European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                History by Gregory Jensen United press International Sherlock Holmes is 100 years old this Spring yet so far his birthday is passing virtually unnoticed. No i m afraid i know of no commemorations at All said Stanley Mackenzie one of the Foremost collectors of material about the world s most famous detective. Holmes was created in 1886. Arthur Conan Doyle s notebooks in his own handwriting show that he wrote a study in Scarlet in March and april that year. I Don t think anyone really thought about this being the Centenary said Mackenzie. It is True he wrote it in 1886, but it was a Long  Doyle in fact waited 18 months for a study in Scarlet to appear in print. His editor complained the Market is flooded at present with cheap  then came the reason that next year no doubt Well be doing something to celebrate a Holmes anniversary Mackenzie said. Because of  unlocking a Glass fronted Bookcase he reverently withdrew a copy of Beeton s Christmas annual for 1887, which finally contained a study in Scarlet the first Sherlock Holmes appearance imprint. Only about 12 copies of this exist Mackenzie said. And it s very rare to find one like this with the original cover still on  that rarity however is typical of the material this Small reserved enthusiast has amassed in 40 years of collecting. His Sherlock Holmes reference collection is All but unmatched. I have All the first editions of course Mackenzie said not Only first editions of Holmes books but original copies of the magazines in which Doyle s stories first appeared. At left Basil Rathbone As Sherlock Holmes in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1940. Above the Holmes room at the Sherlock Holmes pub in London at 10 Northumberland st., South from Trafalgar Square. The pub is closed now because the room is on tour in Japan but will reopen in a few months. Think my collection is the largest in Europe. I Don t know of anyone anywhere who has this Range of first  one or two american collections top his in sheer volume he said but i be got the Cornerstones Mackenzie a theater stage manager in my 70s" and honorary Secretary of the Sherlock Holmes society hides his collection in an elegant edwardian Era apartment on a quiet West London Street. His top floor apartment is far from a reconstruction of those famed rooms at fictional 221b Baker Street and is hardly a Sherlock shrine. Instead Mackenzie scatters his vast collection so that Holmes does t take Over completely. This Means he repeatedly darts into adjoining rooms to bring out More treasures to explain letters in Doyle s hand mementos of famous actors who played Holmes the july 1891 Issue of the strand Magazine with the first Sherlock Story it printed. It s a popular misconception that All 60 of the Holmes stories plus the four Book length stories appeared in the strand he said. That s Only True of All but  Only an expert determined to be precise would make such a Point. Only a fanatic would collect As Mackenzie has 700 issues of the strand both those with Holmes material and those without. Only some 40 issues still elude him. Another thing Mackenzie does t own is Doyle s 1886 notebook. One of its scribbled pages outlines Doyle s original thoughts on a sleepy eyed Young Man philosopher collector of rare violins called Sherri Ford Holmes. Doyle s first name for or. Watson was Ormond Sacker. Doyle sold the entire study in Scarlet copyright for 25 pounds a sum that horrifies modern Holmes ans but one that is the equivalent of $1,200 today. Mackenzie s collection has inflated in value by about the same proportion. He crams into bookcases so Many books about Holmes i be never really counted  some Are most strange. Mackenzie pulled out one volume devoted to deducing the Calendar dates of events in the stories. I be got quite a lot of theater programs from the original play he said dashing off again. The original play was one adapted by american actor William Gillette who played Holmes off and on for 33 years and by 1913 had made so much from it he spent $1 million building a Castle. Here s the one which lists Charlie Chaplin As Billy Mackenzie said reappearing. It was Chaplin s first theatrical  Mackenzie has worked on Holmes stage versions himself including the Royal Shakespeare company s 1974 revival which toured new York and much of the world. His Treasury of Holmes theater material is All embracing. Posters programs a few stage props even a Silver Case engraved with Doyle s signature that he gave to an actor who played Holmes at 1,000 performances. Now theater and to producers pay Mackenzie consultant s fees to ensure their Holmes Ian details Are authentic. He is so steeped in Sherlock lore he is More than ready to discourse on everything from the origin of the Dee stalker hat to pipes. The stories say he smoked Briar pipes a Cherrywood pipe a Black Clay pipe but never the curved Meerschaum he said fingering an outsize Briar that marked the Holmes actor s 1,200th performance. That was introduced by Gillette really in the first stage version Mackenzie said. He was concerned about sight lines about a straight pipe obscuring his features. So he adopted this curved pipe considered a Sherlock Holmes trademark Ever since. March 13,1986 stripes Magazine 17