Sherlock

This year is the 75th anniversary of the death of Conan Doyle, and the 65th of the Speckled Band. While Conan Doyle recedes in time, Sherlock Holmes does not. Since the master detective was ''created" in 1887 by the Scottish-born physician, interest in the 56 short tales and four novels has only intensified.

''The Hound of the Baskervilles," is surely as famous an English title as ''Moby-Dick." Memorable film or TV versions of Holmes include the 1930s and '40s classics starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce; the 1980s Masterpiece Theatre series, in 44 episodes, with Jeremy Brett and David Burke; and have continued right up to last month with a new Masterpiece Theatre movie (a composite of Holmes tales called ''Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking") starring Rupert Everett.

The oldest continuous society devoted to the man in the deerstalker hat with pipe and magnifying glass is the Baker Street Irregulars -- a reference to the street Holmes lived on -- founded in New York in 1934 by critic Christopher Morley. The Irregulars' quarterly, The Baker Street Journal (Bakerstreetjournal.com), has been published since 1946.