The 50th Annual Running of The Chicago Silver Blaze and The Triennial Silver Blaze of The Baker Street Irregulars
Edited and Introduced by Candace Lewis
"Silver Blaze" is not only one of the most beloved and quoted tales in the Sherlockian Canon; the story and it's namesake racehorse have inspired Sherlockians in New York, Chicago and elsewhere to sponsor a series of Silver Blaze horse-races going back half a century. As the year 2009 furnishes "the perfect storm" of coinciding Sherlockian anniversaries – the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the 75th anniversary of the Baker Street Irregulars, and the 50th anniversary of the running of the Silver Blaze horserace in Chicago, it is fitting and proper that the New York Silver Blazers and devotees of the Master from throughout America join their brethren in Chicago at Hawthorne Racetrack to celebrate these momentous events.
The subjects of this book, sponsored by the Baker Street Irregulars to commemorate the October 2009 gathering in Chicago, are equally fitting: an exploration of racing and how pictorial art of the nineteenth century depicted the racing scene of the Silver Blaze era by art historian Candace Lewis, a rigorous analysis of the logic of the story by writer and editor Roger Donway, and a warm reminiscence of New York Silver Blaze races by retired professor Art Levine, BSI.
This beautifully produced volume includes eight black and white and six color illustrations.
Foreword by Susan Z. Diamond, organizer of the Silver Blaze Celebration weekend
Setting the Scene for Silver Blaze: Nineteenth-Century Art and Flat Racing by Candace Lewis
The Speculative Fun and Logical Games of "Silver Blaze" by Roger Donway
The New York Silver Blazes by Art Levine
Contributor Bios
About the BSI Expedition Booklets The Baker Street Irregulars, the literary society focused on Sherlock Holmes, publishes volumes for special Sherlockian events, including examinations of the American settings for The Valley of Fear (Murderland) and A Study in Scarlet (A Tangled Skein).
