The Orford Social Library is sponsoring:

Not So Elementary, My Dear Watson: The Popularity of Sherlock Holmes

Presenter: Ann McClellan, sponsored by NH Humanities to Go

The recent spate of Sherlock Holmes movies, television shows, and literary adaptations indicate the Great Detective is alive and well in the 21st century. Holmes is the most portrayed literary character of all time, with over 230 film versions alone in several different languages. Over the past century, Sherlockians created societies like the Baker Street Irregulars, wrote articles sussing out the “sources” of Doyle’s works, and, most recently, developed an entire online world of Holmesian fan fiction. Sherlock Holmes is now a multi-million dollar industry. Why is Sherlock Holmes so popular? Ann McClellan’s presentation explores the origins of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective and tracks his incarnations in literature, film, advertising, and modern media in order to crack the case of the most popular detective.