours before our plane was to take off,the idea came to me to leave a mementoof him at Reichenbach. After the serviceI told Pj of my plans, and she generouslygave me a copy of the eulogy.

Some days later, I stood at the very spotabove the "dreadful cauldron" whereHolmes and Moriarty had waged theirtitanic struggle. Inez and the rest of ourinternational group had gone aheadtoward the inn at the top of the falls. Ilingered, and alone with the swirlingmist and roaring torrent, I carefullywedged my copies of Pj’s eulogy and theprogram from the memorial servicebehind the white star that marks the spotof the struggle. I would like to think thatMac would have been pleased.

I have read that death can be comparedwith a stone that has fallen into a pool.The stone itself sinks from view, but itsends out ripples that can spread farfrom their source. The ripples of scholar-ship and genuine friendship that Macsent out will continue to energize andnurture the Norwegian Explorers andthe entire Sherlockian World as long asat least one Sherlockian strives to keepgreen the memory of the Master.

John Bergquist

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Tim Johnson and Lucy Brusic

Laura Kuhn of Allen Park, MI donated a number of playbills and newspaperclippings.

The uncorrected proof of The SherlockHolmes Triviography and Quiz Book byKathleen Kaska was recently donated bythe publisher, Taylor PublishingCompany.

One mystery? Who donated the pam-phlet "The Adventure of the IgnobleBachelor" by A. Conan Doylie. Therewas no identification with the pamphlet.

Jennie Paton's audio-visual collectionhas started to arrive, as noted in TimJohnson's column. We will have moreinformation on this in a subsequentissue.

Julie McKuras

50In 1991, Mac McDiarmid donated hisSherlockian books to the SherlockHolmes Collections. Among the booksand booklets in his library was "TheMissing Three" written by Jay FinleyChrist, Alias Langdale Pike. It wasprinted in a small 4-page pamphlettitled Christmas 1950, and published byChrist’s own Fanlight Press, which hecreated for his Sherlockian writings.His article begins:

In 1935, in introducing a play edited by Vincent Starrett, Frederic Dorr Steele wrote that he had illustrated 29 of the 33 Sherlock Holmes tales which were publishedfrom 1903 onward. Edgar Smith’s Baker Street Inventory (1945) lists 26 of those 33 titles, under Steele’s name. The discrepancy need no longer exist, for, due to the alertness of my good friends in the photographic laboratory of the University of Chicago, seven new Sherlockian drawings have turned up…The drawings were published in The Louisville Courier – Journal.

Christ goes on to identify these draw-ings, "one for each of the seven tales."Those missing from Mr. Smith’s invento-ry were "The Sussex Vampire", "TheThree Garridebs", and "The IllustriousClient".

In Irregular Proceedings of the Mid‘Forties, Jon Lellenberg describes J.Finley Christ as "…one of the BSI’s pil-lars in the late ‘Forties and ‘Fifties, andone of its greatest contributors to theWritings About the Writings." (108).Born in 1884, Christ was a Professor of

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 3

Business Law at the University ofChicago from 1920 through 1950. Hebecame interested in both the BSI andEdgar W. Smith’s Profile by Gaslight afterreading Vincent Starrett’s "Books Alive"column in the Chicago Tribune. In1944 he began corresponding withStarrett, who invited him to join the BSI.Christ proved himself an esteemedSherlockian scholar in the years tocome, contributing to The Baker StreetJournal and Sherlock Holmes Journal, aswell as with his other writings.

He also wrote for the Chicago Tribunecolumn "A Line O’Type or Two" underthe names "…J. A. Finch and LangdalePike whom he referred to as his‘agents’." (Terras 48) He authored anumber of pamphlets under his pseudo-nyms, including "Flashes by Fanlight","Gleanings by Gaslight", "Soundings inthe Saga", "Sherlock’s Anniversaries" and"Finch’s Final Fling". Two of his workswere published in 1947, and theyremain milestones in Sherlockian schol-arship. His An Irregular Chronology ofSherlock Holmes of Baker Street, pub-lished by Fanlight House, is an orderingof the Holmes stories. An IrregularGuide to Sherlock Holmes of BakerStreet was the first index to the Canon.This was published by ArgusBooks/Pamphlet House., and was anidea proposed by Christopher Morley asearly as 1938, according to Lellenberg.Jay Finley Christ devised the four-letterreference key to the Canon, still in usetoday. That same year, he was the firstto teach a collegiate course devoted tothe Master Detective. His six sessionswere titled "Sherlock Holmes of BakerStreet".

Christ was a member of The SherlockHolmes Society of London, Chicago’sThe Hounds of the Baskerville (sic), andone of the early members of Hugo’sCompanions. He was instrumental infounding and participating in the earlyyears of The Illustrious Clients ofIndianapolis as well. In 1949, hereceived his shilling and investiture of"The Final Problem". He died on

December 10, 1963, after a two year ill-ness. The Two-Shilling Award wasbestowed upon him posthumously in1964. When Julian Wolff wrote ofChrist’s passing, he stated "We have lostone of our immortals."

Christ’s letters to Vincent Starrett arepart of the Vincent Starrett Collection atthe University of Minnesota.

Julie McKuras

References:Christ, Jay Finley. "The Missing Three". Chicago:

The Fanlight Press, 1950.Lellenberg, Jon. "Hounds Bounding from a Yellow

Fog: The Unleashing of Jay Finley Christ". Chicago, 9 Oct. 1993.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Crises of the Late‘Forties. New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1999.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Proceedings of theMid ‘Forties. New York: The Baker Street Irregulars, 1995.

Lellenberg, Jon, ed. Irregular Records of the Early‘Forties. New York: Fordham University Press,1991.

Rabe, W. T., ed. 1961 S’ian Who’s Who andWhat’s What. Ferndale, MI: OLD SOLDIERS OF BAKER STREET, U.S.A., 1961.

Terras, Donald J., ed. Hugo’s CompanionsChicago. Evanston, IL: Windy City Press, 1999.

Wolff, Julian, ed. "Stand with Me Here Upon the Terrace…". The Baker Street Journal. Volume14, Number 1 (1964): 54.

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections10

A small delegation from the Librarywent down to Rochester, Minnesota topick up the most important itemswhile I waited impatiently during anseemingly endless Library School classbefore I could rush over to see them(by now the Holmes materials hadmoved to Wilson Library). Later JohnJenson and I picked up the rest of thecollection and I took particular satis-faction in writing long letters to vari-ous correspondents describing it:despite its significance, it was all butunknown to the Sherlockian world atlarge.

The Hench collection was appraisedby the antiquarian dealer Peter L.Stern in January, 1979. In a letteraccompanying the appraisal Stern wasfulsome in his praise of the Henchs’saccomplishment, noting the runs offirst editions, the "high quality" manu-script material, the "outstanding" art-

Early Days of The Sherlock Holmes Collections Continued from Page 1

ence, in addition to encouragementfrom rare book librarians AustinMcLean, John Jenson, and CarolUrness, that I chose to pursueLibrarianship as a profession and thuswas on hand for what was to come.

During one of my visits to Mac I askedhim about a reference to theNorwegian Explorer archives which Ihad come across in an essay by PhilipHench. I inquired why the archiveshad not been deposited with theLibrary and was given to understandthat it was being held back in connec-tion with the hoped-for eventualacquisition of a notable Holmes collec-tion assembled by Hench and his wifeMary. I further gathered that thiseffort had been quietly underway for anumber of years.

The time shifts to 1978, shortly after Ihad entered the University’s Library

School, the year the Explorers antholo-gy Cultivating Sherlock Holmes waspublished. Philip Hench was amongthe dedicatees of this book, which insome ways represented the culmina-tion of the wooing process whichbrought the Hench treasures toMinnesota. Events moved swiftly afterthat for Mrs. Hench had decided todonate the collection to the Universitythus fufilling what evidently had beenthe intention of her husband, whopassed away in 1965. Soon I was sit-ting in Mac’s office reading with grow-ing excitement an inventory andappraisal of the collection prepared byRobert F. Metzdorf in 1966. Detailedwere such splendors as four copies ofBeeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887,three copies of the even more elusivefirst separate 1888 edition of A Studyin Scarlet, and many other rarities toonumerous to mention here.

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ac McDiarmid is wellknown for his work withthe Sherlock HolmesCollections and with the

Norwegian Explorers. Following is alisting of his writings in books and periodicals.

"Salute to Sherlock Holmes", E.W. McDiarmid and Theodore C. Blegen. Sherlock Holmes: MasterDetective,edited by Theodore C. Blegen and E. W. McDiarmid. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1952.

"Professor Sherlock Holmes, Ph.D." Exploring Sherlock Holmes, edited by E. W. McDiarmid and Theodore C. Blegen. La Crosse, WI:Sumac Press, 1957.

"Reichenbach and Beyond". BSJ Christmas Annual, 1957, edited by

Edgar W. Smith. 34 – 43."Epithets In The Canon". The Baker

Street Journal. Vol. 19, #3 (September 1969). 144-148.

"Are There Others? Sherlock Holmes’s Opinion of Watson". Cultivating Sherlock Holmes, edited byBryce L. Crawford, Jr. and Joseph B.Connors. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1978.

The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota.La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1982.

"The Case of the Missing Text". Baker Street Miscellanea, Winter 1982. 1–6.

"The Real Sherlock Holmes". La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1984.

Medical Casebook of Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, by Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key. Malabar, FL:Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., 1984. Foreword by E. W. McDiarmid.

The Sherlock Holmes Crossword, by Albert and Julia Rosenblatt. La Crosse, WI: Sumac Press, 1985.

Foreword by E. W. McDiarmid."The Priory School: The Case of the

Classic Case". The Baker Street Dozen, edited by Pj Doyle and E. W. McDiarmid. New York: Congdon & Weed, Inc. 1989.

NOTE: The 1987 hardcoveredition of The Baker Street Dozendoes not include this essay.

"Sherlock Holmes’s Later Career". Studies in Scarlet. Dubuque, IA: Gasogene Press, 1989. 147 – 153.

"Howard Haycraft, 1905 – 1991". Explorations. December, 1991. 8.

"Bibliographical Note: ‘The Red-Headed League’." Explorations. March, 1992. 8-9.

A Basic Holmesian Library. E. W. McDiarmid and Peter Blau. Minneapolis: No Litter Press, 1995.

The Saga of a Sherlockian Scion Society.Minneapolis: The Norwegian Explorers. 1995.

Julie McKuras

A McDiarmid Bibliography

M

John Bennett Shaw filed a copy of"The Making of Sherlock Holmes",written by A.M., in his notebook ofperiodical articles from the periodbefore 1903. In the Vol. 14, 1900issue of The Young Man, A.M. notedDr. Arthur Conan Doyle's statement:"Sherlock Holmes…is the literaryembodiment of my memory of aProfessor of Medicine at EdinburghUniversity".

That professor was Dr. Joseph Bell, afourth generation physician in a familyknown throughout Edinburgh,Scotland. He was born there on Dec.2, 1837, and was the eldest son of Dr.Benjamin and Cecilia Bell. He attend-ed the University of Edinburgh, "themost celebrated medical school in theworld" (Liebow 40) and graduated in1859. He became house surgeon, andin 1863, was appointed assistant sur-geon to his father and to Dr. Patrick H.Watson. During a diphtheria epidemicin 1864, Bell contracted the disease,which left him with a high pitchedvoice and jerky gait. In 1865, he mar-ried Edith Murray, but their happyunion was short-lived; Edith died nineyears later.

Bell was the editor of The EdinburghMedical Journal from 1873 through1896. He wrote a number of articlesand authored two books, Manual ofSurgical Operations and Notes onSurgery for Nurses, the latter reflectinghis life-long interest in bettering thefield of nursing. He was very religious,had a good sense of humor, and dili-gently kept a journal. He had aninterest in criminal psychology andhandwriting analysis, noting "Theimportance of the infinitely little is

incalculable", (Bell 45) and evenattempted to identify Jack the Ripperat the time of the crimes. Bellreceived numerous medical honors,achieving the position of President ofthe Royal College of Surgeons, andwas well liked by patients, fellow fac-ulty and students.

One of those students was ArthurConan Doyle. He was chosen by Bellto be his out-patient clerk, allowinghim close observation of the doctor’sinteraction with patients. Bell wasknown for his powers of deduction,impressing upon students the need touse all of their senses in making adiagnosis. As Ely Liebow states, "JoeBell gave Doyle the scientific method,the voice, the stoic face, but most ofall the true touchstone, the aspect ofHolmes that instantly and foreverraised him above all other detectivesand made him more recognizable thanalmost any other literary creation: theingenious, insouciant, lightningdeduction…" (10)

In May, 1892, Conan Doyle acknowl-edged that Bell was his model for theGreat Detective. Bell, a modest manwho bore a tremendous physicalresemblance to Holmes, stated fondlythat Doyle had "…made a great dealout of very little, and his warmremembrance of one of his old teach-ers has coloured the picture." (Carr73). But others saw the same resem-blance. In an April 5, 1893 letter toConan Doyle, fellow University ofEdinburgh alumnus Robert LouisStevenson wrote "Only the one thingtroubles me: can this be my old friendJoe Bell?" (Nordon 25)

In the years to come, Conan Doyle’sbiographers would place varyingdegrees of emphasis on Bell’s influenceupon the character of Holmes. JessieM. E. Saxby, a friend of Bell’s, wroteher own recollection of the physician’skind nature to "…show his absoluteunlikeness, save in one respect, toConan Doyle’s masterpiece." (Saxby

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Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections2

12) The 1955 publication of IrvingWallace’s The Fabulous Originals,which included a chapter about JosephBell called "The Real SherlockHolmes", prompted Adrian ConanDoyle to threaten legal action againstWallace. Adamant in his quest tohave his father seen as the true modelfor Holmes, Adrian reacted negativelyto Hesketh Pearson’s references to Bellin his 1943 Conan Doyle, His Life andArt, and called the book a "fakeogra-phy", according to Jon Lellenberg.Adrian had helped shape JohnDickson Carr’s 1949 The Life of SirArthur Conan Doyle, and in the samefashion, insisted that William Baring-Gould review with him the introducto-ry chapters of The Annotated SherlockHolmes, excluding any reference toWallace’s book. He sent Baring-Goulda manuscript, "The Real SherlockHolmes", which was originally intend-ed but not used as the introduction toPierre Nordon’s Conan Doyle. Thisessay and Adrian’s correspondence arepart of the Baring-Gould papers,donated to the University ofMinnesota. In his pamphlet "TheReal Sherlock Holmes", E. W.McDiarmid questions the distinct pos-sibility that "…it must have occurredto him (Adrian) that Baring-Gouldmight use it to help him in his cam-paign to have his father universallyaccepted as Sherlock Holmes."(McDiarmid 6)

Dr. Joseph Bell died in his belovedEdinburgh on October 4, 1911, andhis funeral was one of the largest thecity had seen. Was he the only modelfor Sherlock Holmes? The author ofthis featured 100 Year piece, A. M.,wrote of Dr. Bell "…however cleverthe professor may be, it is not likelythat the world would have heard ofhim without the genius of the novelist,and it is due to Dr. Doyle, even morethan to Dr. Bell, that we have such afascinating character as SherlockHolmes in modern fiction."

Julie McKuras

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 11

The Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionsis a quarterly newsletter published by theFriends of the Sherlock Holmes Collectionswhich seek to promote the activities, inter-ests and needs of the Special Collectionsand Rare Books Department, University ofMinnesota Libraries.

Mail editorial correspondence c/o:

EditorJulie McKuras

13512 Granada Ave.Apple Valley, MN 55124

952-431-1934952-431-5965 Faxmike9750@aol.com

Editorial BoardBruce Southworth, Dr. Richard Sveum,

Timothy Johnson

Copyright © 2000University of Minnesota Library

The University of Minnesota is an EqualOpportunity Educator and Employer.

Early Days of The Sherlock HolmesCollections work by F.D. Steele, and the "particu-larly noteworthy … William Gillettematerial, which is primarily from theGillette estate." Stern concluded withthe opinion "the scope and quality ofthe Hench Collection could probablynot be duplicated today." Though thiswas early in Stern’s career, and hewould subsequently participate in theformation of some equally importantcollections, it is still an indication ofthe impression it made at the time.

The Hench bequest received consider-able publicity among Holmes enthusi-asts but not as well known is that cer-tain valuable items listed in the 1966Metzdorf appraisal did not come withthe rest of the collection in 1978.Included among the missing were twoleaves from the manuscript to TheHound of the Baskervilles, the fullmanuscript to the non-Holmes story"The Horror of the Heights," a numberof significant early Arthur Conan Doyleletters, and some 70 additional sketch-es and drawings by Frederic DorrSteele. These items were subsequentlydiscovered in a bank vault and deliv-ered to the University in 1983 courtesyof the Henchs’s son John Hench—andthanks in large part to some quietdiplomacy on the part of Explorer JackD. Key, our man in Rochester.

But what did come in 1978 was morethan enough to get started. The firstexhibit was mounted and a relatedbrochure was printed entitled "ArthurConan Doyle: an Exhibit from theMary Kahler and Philip S. HenchCollection July 18-September 30,1979". This exhibit set the pattern formost of my subsequent work with thecollections and my relationship withMac and others at the Library.Whereas Mac remained in overallsupervision of cataloging and develop-ment of the collections I worked onthe technical side with Austin McLeanand John Jenson, the SpecialCollections Curator and AssociateCurator respectively. Austin had the

unenviable task of editing my text forthe exhibit brochure, a compositionreplete with schoolboy howlers andwritten in what he accurately describedas my "turgid prose." This work, bythe way, would have justifiably lapsedinto permanent obscurity had it notbeen posted on the Internet by a cur-rent incumbent of Special Collections.John Jenson was much involved in thephysical mounting of this and subse-quent exhibits, in the early days bene-fiting from the invaluable input oflibrary assistant Kathy Tezla.

Mac meanwhile was busy withattempts to secure funding to allowthe collections to be catalogued andotherwise made accessible. Equallyinvolved with these efforts was the lateRonald M. Hubbs whose wise counsel,personal integrity, and widely-respect-ed recommendations were crucial fac-tors in obtaining the grants. Macalways acknowledged this, but Hubbspreferred to avoid the limelight evenmore than our Sigerson. Their jointsuccess led to, among other things, mygainful employment with SpecialCollections between 1979 and 1981during which time an initial cataloguewas prepared and numerous otherprojects undertaken. More expansiveaccounts of these and other adven-tures, however, must be deferred toanother time.

What I hope is apparent from theabove account is the selfless mannerwhich characterized the involvementof many of those who made such significant contributions to the earlydevelopment of the Sherlock Holmescollections at the University ofMinnesota. I was fortunate to havebeen in the right place at the righttime but it was people like Mac,Austin McLean and Ronald Hubbswho were responsible for first bringingthe collections here and then ensuringsomething could be done with themonce they arrived. Patient effortsbehind the scenes yielded tremendousdividends, laying the groundwork forall that has been subsequentlyachieved. This modesty was especial-ly true of Mac. He was usually happyto take part in the work and fun butlet others take the credit. He playedthe game for its own sake, perhaps thetruest indicator of a follower of themaster detective Sherlock Holmes.

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July 1983"Adventures on the Air"

John Bennett Shaw, Austin McLean, Edith Meiser, Mac McDiarmid

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Sherlock HolmesC O L L E C T I O N S

September 2000Volume 4 Number 3

“Your merits should be publicly recognized” (STUD)

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Some PersonalRecollections of the Early

Days of the SherlockHolmes Collections

1100 Years Ago

250 Years Ago

3From the President

4Acquisitions

4Musings

5An Update from the Collections

6Using the SherlockHolmes Collections

8E.W. McDiarmid: A Friend To All Who Knew Him

9A McDiarmid Bibliography

10Remembrances

12Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections 1

Some Personal Recollections of the EarlyDays of the Sherlock Holmes CollectionsBy Andrew Malec, B.S.I.

am pleased to be afforded thisopportunity to draw together someof my earliest memories of thedevelopment of the Sherlock

Holmes Collections, as well as some ofmy encounters with E.W. McDiarmid("Mac") and others who played vital rolesduring this period.Though I relate theseevents from a person-al perspective, I am infact recording theaccomplishments ofothers who generallychose to downplaytheir significant con-tributions to thebeginnings of whathas become thelargest SherlockHolmes collection inthe world. Duringmost of the time inquestion I was morean observer and ben-eficiary of their tremendous labors thanan active participant. Holmes was lostwithout his Boswell and they, too deservea chronicler.

My first indication that the University ofMinnesota Library was demonstratingspecial interest in Sherlock Holmes camewhen I read of the acquisition of theJames C. Iraldi collection in TheMinnesota Daily, in 1974, during my

undergraduate days. I attended my initialNorwegian Explorers meeting in 1975(on the occasion of John Bennett Shaw’sfirst visit to Minnesota) but did not meetMac though we had exchanged corre-spondence—he was in the hospital recov-ering from a heart attack. In those days

the Iraldi collection was housed in WalterLibrary under the supervision of KarenNelson Hoyle, Curator of the Kerlan andHess collections. I began to do volunteerwork with the collection but it cannot besaid my endeavors then amounted tomuch.

Mac and I eventually met and kept intouch as I became active in the Explorers.Indeed, it was largely due to his influ-

I

Sherlock Holmes CollectionsSuite 111, Elmer L. Andersen LibraryUniversity of Minnesota222 21st Ave. S.Minneapolis, MN 55455

Telephone: 612-624-7526FAX: 612-626-9353

Timothy J. Johnson, Curator

Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections12

Mailing list corrections requested—Because of the high cost of returned newsletters,we would appreciate being informed of changesof address or other corrections.

RemembrancesIn supporting the Sherlock Holmes Collections, many donors have made contributions either in honor or in memory of special per-sons. Due to the number of people who made donations in Mac McDiarmid’s memory, we will list them as one group.

IN HONOR OF FROMAnonymous Ted FriedmanNancy Beiman Laura KuhnDr. Howard Burchell Richard M. CaplanBob Burr Laura KuhnMark Conrad Laura Kuhn"The Insoluble Puzzles" Laura KuhnCarole McCormick Laura KuhnAustin McLean Charles PressBob Thomalen Paul Singleton221Beach Alexian Gregory

IN MEMORY OF FROMErrett W. McDiarmid Cheryl Anderson, Thomas Arlander, Pauline Cartford, Mary Cermak,

Susan Davern, Wendell and Marjorie DeBoer, Frank and Genevieve Di Gangi, Pj Doyle, Karen Ellery, Joan Fabian, Aurelio and Marana Floria, Paul and Ruth Fonstad, Lisl Gaal, Alma Gaona, Belen Gaona-Keithley, Thomas and Lynda Garnett, Dennis and Caroline Gebhard, David Hammer, Robert Holloway, Karen Hoyle, Margaret S. Hubbs, Marjorie Jambor, Carol Johnson, Hugh Klein, Janice Dolejki, Bobbi Masquelier, Richard and Rosemary McHugh, D. E. Meyer, Robert Minish, Forrest G. Moore, Frederick and Lynda Morlock, Terry Mueller, Merlin and Gladys Nelson, Susan Nelson, Carol Pavlik, David and Margaret Peterson, Michael and Janice Pluta, Laura Rice, Lucy C. Robertson, Albert and Julia Rosenblatt, Sally Ruvelson, Edward Stanford, Richard J. Sveum, Mabel Thompson, Karen Titrud, Jane Von Hagen, Judith Brown-Wescott,

Arthur Conan Doyle Leslie S. KlingerDennis France Julie McKurasDennis France J. L. WeinerCapt. Wiley Sampson Robert F. Cairo, Jr.Dorothy Rowe Shaw Karen Ellery

For any inquiries contact:Timothy J. Johnson, Curator612-624-3552 orjohns976@tc.umn.edu

Continued on page 10

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Peter Blau, Mac McDiarmid, Michael WhelanAugust 1998 Founders' Footprints Conference

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E.W. Ziebarth, "Sigerson" Mac McDiarmid, Bryce L. Crawford, Jr.Three of the Founders of the Norwegian Explorers

November 1998

Andrew Malec and Mac McDiarmid, July 1983

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