believe in due credit; my literary and educational roots have seen to that. However, sometimes complications arise. For example, how do I know that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, that he served on a whaler, that he wrote A Study in Scarlet in 1886, and that he was paid a mere 25 pounds for the rights when it was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual of the following year? Or even that he wrote 56 short stories and four longer stories about Sherlock Holmes? I’ve read these facts so many times, and in so many places, that I can no longer give credit to my original source of this information.

So, at times, I hope no one will object to the statement of commonplace facts as I know them, or fault me for my addled attic of a brain. With the vast amount of Sherlockian works available, I have no doubt that the same facts appear in dozens –or hundreds, or thousands– of other places; at these times, I will give credit to the book or source that first comes to mind, even if it is rare, out of publication, of dubious integrity, or an online source altogether fleeting.

An acknowledgement page would not be complete without the specific mention of individuals who have helped or inspired the work, so permit me to name but a few. First of all, a debt of gratitude is due to all the Sherlockians –or would they rather be called Holmesians?– who have contributed to the wide array of scholarly materials which have intrigued me since the age of ten (nearly three decades ago, if anyone cares to inquire). In particular, Mr. William S. Baring-Gould’s books The Annotated Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street count among my most cherished possessions. Various works and collections by Michael Hardwick, Peter Haining, Christopher Morley, Monsignor Ronald Knox, Jack Tracy, Philip Weller and Michael Pointer, among so many others, have also provided me with sources of endless fascination.

Very special thanks go to Chris Redmond of Sherlockian.net (whose encouragement helped form this site) and Charles Prepolec of BakerStreetDozen.com, two of my most visited sites on the Internet, and wonderful inspirations for anyone seeking to create a site dedicated to the Great Detective and his influence.

Thanks to my father, who introduced me to the Master through a well-thumbed paperback of the Canon at the age of seven and a Rathbone/Bruce marathon that New Year’s Day, and also my mother for putting up with the inevitable Rathbone vs. Brett debates. Thanks to my wife, who abides with my obsession, even if she doesn’t understand it completely, and my toddler son Conor who spoke the name Holmes even before learning the final two Teletubbies (though, to be fair, Tinky Winky and Dipsy are a little hard to say).

And of course, the world would have been a far poorer place without the gifted imagination of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and his bequeathment of the world’s most famous fictional character. Rest well, gentle giant.