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Welcome! Like the book of the same name, this blog is an eclectic collection of Sherlockian scribblings based on more than a half-century of reading Sherlock Holmes. Please add your own thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter @DanAndriacco and on my Facebook fan page at Dan Andriacco Mysteries. You might also be interested in my Amazon Author Page. My books are also available at Barnes & Noble and in all main electronic formats including Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iBooks for the iPad.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Doing Dr. Watson Proud




The Watsonian, official journal of the John H. Watson Society, was excellent at the start and keeps getting better.


The 160-page third issue, which landed in my mailbox last week, is typographically appealing and intellectually stimulating. With 18 substantive articles packed into this issue, plus a quiz, there is sure to be much of interest to almost any Watsonian.


I say Watsonian advisedly. After all, the journal is The Watsonian. It is only to be expected that most of the articles focus on the Good Doctor. And so we have Alexian Gregory with a new theory about Dr. Watson's middle name (bolstered by a neat chart of names in the Canon), Dr. Robert Katz revisiting the much-discussed issue of his war wound(s), Don Libey discussing "A Few of Dr. Watson's Literary Devices," and both Stefano Guerra and Molly Carr weighing in on Dr. Watson's famous but never-seen bull pup.


There are many other Watson-centric articles well worth reading in this issue. But Sherlockian scholarship is to be found there as well. Enrico Solito retraces Holmes's steps during The Great Hiatus and comes up with a chronology of his travels. Drs. Robert J. Stek and Gary E. Schwartz examine Holmes's five levels of understanding in "You See, But You Do Not Observe."


My favorite sentence in the entire glorious issue comes in Judith Freeman's "Will the real Sherlock Holmes Please Stand Up?" She ends her survey of various portrayals and perceptions of  Holmes with this conclusion: "The real Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson live within the pages of the Canon and nowhere else."

3 comments:

  1. Dan---Many thanks for the gracious and supportive comments about The Watsonian. We have been fortunate in being able to assemble a talented and devoted Editorial Team and an erudite and literate group of contributors. We hope that your kind remarks will attract additional high-quality contributions for future issues. We are also always happy to receive one of the ever interesting and insightful articles from the pen of Dan Andriacco. Best wishes---Bob Katz

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  2. Dan---Many thanks for the gracious and supportive comments about The Watsonian. We have been fortunate in being able to assemble a talented and devoted Editorial Team and an erudite and literate group of contributors. We hope that your kind remarks will attract additional high-quality contributions for future issues. We are also always happy to receive one of the ever interesting and insightful articles from the pen of Dan Andriacco. Best wishes---Bob Katz

    ReplyDelete
  3. I appreciate the kind words, Bob! Thanks for all you do.

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