Artwork promoting books featuring the famous detective, such as “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” is part of the exhibition. Photo by Natalie Hugie, Noel Photos (via IU)
When a prominent collector of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia was asked to consider Indiana University’s Lilly Library as a location for his latest exhibition, “Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects,” the answer was elementary.
The Lilly Library already had a relationship with the collector, Glen Miranker, through a prior Holmes exhibition. The library has its own collection of Holmes artifacts, and it makes its various collections available to the public.
“There are natural places for intellectual fervor and curiosity, the presence and respect and appreciation of the written intellectual history of man,” Miranker said. “It’s institutions like IU. It’s just a natural place.”
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The Lilly Library has a first edition of the first Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet,” published in 1887; it is one of 23 known surviving copies. Also in its collection are a copy of the first appearance of Holmes in The Strand Magazine; the original, handwritten manuscript for “The Adventure of the Red Circle”; and first editions of other novels and story collections.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
