The Baker Street Irregulars Explained

The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley.^[1] As of 2015, the nonprofit organization had about 300 members worldwide.^[2]

The group has published The Baker Street Journal, an "irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana", since 1946. Members of the society participate in "the game"^[3] which postulates that Holmes and Doctor Watson were real and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was merely Watson's "literary agent".

History

The BSI was an outgrowth of Christopher Morley's informal group, "the Three Hours for Lunch Club," which discussed art and literature.^[4] The inaugural meeting of the BSI was held in 1934 at Christ Cella's restaurant in New York City.^[5] Initial attendees included William Gillette, Vincent Starrett, Alexander Woollcott, and Gene Tunney.^[4] Morley kept meetings quite irregular, but after leadership passed to Edgar W. Smith, meetings became more regular.^{[4] [6]}

In February 1934, Elmer Davis, a friend of Morley, wrote a constitution for the group explaining its purpose and stating that anyone who passed a certain test was eligible to join.^[7] This test, a crossword puzzle by Morley's younger brother Frank, was published in the May 1934 issue of Saturday Review of Literature.^[7]

Edgar W. Smith led the BSI from 1940 until 1960, initially using the title "Buttons" and later "Buttons-cum-Commissionaire".^[8] Julian Wolff was the head of the BSI from late 1960 to 1986, and used the title "Commissionaire".^[9] From 1986 until 1997, Thomas L. Stix Jr. was the leader of the organization, and used the title "Wiggins".^[10] The title "Wiggins" has since been used for the leadership position.

The organization long resisted admitting women, a policy which spawned a female-centered organization, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes,^[6] whose founders had picketed an all-male BSI gathering.^[11] The BSI invested its first woman in 1991:^[4] Dame Jean Conan Doyle.^[12] She was followed by Katherine McMahon, the first woman to solve the crossword puzzle.^[12] McMahon was followed by Edith Meiser,^[12] who wrote numerous Holmesian radio scripts for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Leadership of the BSI passed to Michael Whelan in 1997^[13] and Michael Kean in 2020.^[14]

Membership

Membership is by invitation only^[6] based on criteria unknown to the public.^[4] Members take on a name inspired by the canon with the head of the organization known as "Wiggins".^[4] As of 2020, the organization has had a total of 701 members, whose names, years of investiture, and pseudonym are listed in the reference volume Sherlock Holmes and the Cryptic Clues.^[15]

Notable members

Among the members of the Baker Street Irregulars, past and present:

• Karen Anderson^[16]
• Poul Anderson^[4]
• Curtis Armstrong^[17]
• Isaac Asimov^[4]
• John Ball^[16]
• William S. Baring-Gould^[18]
• Terry Belanger^[16]
• John Stevens Berry^[16]
• Anthony Boucher^[18]
• Herbert Brean^[16]
• Jan Burke^[18]
• Dana Cameron^[16]
• Frank Cho^[16]
• Bert Coules^[19]
• Frederic Dannay^[16]
• Basil Davenport^[16]
• David Stuart Davies^[16]
• Elmer Davis^[16]
• August Derleth^[20]
• Michael Dirda^[3]
• The Marquess of Donegall^[16]
• Dame Jean Conan Doyle^[16]
• Stillman Drake^[16]
• Ralph Earle, II^[16]
• Lyndsay Faye^[21]
• Robert L. Fish^[20]
• Neil Gaiman^[22]
• John Gardner^[16]
• Paul Gore-Booth^[16]
• Richard Lancelyn Green^[23]
• Michael Harrison^[24]
• Jeffrey Hatcher^[16]
• Herman Herst Jr.^[16]
• Ebbe Hoff^[16]
• Banesh Hoffmann^[16]
• Richard H. Hoffmann^[16]
• Nancy Holder^[16]
• Laurie R. King^[18]
• Leslie S. Klinger^[16]
• Robert Keith Leavitt^[16]
• Robert A. W. Lowndes^[16]
• Ken Ludwig^[16]
• Bonnie MacBird^[16]
• Ronald Mansbridge^[16]
• Ira Brad Matetsky^[16]
• Thomas M. McDade^[16]
• Edith Meiser^[25]
• Nicholas Meyer^[16]
• Christopher Morley^[16]
• Frank Morley^[16]
• David F. Musto^[26]
• Lenore Glen Offord^[16]
• Fulton Oursler^[16]
• Will Oursler^[16]
• Stuart Palmer^[16]
• Otto Penzler^[16]
• Svend Petersen^[16]
• H. C. Potter^[16]
• Fletcher Pratt^[16]
• Michael J. Quigley^[27]
• David A. Randall^[16]
• Dana S. Richards^[16]
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (honorary)
• Albert M. Rosenblatt^[16]
• S. J. Rozan^[16]
• Peter A. Ruber^[16]
• Richard B. Shull^[28]
• Red Smith^[16]
• Vincent Starrett^[4]
• Daniel Stashower^[29]
• Frederic Dorr Steele^[30]
• Chris Steinbrunner^[16]
• Rex Stout^[4]
• Eve Titus^[31]
• Harry Truman (honorary)^[32]
• Manly Wade Wellman^[16]
• J. N. Williamson^[16]
• Douglas Wilmer^[16]

The Baker Street Journal

The group publishes a periodical, The Baker Street Journal. The original series of the BSJ was started in 1946, but it ceased in 1949.^[4] In 1951, Edgar Smith began publishing it again as a quarterly; it has continued publication since that time.^[4]

Scion societies

The BSI has spawned numerous "scion societies",^[5] many of which are officially recognized by the BSI. The first was The Five Orange Pips of Westchester County, New York, in 1935.^[4] Independent Sherlockian groups include the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes, the U.K.’s Sherlock Holmes Society of London, and Canada's The Bootmakers of Toronto.

External links

• The BSI website
• Baker Street Irregulars Trust
• The Baker Street Journal
• Collection Guide to Baker Street Irregulars Papers 1923–2007 (MS Am 2717), Houghton Library, Harvard Library, Harvard University

Notes and References

1. Web site: Baker Street Irregulars 1923-2007: Guide . . . . 2015-03-25.
2. News: March 2015 . The Baker Street Irregulars Trust . ZoomInfo.
3. Web site: Dirda . Michael . Michael Dirda . February 2, 2012 . Sherlock Lives! . January 3, 2018 . The New York Review of Books.
4. Book: Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Klinger. Leslie S.. Leslie S. Klinger. The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 1. W. W. Norton & Company. 2005. lxiii-lxvi. 0-7394-5304-1.
5. Book: Bunson, Matthew. Matthew Bunson. Encyclopedia Sherlockiana: an A-to-Z guide to the world of the great detective . 1997 . Macmillan . 20–21 . 0-02-861679-0.
6. Web site: Faye. Lyndsay. Inside the Baker Street Irregulars. Tor.com. March 22, 2012. January 3, 2018.
7. Book: Boström, Mattias. From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. 2018. 206–207. 978-0-8021-2789-1.
8. Web site: Edgar W. Smith: Prolegomena to Any Future Biography, Part 5 . BSI Archival History . 2015 . Lellenberg . Jon . February 13, 2021.
9. Web site: BSI Archival History . Wolff and Still Waters . February 13, 2021 . December 2010.
10. Web site: The March of Time . Lellenberg . BSI Archival History . Jon . February 13, 2021.
11. Book: Dundas, Zach. The Great Detective. Mariner Books. 2015. 135. 978-0-544-70521-0.
12. Book: Boström, Mattias. From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. 2018. 428–429. 978-0-8021-2789-1.
13. Web site: The 1997 BSI Dinner . The Baker Street Irregulars Trust . July 29, 2016 . Zeffren . Tamar . February 13, 2021.
14. Web site: The 2020 BSI Weekend Report . The Baker Street Irregulars . 29 January 2020 . February 13, 2021.
15. Web site: THE INVESTITURED (OR INVESTED) IRREGULARS . Sherlocktron . 5 February 2020.
16. Web site: The Official BSI Members List and BSI Honours . The Baker Street Irregulars . 2024-04-01.
17. Web site: Episode 125: Revenge of the Sherlockian Nerd.
18. Web site: Kaska. Kathleen. A Society like None Other: The Baker Street Irregulars Celebrates 80 Years. Kings River Life. March 29, 2014. January 3, 2018.
19. Web site: Blumenberg. Taylor. Episode 71: Bert Coules. Baker Street Babes. January 10, 2016. January 3, 2018.
20. Web site: Zeffren. Tamar. The 1971 BSI Dinner. The BSI Trust. September 26, 2015. January 3, 2018.
21. Web site: Claire. Nancy. Sherlockian Girl Goes Wilde: An Interview with Lyndsay Faye . Los Angeles Review of Books. September 15, 2013. January 5, 2018.
22. Web site: Zeffren. Tamar. The 2005 BSI Dinner. The BSI Trust. October 31, 2016. January 3, 2018.
23. Web site: Grann. David. David Grann. Mysterious Circumstances. The New York Times. December 13, 2004. January 3, 2018.
24. Web site: Zeffren. Tamar. The 1985 BSI Dinner. The BSI Trust. March 12, 2016. January 3, 2018.
25. Book: Boström, Mattias. From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. 2018. 429. 978-0-8021-2789-1.
26. Web site: In Memoriam: Dr. David Musto. Yale Daily News. October 13, 2010. January 19, 2018.
27. Web site: Monty. Scott. The 2017 BSI Weekend Ended in Friendship. January 8, 2017.
28. Web site: Zeffren. Tamar. The 1986 BSI Dinner. The BSI Trust. March 12, 2016. January 18, 2019.
29. News: Shashower . Daniel . July 10, 2015 . Why Sherlock Holmes Endures . . 2016-01-28 .
30. News: July 7, 1944 . Frederic D. Steele, An Illustrator, 70 . . 2016-01-28 .
31. Web site: Zeffren. Tamar. The 1993 BSI Dinner. The BSI Trust. May 19, 2016. January 3, 2018.
32. News: Mehegan. David. Guilt by association: For 65 years, a Boston club has made Sherlock Holmes mysteries a scholarly pastime.. The Boston Globe. November 28, 2005. January 3, 2018.