Episode 67: The Sherlock Holmes Collections

Well, we've done it. We've finally produced a mega-episode. And what better topic to go all epic on you than the outsized Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries? Our guest this episode is Tim Johnson, Curator of Special Collections and Rare Books & E. W. McDiarmid Curator of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

Tim gives us a nice history of the Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota and the beginnings of the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the university, which was made possible through a number of personal relationships. It includes the additions from the collections of James Iraldi, Philip Hench, Edith Meiser, John Bennett Shaw and Allen Mackler that have contributed to the basis of the vast and varied items that number more than 60,000.

We discuss much about the collections, including the challenge for a curator of books / librarian when it comes to looking after objects that go far beyond the printed page, as well as the changing nature of donor relations with respect to special collections.

But we would have been remiss if we didn't spend time on John Bennett Shaw, BSI ("The Hans Sloane of My Age"), who was affectionately known as The Grand Acquisitor and who had all of the collecting discernment of a vacuum cleaner.

Tim opines on what's next for collectors and the Collections alike, and gives us a hint as to what to expect as far out as 2016. If you're a researcher or just a curious Sherlockian, there is much available to you, either on a visit to the library or to their site online.

Scott shares a tale of collecting woe - a long sought-after treasure disappears in the blink of an eye. What's a collector to do?

We head way back to an early edition of the Baker Street Journal - 1946, to be exact - to find our inspiration in "De Jure Inter Gentes" (Vol. 1, No. 3).

Links:

• Scott's ice bucket challenge
• The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals orders legal fees paid in #FreeSherlock case
• The case of the missing Sherlock Holmes film
• Christies and the Museum of London team up to produce a Sherlock Holmes tweed
• Michael Hoey has passed away at 79. Hear our interview with him on Episode 36.
• The Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries
• The John Bennett Shaw Talks
• The Shaw 100 - the Basic Holmesian Library
• Tim's blog: Special and Rare on a Stick
• On Twitter: @UMBookworm (Tim), @NEofMN (Norwegian Explorers)
• On Facebook: The Norwegian Explorers of Minnesota

More links available on The Sherlock Holmes Community on Google+, as well as through our accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. And of course, our web- and app-based Flipboard magazine and our Scoop.it page are nice collections of links, articles and images.


Download this episode by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Save As..." or simply click on the file to listen, or on the player above. (File size: 50.4 MB, 1:49:58)


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