Arthur Conan Doyle Room

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  789 Yonge Street
Date:  March 2024
Website:  www.torontopubliclibrary.ca

  A little laneway behind the Toronto Reference Library has been named Sherlock Homes Walk.  This is because the Reference Library is home to one of the largest Arthur Conan Doyle collections in the world. The library has collected over 25,000 items since 1969 that are mostly works of author Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes.

    After taking a brief visit to the laneway we headed inside to check out the collection.

 

  The Arthur Conan Doyle Room is located at the top of the library on the fifth floor.  It is part of the Marilyn & Charles Baillie Special Collections Centre.

     The Arthur Conan Doyle Room is designed to resemble the study from Sherlock Holmes' London address of 221B Baker Street. There is a real 221B Baker Street in London, but obviously the fictional Sherlock never lived there. The location has been turned into a museum for fans of the stories to visit.

     The shelves in the room were filled with various books. Most of them were crime fiction like the Sherlock Holmes stories.

 

  

  The majority were written by or contain stories from Arthur Conan Doyle. Other books are exploration into Arthur Conan Doyle's career and characters. All of the books on display are available to read in the library.

 

  The room also contained non-literary works of art such as a figurine of Dr. Watson. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' friend and companion on most of his adventures. The stories of Sherlock are usually told from the point of view of Watson as the narrator.

       Professor James Moriarty also has a figurine. Moriarty is Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. In fact, it was in a battle with Moriarty that Sherlock Holmes died.

    Sherlock and Moriarty fought and both fell into the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland.  There is a piece of rock retrieved from the bottom of those falls in the Arthur Conan Doyle Room.

      Sherlock Holmes first appeared in print in 1887. Another famous fictional detective, Hercule Poirot would not appear until 1920.

     Sherlock Holmes is considered the world's greatest detective. Sherlock would also agree that he is the greatest.  

    To enter into the Arthur Conan Doyle room you must leave your coats and bags outside. You are able to spend as much time as you like and take photos. You can sit and read about Sherlock solving mysteries until the library closes for the day.

    On a coat rack was a Sherlock Holmes hat known as a deerstalker. This hat is never properly described in the books but was a best guess at what Sherlock would wear. It became a popular symbol of Sherlock, along with a curved pipe, as the character started to appear in drawings, movies and television shows based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novels.

     Outside of the glass enclosed study were even more books and a chess set on a round table. 

     Even the chess set was Sherlock Holmes themed. Sherlock Holmes solved crimes much like a chess player. Chess is the ultimate battle of wits and trying to figure out what the next move of your opponent will be. We recommend your next move is to the Toronto Reference Library to check out a wonderful collection presented in the most interesting way.

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Post # 333