The Notorious Canary-Trainers
A Scion of the Baker Street Irregulars
for friends and fans of Sherlock Holmes
-- celebrating our 40th year!

For the first part of this article, click here.

The A to Z of Victorian London. Lympne Castle, Kent: Harry Margary, 1987. With introductory notes by Ralph Hyde. ISBN 0903541394. 140 pages, large format hardback, approx. 9x12.

This is a modern-day reprint of George W. Bacon's Ordnance Atlas of London and Suburbs of 1888.

It contains two sets of London maps, one on a scale of around nine inches to the mile and the other on the scale of four inches to the mile. Both show individual buildings as well as streets and squares and thus make it fairly easy to locate places referred to in the Canon.

An Index to Streets is keyed to the map pages as are several other specialized indexes such as one for Railway Stations.

Availability. Regularly stocked at approximately $45 by Stanford's Maps at www.stanfords.co.uk.

Charles Viney. Sherlock Holmes in London, A Photographic Record of Conan Doyle's Stories. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989. ISBN 0395515300. 168 pages, large format hardback, approx. 11 by 11.

This book presents a multitude of period photographs of London locations mentioned in the Canon in an effort by the author to present Holmes's world as Holmes would have known it. The photographs are referenced to street maps of London published in 1888 and reproduced at the back of the book.

Availability. A number of editions are available at abebooks.com including the Houghton Mifflin edition, which is priced at $17.50 and up. A recent edition is titled The Authentic World of Sherlock Holmes.

SOME FINAL SUGGESTIONS

So there you have it, five books bound to increase your enjoyment and knowledge of the Canon.

If you want to know more about a title before investing, you might care to try a Google search on the title in order to get the reviews.

Or you might want to see for yourself by checking out a title at your public library.

Don't be put off if your nearest library does not own it; virtually all public libraries in the U.S. will borrow a copy for you through Interlibrary Loan. Ask for it, often the service is free. If you live in a big city, chances are reasonably good that the title is available at the Main Branch.

And practically all U.S. libraries today, both in big cities and in smaller ones, have web pages by which their catalogs can be accessed and which thus make it easy for you to find out what is available before you go. Or, just query the Reference Librarian by telephone or Email. Try before you buy, eh?

As for the Sixth Book on the foregoing list, well . . . you supply the title. Or perhaps check out "The Pocket Sherlock."

Sherlockian Peter Blau reports "John Sherwood has been impersonating Sherlock Holmes for many years, assisted by a handy-dandy (and easily concealed) portable guide to the Canon that he's now happy to share with those who might wish to benefit from his careful research.

"'The Pocket Sherlock', which was created in 1987, now is available in a 2005 edition that offers 70 pages of case summaries and data. The booklet costs $12 postpaid (and will be autographed upon request) from Mystery Visits at 120 Quimby Road, West Grove, PA 19390."