BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Untold Tales of Sherlock Holmes: A List of Major Case References

kazza474 · March 3, 2012 6:46 am

As with the Vatican Cameos and the Aluminium Crutch cases, we don't see EVERY case that Sherlock works on, but they do get referenced in the scripts and leave many wondering 'what the heck is that all about"?

Here's a list of untold tales

The Abernetty family (depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter)
The mortal terror of old Abrahams
The singular affair of the aluminum crutch
The Amateur Mendicant Society
The ancient British barrow (the Addleton tragedy)
The tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee
The colossal schemes of Baron Maupertuis (Netherland-Sumatra Company)
Bert Stevens, the mild-mannered murderer
The Bishopgate jewel case
Blackmailing one of the most revered names in England
The bogus laundry affair
The Camberwell poisoning case (Holmes winding a dead man's watch)
The sudden death of Cardinal Tosca
Colonel Warburton's madness
The Conk-Singleton forgery case
The two Coptic Patriarchs
Saving of Count Von und Zu Grafenstein
The cutter Alicia (never emerged from a small patch of mist)
The Darlington substitution scandal
The dramatic introduction of Dr. Moore Agar
The Dundas separation case (hurling false teeth at wife)
The Dutch steamship Friesland
The papers of Ex-President Murillo
The French Government matter of supreme importance
The giant rat of Sumatra (Matilda Briggs)
The Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa
The Grosvenor Square furniture van
Huret, the Boulevard assassin
The madness of Isadora Persano (remarkable worm unknown to science)
The disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore (umbrella)
The peculiar persecution of John Vincent Harden
The King of Scandinavia ("My last client of the sort was a king.")
The loss of the British bark Sophy Anderson
The Manor House case (Adams)
The woman at Margate with no powder on her nose
Merridew of abominable memory
The unfortunate Mme. Montpensier
Morgan the poisoner
The most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist
The most winning woman (poisoned three little children)
The Nonpareil Club card scandal (Colonel Upwood)
The Paradol Chamber
The politician, the lighthouse, and the trained cormorant
The repulsive story of the red leech (death of Crosby the banker)
The reigning family of Holland
Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife
The old Russian woman
The Second Stain and Monsieur Dubuque
Services to the Crown for which Holmes refused a knighthood
The Smith-Mortimer succession case
The Sultan of Turkey
The Tankerville Club scandal
The Tired Captain
The Trepoff murder in Odessa
Vamberry, the wine merchant
Vanderbilt and the Yeggman
The Vatican cameos
Venomous lizard or gila
Vigor, the Hammersmith wonder
Vittoria, the circus belle
Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer

The list is from here:
http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/untlist.htm

kazza474 · March 3, 2012 6:49 am

Hmm, familiar name here:Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife

Any others ?

We'll be watching this time Moftiss!!!!!! You won't slip any past us this time!!!!

Sherlock Holmes · March 3, 2012 9:52 am

There are some in the series that are referenced but we never really find out much more about, although you can read about some of them on John and Sherlock's websites. There's the Speckled Blonde, the Geek Interpreter, that text message Sherlock sends off John's phone about the brother and the ladder, the opening scene of Great Game. There's a few more I can't think of right now.

kazza474 · March 3, 2012 11:44 am

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
There are some in the series that are referenced but we never really find out much more about, although you can read about some of them on John and Sherlock's websites. There's the Speckled Blonde, the Geek Interpreter, that text message Sherlock sends off John's phone about the brother and the ladder, the opening scene of Great Game. There's a few more I can't think of right now.

Oh those ones are original titles with twists much like A study in pink (original is a study in scarlet)
eg . Speckled Blonde - The Speckled Band
The Geek Interpreter - The Greek Interpreter
Those are Told stories, they were put into print in the canon.
I'm trying to remember the ladder one.

Hmmmm, so you missed all those jokes when they were done in the show?

I guess we should do a list of them then. I won't start now, it's 9:45pm Saturday night and I am halfway through watching my own self made marathon of Jeremy Brett Sherlock videos, lol.
I want to get as many as possible watched this weekend, in case I have missed anything!

Last edited by kazza474 (March 3, 2012 11:47 am)

Sherlock Holmes · March 3, 2012 5:21 pm

Damn, I'm so out of touch with the canon stories. I got my copy off the shelf today, dusted it down and am beginning the process of re-reading, it'll be the first time I've read any of them since I was 12!

Davina · March 3, 2012 5:33 pm

The 5 pips are referenced throughout The Great Game.

Sherlock Holmes · March 3, 2012 6:01 pm

I was on Sherlock's website today and there's a list of archived cases:

The Confusion of Isadora Persano
The Abernetty Family
The Crooked House
The Man With Four Legs
The Killer Cats of Greenwich
The Kirkcudbright Killer
The Ghost of St Bartholomew’s
The Purple Woman
The Laughing Pilot
The Missing Jars
The Invisible Porter
The Subdivided Crooner
The Pale Man
The Iron Football

Any of those link up to original canon titles?

kazza474 · March 3, 2012 10:43 pm

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
Damn, I'm so out of touch with the canon stories. I got my copy off the shelf today, dusted it down and am beginning the process of re-reading, it'll be the first time I've read any of them since I was 12!

It's ok, I was a bit too, so started reading when Series 1 began! Here's a list from Wiki to use as reference in here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_of_Sherlock_Holmes
The traditional canon consists of the four novels and fifty-six short stories collected.
Novels
A Study in Scarlet (published 1887)
The Sign of the Four (published 1890)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised 1901–1902 in The Strand)
The Valley of Fear (serialised 1914–1915)

Short stories- The fifty-six short stories are collected in five books: Frequently, "The Adventure of …" is dropped from some story titles in current-day anthologies. However, in their original appearance in The Strand, this is how the titles were given in many cases.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -Contains 12 stories published in The Strand between July 1891 and December 1892 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget.
"A Scandal in Bohemia"
"The Adventure of the Red-Headed League"
"A Case of Identity"
"The Boscombe Valley Mystery"
"The Five Orange Pips"
"The Man with the Twisted Lip"
"The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band"
"The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb"
"The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor"
"The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet"
"The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes-Contains 12 stories published in The Strand as further episodes of the Adventures between December 1892 and November 1893 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget.
"Silver Blaze"
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" (this story is included as part of His Last Bow in American editions of the canon)
"The Adventure of the Yellow Face"
"The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk"
"The Adventure of the Gloria Scott" (Holmes's first case, described to Watson)
"The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" (another early case, told by Holmes to Watson)
"The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"
"The Adventure of the Resident Patient"
"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter" (Mycroft appears for the first time)
"The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"
"The Final Problem" (Watson reports the death of Holmes)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes -Contains 13 stories published in The Strand between October 1903 and January 1905 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget.
"The Adventure of the Empty House" (the return of Holmes)
"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
"The Adventure of the Dancing Men"
"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"
"The Adventure of the Priory School"
"The Adventure of Black Peter"
"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"
"The Adventure of the Six Napoleons"
"The Adventure of the Three Students"
"The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"
"The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter"
"The Adventure of the Abbey Grange"
"The Adventure of the Second Stain"
His Last Bow - Contains seven stories published 1908–1913, 1917.
"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" (originally published simply as "A Reminiscence of Mr Sherlock Holmes," this story is made up of two parts given separate titles: "The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles" and "The Tiger of San Pedro")
"The Adventure of the Red Circle"
"The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" (Mycroft appears)
"The Adventure of the Dying Detective"
"The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax"
"The Adventure of the Devil's Foot"
"His Last Bow" (told in third-person)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes -Contains 12 stories published 1921–1927.
"The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" (told in third-person)
"The Problem of Thor Bridge"
"The Adventure of the Creeping Man"
"The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"
"The Adventure of the Three Garridebs"
"The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"
"The Adventure of the Three Gables"
"The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (narrated by Holmes; Watson does not appear)
"The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (narrated by Holmes; Watson does not appear)
"The Adventure of the Retired Colourman"
"The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger"
"The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place"

Now I am sure you are starting to see a few familiar ones huh?

Sherlock Holmes · March 15, 2012 12:33 pm

I noticed one today that wasn't in your list! It's in Speckled Band...

The case of Mrs Farintosh and the Opal Tiara

Apparently it was before Watson's time.

kazza474 · March 15, 2012 12:37 pm

Ah thanks for reminding me, I found a list of unpublished cases

http://www.jadedcompass.com/ocular_helmsman/archives/index.htm

I won't list them all here, there's a lot!
And yes, that one is there.

kazza474 · March 15, 2012 12:39 pm

You will also find listed :

The Little Affair of the Vatican Cameos (HOUN)

kazza474 · March 15, 2012 12:50 pm

You know, looking at that last list, it's every case that has just been 'mentioned in passing' in any of the Holmes stories.

That means for decades there have been avid fans pouring over every little details & listing every little thing they can glean from the stories.

Remind you of any group of people we know???

ha ha haha

Sherlock Holmes · March 15, 2012 2:20 pm

Yeah, I definitely think Sherlockians are the most obsessive fans out there.

Davina · April 5, 2012 3:12 am

I've started to do some research on the archived cases from The Science of Deduction website, BBC run, which is supposed to be Sherlock's website. The list of archived cases are listed in Sherlock Holmes' posting above on March 3rd.

1. The Confusion of Isadora Persano

In the original stories Dr. Watson keeps the papers for all cases of Sherlock Holmes that had no good solution at all in a tin dispatch box, hidden in a bank. The case of Isadora Persano is referred to as follows: ' who was found stark staring mad with a matchbox in front of him which contained a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science.'

2. The Abernetty Family

This is used by Sherlock Holmes as an example to Dr. Watson of how some of his most classic cases ' have had the least promising commencement' . 'You will remember Watson how the dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day.'

3. The Crooked House

This would seem to be either a reference to the story of The Crooked Man or The Empty House or maybe a combination of the two.

Davina · April 7, 2012 12:50 am

Right! I've been ferreting around and have found out a bit more about some of the other archived cases.

4. The Kirkcudbright Killer- I think this is probably a tongue-in-cheek reference to Dorothy L. Sayers' detective story set in this Scottish town. Her detective, Lord Peter , is faced with the murder of a local artist. There are 6 suspects, all of whom are artists. Dorothy L. Sayers and her husband actually rented a studio in Kirkcudbright.

5. The Ghost of St. Bartholomew's- the Church of St. Barts was used as a location for the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film. It is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of its founder Rahere, who had been a court jester but who became a monk. He is buried in an ornate tomb. His cowled figure has been seen and heard many times within the church. He usually stands near the altar but at other times has been seen walking towards the Lady Chapel. Apparently the ghost is supposed to be looking for a sandal stolen from his tomb. The area around the church was used for many executions, especially during the reign of Mary I. It is said that during the night there is the strong smell of burnt flesh.

5.

Sherlock Holmes · April 7, 2012 8:47 am

Someone's been busy! Might look into these a little more later, there's bound to be more references!

Sherli Bakerst · June 8, 2012 11:52 pm

This is off-topic but it is in response so...

Kazza, thank you so much for posting the actual stories--in order. That is so helpful! I've got three, soon to be four, books from libraries of the stories and was having a hard time figuring out the correct chronological order (because I was too lazy to look it up online).

And Davina: OH! I just finished reading the story about the four pips--took me a while to realize pips means seeds. I hadn't read the story before watching the episode so I didn't know the connection. But TGG is next up for rewatching so now I'll enjoy it even more (if that's possible!).

cslewisandtolkien · September 3, 2015 12:21 pm

thank you...