| Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street | |
| Author: | William S. Baring-Gould |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Mystery novels |
| Publisher: | Bramhall House |
| Release Date: | 1962 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardback and paperback) |
Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective is a 1962 novel by William S. Baring-Gould. The book purports to be a biography of Sherlock Holmes.[1] It is considered to be the "definitive" biography of Sherlock Holmes.[2]
Some aspects of the book were loosely based on the life of Baring-Gould's paternal grandfather, Sabine Baring-Gould.[3] Many of the theories put forth by Baring-Gould have become accepted knowledge about Sherlock Holmes,[2] such as the full name "William Sherlock Scott Holmes",[2] which is used in the film Sherlock Holmes in New York starring Roger Moore[4] and the episode "His Last Vow" from series 3 of the BBC television series Sherlock.[5] Other details established by Baring-Gould, such as Professor Moriarty being Holmes' childhood mathematics tutor,[6] that Holmes was once an actor,[7] and the continuing affair and one-night stand with Irene Adler, leading up to the birth of a son (who is implied in the book to be Nero Wolfe),[8] have continued to be a part of the Great Game and have been used in other Sherlockian pastiches.[6] The book also offers one of the earliest versions of Sherlock Holmes meeting Jack the Ripper.[9]
Five years later in 1967, Baring-Gould would go on to publish The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, which would also be considered definitive,[10] [11] at least until Leslie S. Klinger published The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes in 2004–2005.[12] [13] Baring-Gould used many biographical details that he invented in Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street for his two annotated volumes.[11]
. Alan Barnes (writer) . Sherlock Holmes on Screen . 2011 . . 224 . 9780857687760.