Albert chain: a style of chain for a pocket-watch, name for Prince Albert (1819-61), husband and consort of Queen Victoria.

Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes lives at 221B Baker Street.

billet: a job or position of employment.

black-letter editions: books printed a particular font, also called Gothic, which was often used in older and more scholarly or scientific books, especially in German.

bracelets: handcuffs.

bullion: gold or silver regarded as raw material, especially (but not in this case) before being turned into coins.

City: the City of London, the original, royally chartered area, today a relatively small section of central London, but still the nation's financial and legal center.

conundrums: a puzzling question or problem.

a coster's orange barrow: a wheelbarrow or cart filled with oranges; the person selling them on the street is a "coster" or "costermonger."

crack a crib: commit a petty theft or burglary.

crib: job.

deal: pine.

derbies: handcuffs.

ennui: boredom.

Eton and Oxford: usually considered England's finest preparatory school and university, respectively.

Flaubert, Gustave: (1821-80) French novelist.

foolscap: one of several sizes of paper, usually extra long or "legal-sized."

Freemason: The Freemasons were originally a secret international European society, probably founded in the 18th century, and often suppressed in Catholic countries as a secret, anti-Papal religion. Their symbol is an arc and compass, such as a builder or mason might use.

hansom: a horse-drawn covered carriage for two passengers, with the driver's seat above and behind.

L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre c'est tout: "The man is nothing--the work is all" (French).

hunting crop: a short, looped whip used in horseback riding, in this case a hunt.

omne ignotum pro magnifico: "The more unknown, the more magnificent" (Latin). Holmes uses Latin because he and Watson, as educated middle-class men, would know it but the working-class Wilson would not.

napolean: a 20 franc French coin, so called because they carried a likeness of either Napolean Bonaparte or Napolean III.

Park: Hyde Park, the main park of central London, separating Kensington (where Watson lives) from Baker Street (where Holmes lives).

partie carrée: double-date (French).

rubber: a game of cards, specifically a series of three or five games of bridge or whist.

Sand, George: (1804-76) French novelist.

Sarasate: the Spanish violinist, Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908).

at scratch: from the start, from the beginning

the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure: see the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four (1890).

smasher: a counterfeiter or forger.

solicitor: an attorney or lawyer.

sovereigns: coins worth one pound sterling, so called because they carried a likenesses of English kings and queens.

stalls: a seat near the stage in a British theater.

Sutherland, Mary: a character in the Sherlock Holmes story, "A Case of Identity."

Underground: the London subway system.