The Baker Street Irregulars
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The Baker Street Irregulars is an organization of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934 by Christopher Morley.[2] As of 2015, the nonprofit organization had about 300 members worldwide.[3]
The group has published The Baker Street Journal, an "irregular quarterly of Sherlockiana", since 1946.[2] Members of the society participate in "the game"[4] which postulates that Holmes and Doctor Watson were real and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was merely Watson's "literary agent".[5]
History
The BSI was an outgrowth of Christopher Morley's informal group, "the Three Hours for Lunch Club," which discussed art and literature.[6] The inaugural meeting of the BSI was held in 1934 at Christ Cella's restaurant in New York City.[7] Initial attendees included William Gillette, Vincent Starrett, Alexander Woollcott, and Gene Tunney.[6] Morley kept meetings quite irregular, but after leadership passed to Edgar W. Smith, meetings became more regular.[6][8]
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.[9] This test, a crossword puzzle by Morley's younger brother Frank, was published in the May 1934 issue of Saturday Review of Literature.[9]
Edgar W. Smith led the BSI from 1940 until 1960, initially using the title "Buttons" and later "Buttons-cum-Commissionaire".[10][11] Julian Wolff was the head of the BSI from late 1960 to 1986, and used the title "Commissionaire".[11] From 1986 until 1997, Thomas L. Stix Jr. was the leader of the organization, and used the title "Wiggins".[12][13] The title "Wiggins" has since been used for the leadership position.[13][14]
The organization long resisted admitting women, a policy which spawned a female-centered organization, the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes,[8] whose founders had picketed an all-male BSI gathering.[15] The BSI invested its first woman in 1991:[6] Dame Jean Conan Doyle.[16] She was followed by Katherine McMahon, the first woman to solve the crossword puzzle.[16] McMahon was followed by Edith Meiser,[16] 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[8] based on criteria unknown to the public.[6] Members take on a name inspired by the canon[17] with the head of the organization known as "Wiggins".[6] As of 2025, the organization has had a total of 760 members, whose names, years of investiture, and pseudonym are listed in the reference volume Sherlock Holmes and the Cryptic Clues.[18]
Notable members
Among the members of the Baker Street Irregulars, past and present:
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- Karen Anderson[19]
- Poul Anderson[6]
- Curtis Armstrong[20]
- Isaac Asimov[6]
- John Ball[19]
- William S. Baring-Gould[17]
- Terry Belanger[19]
- John Stevens Berry[19]
- Anthony Boucher[17]
- Herbert Brean[19]
- Jan Burke[17]
- Dana Cameron[19]
- Frank Cho[19]
- Bert Coules[21]
- Frederic Dannay[19]
- Basil Davenport[19]
- David Stuart Davies[19]
- Elmer Davis[19]
- August Derleth[22]
- Michael Dirda[4]
- The Marquess of Donegall[19]
- Dame Jean Conan Doyle[19]
- Stillman Drake[19]
- Ralph Earle, II[19]
- Lyndsay Faye[23]
- Robert L. Fish[22]
- Neil Gaiman[24]
- John Gardner[19]
- Paul Gore-Booth[19]
- Richard Lancelyn Green[5]
- Michael Harrison[25]
- Jeffrey Hatcher[19]
- Herman Herst Jr.[19]
- Ebbe Hoff[19]
- Banesh Hoffmann[19]
- Richard H. Hoffmann[19]
- Nancy Holder[19]
- Laurie R. King[17]
- Leslie S. Klinger[19]
- Robert Keith Leavitt[19]
- Robert A. W. Lowndes[19]
- Ken Ludwig[19]
- Bonnie MacBird[19]
- Ronald Mansbridge[19]
- Thomas M. McDade[19]
- Edith Meiser[26]
- Nicholas Meyer[19]
- Christopher Morley[19]
- Frank Morley[19]
- David F. Musto[27]
- Lenore Glen Offord[19]
- Fulton Oursler[19]
- Will Oursler[19]
- Stuart Palmer[19]
- Otto Penzler[19]
- Svend Petersen[19]
- H. C. Potter[19]
- Fletcher Pratt[19]
- Michael J. Quigley[28]
- David A. Randall[19]
- Dana S. Richards[19]
- Franklin D. Roosevelt (honorary)[29]
- Albert M. Rosenblatt[19]
- S. J. Rozan[19]
- Peter A. Ruber[19]
- Richard B. Shull[30]
- Red Smith[19]
- Vincent Starrett[6]
- Daniel Stashower[31]
- Frederic Dorr Steele[32]
- Chris Steinbrunner[19]
- Rex Stout[6]
- Eve Titus[33]
- Harry Truman (honorary)[29]
- Manly Wade Wellman[19]
- J. N. Williamson[19]
- Douglas Wilmer[19]
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.[6] In 1951, Edgar Smith began publishing it again as a quarterly; it has continued publication since that time.[6]
Scion societies
The BSI has spawned numerous "scion societies",[7] many of which are officially recognized by the BSI. The first was The Five Orange Pips of Westchester County, New York, in 1935.[6] 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.
References
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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
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