Wessex Press

08/14/2026

A special announcement from Wessex Press. www.WessexPress.com

07/31/2026

07/30/2026

A timely reminder in my email inbox has me thinking ahead to October in Chicago. “And It Is Always 1895" is the conference honoring Vincent Starrett, charter member of the BSI, and author of THE PRIVATE LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, the book that jumpstarted the Sherlockian movement. This promises to be a truly wonderful event! Wessex Press will be debuting BOOKFELLOWS: THE PRIVATE LIVES OF VINCENT STARRETT AND SHERLOCK HOLMESS by Ray Betzner, and there are a few other special activities and events associated with the weekend. I highly recommend it! With that in mind, I thought I would share the very first episode of THE FORTNIGHTLY DISPATCH, with inaugural guest Ray Betzner, whose blog A STUDY IN STARRETT has become the definitive place for on Vincent Starrett's life and work. You can register here (www.anditisalways1895.org)
https://youtu.be/5M8sWGzllUc?si=LBZsU8UYq3SIotH7

The Fortnightly Dispatch is a video podcast sponsored by The Baker ...

07/28/2026

"IS THIS A JOKE, MR. HOLMES?": THE SELECTED SHERLOCKIAN ARTWORK OF JEFF DECKER, BSI
Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by Roger Johnson, BSI, ASH

As a young child, future cartoonist Jeff Decker would watch cartoons on TV, and later draw the characters on cheap newsprint. Then, one Christmas he received a book of Sherlock Holmes stories, and his fate was sealed. Decker's Sherlockian artwork has extended to various periodicals, holiday cards, portraits & caricatures, single- and multi-paneled cartoons, and illustrations for small press publications. Within these pages, you will find a selection of his best work!
$31.95, 117 pp., profusely illustrated in black & white and color, soft cover.

Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by Roger Johnson, BSI, ASH As a young child, future cartoonist Jeff Decker would watch cartoons on TV, and later draw the characters on cheap newsprint. Then, one Christmas he received a book of Sherlock Holmes stories, and his fate was sealed. Decker's Sherloc...

07/22/2026

DEBUTING THIS WEEKEND IN ST. LOUIS!
When that box arrives from the printer it is a special moment…it never gets old! Jeff Decker’s collection of cartoons entitled IS THIS A JOKE, MR. HOLMES?: THE SELECTED SHERLOCKIAN ARTWORK OF JEFF DECKER, BSI will debut in St. Louis at the "Holmes in the Heartland" Conference on July 24. It is gorgeous! Decker’s Sherlockian cartoons are legendary. Beginning in the early 1980s, his work began appearing in the pages of THE BAKER STREET JOURNAL and THE BAKER STREET MISCELLANEA. His work extended to various periodicals, holiday cards, portraits & caricatures, single- and multi-panelled cartoons, and illustrations for small press publications, all connected to the world of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle. His work had become internationally famous. In 1996 Jeff began a self-imposed hiatus which lasted for nearly twenty years. But now his work is back in the spotlight for a new generation to appreciate! If you are attending the HOLMES IN THE HEARTLAND conference in St. Louis, you can pick it up there. If not, it will then be available online on Monday, July 27 at: www.wessexpress.com.
It retails for $31.95, and is lavishly illustrated with both black and white and color illustrations.
"It’s been a real privilege to prepare this selection of Jeff’s best work!"
—Roger Johnson, BSI, ASH, Editor

07/13/2026

COMING SOON FROM GASOGENE BOOKS!
Jeff Decker’s Sherlockian cartoons are legendary. Beginning in the early 1980s, his work began appearing in the pages of THE BAKER STREET JOURNAL and THE BAKER STREET MISCELLANEA. His work extended to various periodicals, holiday cards, portraits & caricatures, single- and multi-panelled cartoons, and illustrations for small press publications, all connected to the world of Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle. His work had become internationally famous. In 1996 Jeff began a self-imposed hiatus which lasted for nearly twenty years. But now his work is back in the spotlight for a new generation to appreciate! IS THIS A JOKE, MR. HOLMES?: THE SELECTED SHERLOCKIAN ARTWORK OF JEFF DECKER, BSI will debut in St. Louis at the "Holmes in the Heartland" Conference on July 24. It will then be available online at: www.wessexpress.com.
It retails for $31.95, and is lavishly illustrated with both black and white and color illustrations.

"It’s been a real privilege to prepare this selection of Jeff’s best work!"
—Roger Johnson, BSI, ASH, Editor

01/16/2026

NOW AVAILABLE!
THE SHERLOCK HOLMES REVIEW: 2025 SHERLOCKIAN ANNUAL
$31.95 USD
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Peter Eckrich and Rob Nunn
Heavily illustrated, soft cover
[NOTE: domestic US sales only. International availability coming by end of January!]

In this issue we celebrate the centenary of the silent film of Doyle’s masterpiece, The Lost World, and the 50th Anniversary of Sherlock Holmes in New York. You will also find outstanding articles spanning the full array of the Sherlockian Universe: classic Sherlockian scholarship; humor; historic...

01/16/2026

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: GREAT SHERLOCKIANS REMEMBERED
$26.95 USD
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Peter Eckrich and Rob Nunn
210 pp., illustrated, soft cover
[NOTE: domestic US sales only. International availability coming by end of January!]

“All Sherlockians” are interesting”

Some of the biographies included in this book are of well-known Sherlockians, and revisiting their lives will remind you of the men and women who shaped our hobby. Others may be names that are new to you. Our hope is that every reader comes across new names among the twenty-one Sherlockians chronicled in these pages. We Sherlockians keep the memory of the Great Detective and his world alive. This book is an effort to keep the memory of notable Sherlockians alive as well. As you turn these pages, you will realize that we are all standing on the shoulders of giants.

https://www.wessexpress.com/products/on-the-shoulders-of-giants-great-sherlockians-remembered

01/16/2026

NOW AVAILABLE!
THE ANNOTATED BRIGADIER GERARD
$29.95 USD
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited and with Notes by Colin Samuels
291 pp., illustrated, soft cover
[NOTE: domestic US sales only. International availability coming by end of January!]
THE ANNOTATED BRIGADIER GERARD
$29.95 USD
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited and with Notes by Colin Samuels
291 pp., illustrated, soft cover
[NOTE: domestic US sales only. International availability coming by end of January!]

Enter The Annotated Brigadier Gerard. Within these pages, Colin Samuels has masterfully opened up these exciting tales for the modern audience. Thrill to the exploits of Brigadier Etienne Gerard, a gallant hussar in Napoleon’s Grande Armée, as he relates his own lively and humorous experiences during one of the great epochs in European history.
https://www.wessexpress.com/products/the-annotated-brigadier-gerard