#toronto reference library

For any one who doesn't know the Arthur Conan Doyle Room is a massive collection of ACD, Sherlock Holmes, and related books (there are 25000+ books) located on the 5th floor of the library and completely open to the public. You can take items right off the shelf and read them. The library was pretty quiet that day so we had the whole collection to ourselves.

Part of the collection is in this wonderful little room. Themed after Holmes' study.

There's even a piece of the Reichenbach Falls.

Of course we have the "Watson going through it" Sidney Paget print.

When I was first told about the collection I was told to be on the look out for the copy of The Sexual Adventures of Sherlock Holmes they have, which we found on the shelf to the left of the fireplace. My friend was delighted to read a section of it out loud in that very echoey room for our amusement.

I found this Japanese language novel featuring what I can only describe as "Shonen Protagonist Sherlock Holmes" that I just needed to share with everyone.

We spent a good couple of hours looking through things, they have a lot of various editions of the canon in a number of different languages, as well as a ton of parodies, pastiches, and Holmes adjacent items. My friend and I are planning another visit later this summer as we barely scratched the surface of what the collection has.

So if you do find yourself downtown Toronto, I highly recommend stopping by.

Toronto Reference Library

12 Months in Toronto

1. May: Part 2

12 Months in Toronto (12MoTO) is a project I started to document my last year studying in Toronto, particularly the places I saw and the events I attended.

9 & 99: I was blessed with a generous offer of free tickets from a classmate who works at the Hockey Hall of Fame to see the Gretzky Howe exhibition, and for a homesick Edmontonian being surrounded by Gretzky was very restorative.

Cherry Blossoms: I always miss the cherry trees in Victoria because they bloom in February during term, so being stuck in Toronto in May certainly had its perks!

TCAF: I went to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival for the first time and it was overwhelming but AMAZING! I had a huge sense of excitement being there and I can’t wait until the renos on Stanley Milner finish back home,.. EdCAF would certainly have an audience, I think!