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[Booming] Sherlock Holmes.
We are arguably the largest collection
of material related to Sherlock Holmes in the world.
Ours really focuses on Holmes as a cultural icon.
So, one of the things that's really nice that the University has done
by creating this collection is to really move towards that goal of becoming the center
for the, the appreciation and study of Sherlock Holmes.
To be able to gather that material together in one place is, is, is, huge for researchers
who are interested in Holmes as a cultural icon.
Undergraduates really get caught up when you tell them, "Hey,
you can go look at an original copy of a nineteenth-century magazine.
A part issue of a, a novel that you may be reading in class or a Sherlock Holmes story
as originally published in The Strand Magazine.
It gives, it gives a student a real connection to history
and an opportunity to discover interesting things.
I mean, a student may suddenly discover an advertisement in a magazine
like The Strand Magazine, and you can really see Victorian values and Victorian attitudes
in the advertisements in this sort of popular journal.
So, it's a great first-hand resource for undergraduates, graduate students, faculty.
You can see how things originally appeared, and you can study how a writer
like Doyle has been studied historically through the years.
Well, I happen to be sitting here in what's called the 221B room.
So that, in the world of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes lives at a very famous address
in London called 221 B Baker Street.
And this is a reproduction of his rooms in Baker Street.
And it's now here on the fourth floor of Wilson Library.
And everything in this room has a place that's mentioned in the story.
So the classic things: I'm sitting at a table where he did experiments with chemistry.
There's a violin.
There's a mantelpiece with certain pictures.
General Gordon.
There's the Persian slipper that he kept his tobacco.
And so many collectors actually collect the rooms.
It has to be antique, has to be authentic, has to be vintage.
And it's just part of this sort of the cult of Sherlock Holmes to have a 221B room.
This is the kind of setting that if you were to look at every movie, you look at the set
and every movie always has 221B, the sitting room, and is it authentic or not authentic?
Does it feel right?
Does it feel like it's always 1895?
An unusual treasure that you usually associate with England is here in Minnesota.
And it's a resource for people who are really into it.
What we encourage the movie to do is not, well to bring you to the museum
when we have exhibits, but to really get back
and read the stories is what I think I'm hoping for.
[Music plays]