Frederic Dorr Steele

"striking illustration of those powers for which my friend was famous" [SOLI]

The name Frederic Dorr Steele is legendary among Sherlockians. Even for those who don't know his name, his iconic rendering of Sherlock Holmes (as partly inspired by William Gillette) has left us with distinctive imagery.

Sadly, Steele was buried in an unmarked grave in his family plot at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, NY. But the Frederic Dorr Steele Memorial Committee was assembled to solve that. Our own Burt Wolder administers the group, and he asked fellow committee members Andrew Malec, BSI ("The Strange Old Book Collector"), Harrison "Terry" Hunt, BSI ("The Something Hunt") and Linda Hunt to join us to talk about those efforts as well as the life of artist Frederic Dorr Steele.

TRIOLET On Frederic Dorr Steele by Bliss Austin

With joyful skill he breathèd life Into a name, a street, an age. With kindness and with humor rife, With joyful skill he breathèd life His pen outdid Pygmalion's knife In quickening the inkèd page With joyful skill he breathèd life Into a name, a street, an age.

(From The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1946)

You'll want to see if you can test your knowledge with the Canonical Couplet: we give you two lines of poetry that describe one of stories, and you name it. The winner something from our vaults—it's a mystery! Entries are due by 11:59 pm EDT on November 29, 2020.

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Links

• This episode: ihose.co/ihose204
• Frederic Dorr Steele (Wikipedia)
• Fundraiser for FDS memorial
• Cabinet of American Illustrators (Library of Congress)
• "The Frederic Dorr Steele Memorial Collection" by Andrew Malec (PDF)
• "The Other Master: Frederic Dorr Steele" by Andrew Malec (PDF)
• Previous episodes referenced on this show:
• • Episode 78: Legal and Leisure Ramblings
    
    

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The transcript will be available soon at ihose.co/ihose204. --