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The Sherlock Holmes Society of London Christmas cards are now available.

“… this battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose.”

‘The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle’ is notable for being the only Sherlock Holmes story set at Christmas – “a Christmas story without slush” as Christopher Morley memorably remarked – but few others share its rich sense of place.

The famed gemstone wends its way from the opulent Hotel Cosmopolitan to suburban Brixton, thence into the hurly-burly of Covent Garden market, across Bloomsbury to the cosy Alpha Inn, and eventually into the possession of one Mr Henry Baker, fresh from his studies in the British Museum, who unwittingly carries it homeward to the wife who has ceased to love him in the crop of a most unimpeachable Christmas goose…

When the prolific award-winning artist Michael Foreman was approached by the Folio Society to illustrate the tale for Christmas Crime Stories (2004), he was immediately drawn to Henry Baker’s ill-fated journey down Tottenham Court Road. The artist had lived for many years in the area and fondly remembered it as a magnet for all kinds of interesting characters. Alas, Mr Henry Baker was to encounter some of his own, as Sherlock Holmes recounts:

“About four o’clock on Christmas morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was returning from some small jollification and was making his way homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger and a little knot of roughs…”

Michael Foreman’s illustration beautifully captures this moment of peril, shortly before Mr Baker escapes – goose-less and de-hatted – into the labyrinthine streets beyond, but ultimately none the worse for wear…Written by Mark Jones. Published by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.

Illustration © Michael Foreman. With thanks to the Folio Society.