“my strange old book-collector” [EMPT]  Ben Abramson with Vincent Starrett at a signing event for ‘Books Alive’ Circa 1940. Location Unknown / Photographer Unknown (Source: )   There are some Sherlockians we wish we could have interviewed for this program — individuals long gone but fondly remembered — whose unique perspectives would be a boon to our listeners. Unfortunately, most of them are beyond our reach. In this case however, we have one who is available to us but comes to us in a prepackaged interview. Ben Abramson, BSI ("The Beryl Coronet") was a bookseller and the first publisher of The Baker Street Journal. And he sat for an interview on the radio in 1954. We share Ben's background, his early days as a bookseller, his move from Chicago to New York City, his association with some of the Sherlockian greats such as Vincent Starrett, Edgar W. Smith, and Peter Blau, and trace the rise and tragic fall of the BSJ and of Ben himself.  The winner of the previous episode's Canonical Couplet is revealed and we share yet another couplet for your identification. The winner will receive a copy of an Old Series BSJ as published by Ben. Send your answer to comment @ ihearofsherlock .com by August 14, 2023 at 11:59 a.m. EST. All listeners are eligible to play. If you become a , not only will you help to ensure we can keep doing what we do, covering file hosting costs, production, and transcription services, but we have thank-you gifts at certain tiers and ad-free versions of the episodes for all patrons.     Sponsors  is the premier publisher of books about Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.  brings the best in new Sherlock Holmes novels, biographies, graphic novels and short story collections every month. With over 400 books it's the largest catalogue of new Sherlock Holmes books in the world.   Would you care to advertise with us? You can find . Let's chat!   Links This episode:  The main source for this episode was the blog  from the BSI Archival Series(Abebooks) (Phillip Shreffler) (Studies in Starrett) Other episodes mentioned: Also available on , , and  News about , , and  Previous Episodes mentioned:  (with Vincent Wright)   Many more links, articles, and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at   as well as through our accounts on , , , and .     And would you consider leaving us a rating and review? It would help other Sherlockians to find us.   Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.