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Contents 1 Introduction 2 The Author 3 The Canon 4 Terminology 5 Fan fiction policy and history 6 Timeline 6.1 1930 6.2 1934 6.3 1941 6.4 1951 6.5 1978 6.6 1980 to 1987 6.7 1982 to 1988 6.8 1984 to 1988 6.9 1991 6.10 1996 6.11 1997 6.12 2004 7 Speculation 8 Kerfluffles 9 Influential Stories 10 Fandom Members 11 Fandom Size 12 External Links 13 See also 14 Sources

[edit] Introduction

The Sherlock Holmes fandom has largely remained seperate from other fan fiction communities because its history traces to the pastiche tradition. This community has some connection to the science fiction community which most of fandom traces its history to but that connection and influence has historically been little.

In the Sherlock Holmes community on January 31, 1941, there was a dinner meeting of the Baker Street Irregulars. According to the article, What is Slash?, the discussion involved "What if Watson was actually female?" The article says that some serious fiction actually resulted from this discussion. This conversation is thought to be one of the first gender switching discussions in modern fandom.

In 1951, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London was founded on the ashes of the Sherlock Holmes Literary Society. It had the same ideals as the previous incarnations.

Titled, rich, male, money to spend and an interest in Sherlock Holmes are some ways that the Sherlock Holmes community was characterized historically. This characterization carried into the 1970s. "Elementary Facts of Holmes Fandom" by Bob Cromie appeared in the Chicago Tribune on page 18 of January 12, 1972's edition. The Sherlock Holmes fandom of that time was characterized by Cromie as having been historically male, with male fen being offended when a female only branch of the Baker Street Irregulars was founded. The men in the article were described as semi-professional writers, obsessed with the works about Sherlock Holmes. The issues of female involvement, of women breaking down doors and trying to enter their space and being resentful of their intrusion, seems to be very characteristic of upper class issues dealing with gender at the time, where trophy wives were still in play and women were supposed to support their men.

[edit] The Author

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[edit] The Canon

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[edit] Terminology

Below is a list of terms and their definitions that are used in this fan fiction community.

This section needs more information.

[edit] Fan fiction policy and history

This section needs more information.

[edit] Timeline

Below is a partial timeline of events that took place in this fan fiction community.

[edit] 1930

• The Sherlock Holmes Literary Society was founded. The Society was created to continue and promote the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The society had such distinguished members as Mgr Ronald Knox and Dorothy Sayers.

[edit] 1934

• Baker Street Irregulars, group of fictional characters featured in the Sherlock Holmes stories, was founded by Christopher Morley.

[edit] 1941

• On January 31, 1941, gender switching was discussed in the Sherlock Holmes fan fiction community by the Baker Street Irregulars. (http://www..hwslash.net/slash.html)

[edit] 1951

• On January 20, 1951, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London was founded on the ashes of the Sherlock Holmes Literary Society. It had the same ideals as the previous incarnations.
• The Memoirs of Solar Pons, the second collection of Sherlock Holmes pastiches featuring Solar Pons, was published by August Derelth. (http://janusbooks.com/2004_07_SH.html)

[edit] 1978

• Signe Landon (later Signe Danler) publishes the first issue of Holmesian Federation, a fanzine devoted to crossover stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and various SF/fantasy universes, most notably that of Star Trek. Contributors to the issue included Dana Martin Batory, Ruth Berman, Frankie Jemison, Melanie Rawn, and Eileen Roy.

[edit] 1980 to 1987

• Issues #2 through #7 of Holmesian Federation appear. Though the majority of stories publish continue to feature Holmes interacting with the Star Trek universe, other crossover milieus include those of Doctor Who, Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Star Wars, and H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. Among the writers contributing stories were John C. Bunnell, Debra Doyle, Brian Garner, Brad Keefauver, Marguerite Krause, Frank Ramirez, Tina Rhea, and Mary Frances Zambreno.

[edit] 1982 to 1988

• More fandoms were represented in fanzines. The following fandoms were represented in fanzines during this period: "ST, SW, Raiders of the Lost Ark, mixed media zines, Battlestar Galactica, S&H, Space: 1999, Dracula, SF, Doctor Who, westerns, The Questor Tapes, B7, Buck Rogers, Hill Street Blues, Darkover, Alias Smith and Jones, A-Team, Airwolf, Captain Scarlet, Dark Shadows, Greatest American Hero, Hardcastle & McCormick, Indiana Jones, Knight Rider, MASH, Magnum PI, Miami Vice, The Professionals, The Phoenix, Rat Patrol, Remington Steele, Riptide, Simon & Simon, Man from UNCLE, Wizards and Warriors, Wild, Wild West, Man from Atlantis, Superman, Sapphire & Steel, Tales of the Gold Monkey, TJ Hooker, Tomorrow People, Blade Runner, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Sherlock Holmes, Japanimation, the Chronicles of Amber, etc.“ (Langley)

[edit] 1984 to 1988

• Personal computers, aided by their word processing programs, started to have an impact on the publication of fanzines. They, along with the growth of coping services, led to a growth in the number of fanzines and created a situation where more fen could produce their own, high quality fanzines. (Langley)

[edit] 1991

• The final issue of Holmesian Federation (#8) appears. In addition to stories by Dana Martin Batory, Brad Keefauver, Eileen Roy, and others, the issue features a lengthy crossover story by Tina Rhea featuring Holmes and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's vampiric hero, Count Saint-Germain. Yarbro, who had explicitly objected to the story's publication, sought legal redress from Rhea and editor Signe Danler; a settlement was eventually reached.

[edit] 1996

• Between March and April, the RUSS-L mailing list was created as Mary Russell fans felt increasingly isolated in the greater Sherlock Holmes fan fiction community. ([1])

[edit] 1997

• In September, The Hive, a Sherlock Holmes pastiche site based on Mary Russell's novels, was created on Geocities. [2]

[edit] 2004

• On January 18, 2004, the LiveJournal community cox_and_co was created. [3] It was dedicated to Sherlock Holmes slash.

[edit] Speculation

One of the problems with fan fiction history in general is that there can be a lack of credible citations to support what is commonly accepted knowledge. It is also a bit of challenge, even with those credible sources, to trust some things as people may have agendas in putting for a certain point of view. As such, this section contains some information that is of dubious origins as far as the credibility of the source but can go towards painting the picture of what was going on.

On rec.games.frp.dnd by Sir Bob dated July 1, 2003 with a subject of "Re: Coolest Fantasy Villain":

I doubt it; IIRC, Sherlock Holmes fanfic saw print publication as early as

the 1930s, and there was an example or two of what could charitably be

termed erotica among it (though the stories in question would be considered

quite prim and proper by modern standards). I'm just restricting myself to

fandoms that remain popular today to avoid arguments about what really

"counts".

[edit] Kerfluffles

In 1944, Ellery Queen published a collection of parodies and pastiches called "The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes" which included works by many famous authors, including Mark Twain, who had originally published his parody in 1902, (entitled "A Double-Barrelled Detective Story".) The book was fiercely suppressed by the Doyle estate, although a few copies did make it into circulation.

[edit] Influential Stories

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[edit] Fandom Members

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[edit] Fandom Size

This section needs more information.

[edit] External Links

• Sherlock Holmes @ Fan History Wiki

http://www.schoolandholmes.com/index.html

[edit] See also

• Sherlock Holmes fanzines

[edit] Sources

Below is a partial list of articles and academic sources to help you continue to learn about this community.

• Cromie, Bob. "Elementary Facts of Holmes Fandom." Chicago Tribune 12 Jan. 1972: 18.
• Sir Bob. "Re: Coolest Fantasy Villain." rec.games.frp.dnd. 1 Jul 2003.

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