Sherlock Holmes

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Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (Sidney Paget, 1904)
First appearance	1887
Last appearance	To be determined
Created by	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Episode count	Four novels Fifty-six short stories Arguable others
Information
Gender	Male
Specialty	Deductive reasoning
Occupation	Consulting detective
Family	Mycroft Holmes (brother)
Nationality	English

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish-born author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful use of astute observation, deductive reasoning and inference to solve difficult cases.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Biography 2.1 Early life 2.2 Life with Dr Watson 2.3 Retirement 3 Habits and personality 3.1 Use of drugs 3.2 Financial affairs 3.3 Relationships with women 4 Methods of detection 4.1 Holmesian deduction 4.2 Disguise 4.3 Weapons and martial arts 4.4 Knowledge and skills 5 Influence 5.1 Role in the history of the detective story 5.2 An inspiration for scientists 6 Legacy 6.1 Fan speculation 6.1.1 The Great Hiatus 6.2 Societies 6.3 Museums 7 Adaptations 7.1 Adaptations of the original stories 7.2 Related and derivative works 8 The original stories 8.1 Novels 8.2 Short stories 8.3 Lists of favourite stories 9 Holmes by other authors 10 Notes 11 References 12 See also 13 External links

[edit] Overview

Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that feature Holmes. The first two stories, short novels, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890, respectively. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared until 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1875 up to 1907, with a final case in 1914.

All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr John H. Watson; two are narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person. In two stories (“The Musgrave Ritual” and “The Gloria Scott”) Holmes tells Watson the main story from his memories, whereas Watson becomes the narrator of the frame story.

Conan Doyle said that the character of Holmes was inspired by Dr Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Sherlock Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations.^[1] Michael Harrison has argued in a 1971 article in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine that the character was inspired by Wendell Scherer a "consulting detective" in a murder case that allegedly received a great deal of newspaper attention in England in 1882.^[2]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Explicit details about Sherlock Holmes' life outside of the Adventures recorded by Dr. Watson are few and far between in Conan Doyle's original stories. Nevertheless, incidental details about his early life and extended families do construct a loose biographical picture of the detective.

An estimate of Holmes' age in the story "His Last Bow" places his year of birth around 1854. Commonly, the detective's date of birth is cited as 6 January.^[3]

Holmes states that he first developed his methods of deduction as a university student. His earliest cases, which he pursued as an amateur, came from fellow university students.^[4] According to Holmes, it was an encounter with the father of one of his classmates that led him to take detection up as a profession^[5] and he spent the six years following university working as a consulting detective, before financial difficulties led him to take Dr Watson as a roommate, at which point the narrative of the stories begins.

From 1881, Holmes is described as having lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London, from where he runs his private detective agency. 221B is a flat up seventeen steps, stated in an early manuscript to be at the 'Upper end' of the road. Until the arrival of Dr Watson, Holmes works alone, only occasionally employing agents from the city's underclasses, including a host of Informants and a group of street children he calls the Baker Street Irregulars.^[6]

Little is said of Holmes's family. His parents are unmentioned in the stories and he merely states that his ancestors were "country squires". In "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", Holmes claims that his great uncle was Vernet, the French artist. He has an older brother, Mycroft Holmes, a government official, who appears in three stories.^[7] He is also mentioned in a number of others.^[8] Mycroft has a unique civil service position as a kind of memory-man or walking database for all aspects of government policy. Mycroft is described as even more gifted than Sherlock in matters of observation and deduction. Mycroft, however, lacks Sherlock's drive and energy, preferring to spend his time at ease in the Diogenes Club, described as "a club for the most un-clubbable men in London."

It is unclear whether Holmes has any other siblings. In "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches", Holmes says, "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to see a sister of mine apply for" leading some to suppose the existence of same. But he mentions this only to warn a woman in a case, taking her as his sister. Therefore, this may be a mere figure of speech.

[edit] Life with Dr Watson

Holmes shares the majority of his professional years with his good friend and chronicler Dr Watson. Watson lives with Holmes for some time before Watson's marriage in 1887 and again after Mrs Watson's death. The residence is maintained by his landlady, Mrs Hudson.

Watson has two roles in Holmes's life. First, he gives practical assistance in the conduct of his cases. He is the detective's right-hand man, acting variously as look-out, decoy, accomplice and messenger. Secondly, he is Holmes's chronicler (his "Boswell" as Holmes refers to him). Most of the Sherlock Holmes stories are frame narratives, written from Watson's point of view as summaries of the detective's most interesting cases. Holmes is often described as criticising Watson's writings for being sensational and populist, suggesting that they neglect to accurately and objectively report of the pure calculating "science" of his craft.

Nevertheless, Holmes' friendship with Watson is undoubtedly his most significant relationship. In several stories, Holmes' affection for Watson - often hidden beneath his cold, intellectual exterior - is revealed. In "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", Watson is wounded in a confrontation with a villain; while the bullet wound proves to be "quite superficial," Watson is moved by Holmes' reaction:

It was worth a wound; it was worth many wounds; to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.

In all, Holmes is described as being in active practice for twenty-three years, with Dr Watson documenting his cases for seventeen of them.^[9]

[edit] Retirement

Holmes retires to a bee farm on the Sussex Downs in 1903 to 1904, where he takes up the hobby of bee keeping as his primary occupation, eventually producing a "Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen."^[10] Only one adventure, narrated by Holmes himself pursuing the case as an amateur, takes place during the detective's retirement.^[11]

[edit] Habits and personality

Holmes describes himself as "Bohemian" in habits and lifestyle. According to Dr Watson, Holmes is an eccentric, with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order. In an early story, Watson describes Holmes as:

“

The worst tenant in London...[he] keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece... He had a horror of destroying documents…Thus month after month his papers accumulated, until every corner of the room was stacked with bundles of manuscript which were on no account to be burned, and which could not be put away save by their owner.[12]

”

What appears to others as chaos, however, is to Holmes a wealth of useful information. Throughout stories, Holmes is depicted as diving into his apparent mess of random papers and artifacts only to retrieve precisely the specific document or eclectic item he was looking for.

In matters of personal hygiene, by contrast Holmes is described in The Hound of the Baskervilles as having a "cat-like" love of personal cleanliness. This in no way appears to hinder his ability to be intensely practical in pursuit of his profession, however, and in the first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, his hands are discoloured with acid stains, while later Holmes uses drops of his own blood to conduct chemical experiments.

Dr Watson frequently makes note of Holmes' erratic eating habits. The detective is often described as starving himself at times of intense intellectual activity, such as during "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" where, according to Watson:

“

[Holmes] had no breakfast for himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known him to presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.[13]

”

His chronicler does not consider as a vice Holmes's habitual use of a pipe or his less frequent smoking of cigarettes, and cigars. Nor does Watson condemn Holmes's willingness to bend the truth or break the law - for example by lying to the police, concealing evidence or breaking into houses - where he feels it morally justifiable on behalf of a client.^[14]

Holmes is portrayed as a patriot, acting on behalf of the government in matters of national security in a number of stories.^[15] He also carries out counterintelligence work in "His Last Bow", set at the beginning of the First World War. As shooting practice, the detective adorns the wall of his baker street lodgings with "VR" - Victoria Regina - in bullet pocks made by his pistol.^[16]

Holmes has an ego that sometimes seems to border on arrogance, albeit justified. He takes pleasure in baffling police inspectors with his superior deductions. Holmes does not seek fame, however, and is usually content to allow the police to take public credit for his work. It is often only when Watson publishes his stories that Holmes's role in the case becomes apparent.^[17]

Holmes's demeanour is usually described as dispassionate and cold. When in the midst of an adventure, however, Holmes can display remarkable passion. He has a flair for showmanship and often prepares elaborate traps and reveals to capture and expose the culprit of a crime, often to impress Watson or one of the Scotland Yard inspectors.^[18]

[edit] Use of drugs

Holmes uses addictive drugs, which he turns to especially when lacking stimulating cases. Holmes is a habitual cocaine user, which he injects in a 7 percent solution, often using a special syringe that he keeps in a leather case. Holmes is also an occasional user of morphine, but expressed strong disapproval when he visited an opium den. All three were legal in late-19th-century England.

Dr Watson reflects Victorian medical orthodoxy by having no medical objection to Holmes' drug use. Morally, however, he disapproves of his friend's drug use, describing it as the detective's "only vice," and expressing concern over the effect it may have on Holmes' mental health and superior intellect.^[19][20] In later stories, Watson claims to have "weaned" Holmes off drugs. Even so, according to his doctor friend, Holmes remains an addict whose habit is "not dead, but merely sleeping."^[21]

[edit] Financial affairs

Although he initially needed Watson to share the rent of his comfortable residence at 221B Baker Street, Watson reveals in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective", when Holmes was living alone, that "I have no doubt that the house might have been purchased at the price which Holmes paid for his rooms," suggesting he had developed a good income from his practice, although it is never revealed exactly how much he charges for his services. He does say, in "The Problem of Thor Bridge" that "My professional charges are upon a fixed scale. I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether..."

This is said in a context where a client is offering to double his fees; however, it is likely that rich clients provided a remuneration greatly in excess of Holmes's standard fee: in "The Adventure of the Final Problem", Holmes states that his services to the government of France and the royal house of Scandinavia had left him with enough money to retire comfortably, while in "The Adventure of Black Peter", Watson notes that Holmes would refuse to help the wealthy and powerful if their cases did not interest him, while he could devote weeks at a time to the cases of the most humble clients. Holmes also tells Watson, in "A Case of Identity", of a golden snuff box received from the King of Bohemia after "A Scandal in Bohemia" and a fabulous ring from the Dutch royal family; in "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans", Holmes receives an emerald tie-pin from Queen Victoria. Other mementos of Holmes's cases are a gold sovereign from Irene Adler ("A Scandal in Bohemia") and an autographed letter of thanks from the French President and a Legion of Honor for tracking down an assassin named Huret ("The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez"). In "The Adventure of the Priory School", Holmes "rubs his hands with glee" when the Duke of Holdernesse notes the sum, which surprises even Watson, and then pats the cheque, saying "I am a poor man," an incident that could be dismissed as Holmes's tendency toward ironic humour. Certainly, in the course of his career Holmes had worked for both the most powerful monarchs and governments of Europe (including his own) and various wealthy aristocrats and industrialists, and had also been consulted by impoverished pawnbrokers and humble governesses on the lower rungs of society.

Holmes has been known to charge clients for his expenses, and to claim any reward that might be offered for the solution's problem: he says in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" that Miss Stoner may pay any expenses he may be put to, and requests that the bank in "The Red-Headed League" remunerate him for the money he spent solving the case. Holmes has his wealthy banker client in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" pay him for the costs of recovering the stolen gems, and also claims the reward the banker had put for their recovery.

[edit] Relationships with women

The only woman in whom Holmes ever showed any interest that verged on the romantic was Irene Adler. According to Watson, she was always referred to by Holmes as "The Woman". Holmes himself is never directly quoted as using this term — even though he does mention her actual name several times in other cases. She is also one of the few women who are mentioned in multiple Holmes stories, though she actually appears in person only in one, "A Scandal in Bohemia". She is often thought to be the only woman who broke through Holmes' reserve. She is possibly the only woman who has ever "beaten" or outwitted Holmes in a mystery. However, it is important to note that Watson explicitly states, "It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler."

In one story, "The Master Blackmailer" (The Adventure of Charles Augustus Miverlton), Holmes is engaged to be married, but only with the motivation of gaining information for his case. He clearly demonstrates particular interest in several of the more charming female clients that come his way (in particular, Violet Hunter in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches"). Holmes inevitably "manifested no further interest in the client when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems." Holmes found their youth, beauty, and energy (and the cases they brought to him) invigorating, as opposed to an actual romantic interest. These episodes show that Holmes possesses a degree of charm, yet, apart from the case of Adler, there is no indication of a serious or long-term interest. Watson states that Holmes has an "aversion to women" but "a peculiarly ingratiating way with [them]." Holmes states, "I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind"; in fact he finds "the motives of women... so inscrutable... How can you build on such quicksand? Their most trivial actions may mean volumes... their most extraordinary conduct may depend upon a hairpin." Comments like these by Watson have led critics like Graham Robb to suggest that Holmes is actually a homosexual. These claims have opened up a new window of Holmesian scholarship and criticism in the literary world.^[22] However, as Doyle remarked to muse Joseph Bell, "Holmes is as inhuman as a Babbage's calculating machine and just about as likely to fall in love".

Another point of interest in Holmes' relationships with women is that the only joy he gets from their company is the problems they bring to him to solve. In The Sign of Four, Watson quotes Holmes as being "an automaton, a calculating machine," and Holmes is quoted as saying, "It is of the first importance, not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, -- a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money..." This references Holmes's lack of interest in relationships with women in general, and clients in particular, as Watson states that "there is something positively inhuman in you at times." At the end of "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot", Holmes states: "I have never loved, Watson, but if I did and if the woman I loved had met such an end, I might act as our lawless lion-hunter had done." In the story, the explorer Dr Sterndale had killed the man who murdered his beloved, Brenda Tregennis, to exact a revenge which the law could not provide. Watson writes in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" that Mrs Hudson is fond of Holmes in her own way, despite his bothersome eccentricities as a lodger, owing to his "remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women." Again in The Sign of Four, Watson quotes Holmes as saying, "I would not tell them too much. Women are never to be entirely trusted, -- not the best of them." Watson notes that while he dislikes and distrusts them, he is nonetheless a "chivalrous opponent."

[edit] Methods of detection

[edit] Holmesian deduction

Holmes' primary intellectual method of detection is deductive reasoning of the solution to a crime. "From a drop of water," he writes, "a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other."^[23] Holmes stories often begin with a bravura display of his talent for "deduction". It is of some interest to logicians and those interested in logic to try to analyse just what Holmes is doing when he performs his deduction. Holmesian deduction appears to consist primarily of drawing inferences based on either straightforward practical principles — which are the result of careful inductive study, such as Holmes's study of different kinds of cigar ashes — or inference to the best explanation.

Holmes's straightforward practical principles are generally of the form, "If 'p', then 'q'," where 'p' is observed evidence and 'q' is what the evidence indicates. But there are also, as one may observe in the following example, often some intermediate principles. In "A Scandal in Bohemia" Holmes deduces that Watson had got very wet lately and that he had "a most clumsy and careless servant girl." When Watson, in amazement, asks how Holmes knows this, Holmes answers:

“

It is simplicity itself... My eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.

”

In this case, Holmes employed several connected principles:

• If leather on the side of a shoe is scored by several parallel cuts, it was caused by someone who scraped around the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud.
• If a London doctor's shoes are scraped to remove crusted mud, the person who so scraped them is the doctor's servant girl.
• If someone cuts a shoe while scraping it to remove encrusted mud, that person is clumsy and careless.
• If someone's shoes had encrusted mud on them, that person has been very wet lately and has been out in vile weather.

By applying such principles in an obvious way (using repeated applications of modus ponens), Holmes is able to infer that:

"The sides of Watson's shoes are scored by several parallel cuts"; to "Watson's servant girl is clumsy and careless"; and "Watson has been very wet lately and has been out in vile weather."

Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation, such as a Retired Sergeant of Marines in A Study in Scarlet; a former ship's carpenter turned pawnbroker in "The Red-Headed League"); and a billiard-marker and a retired artillery NCO in "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, Holmes is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners, including Watson's pocket Watch in "The Sign of Four," as well as a hat,^[24] a pipe,^[25] and a walking stick^[26] in other stories.

Once he has amassed a large body of evidence and deduced a number of possible explanations, Holmes proceeds to find the one explanation that fits all the facts of the case to produce a solution. As Holmes explains to Watson, says, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

[edit] Disguise

Holmes is described as a talented actor. In several stories, he adopts disguises to gather evidence while 'under cover' so convincing that even Watson fails to penetrate them, such as in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", "The Man with the Twisted Lip" and "A Scandal in Bohemia" In other adventures, Holmes feigns being wounded or ill to give effect to his case, or to incriminate the people involved, as in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective."

[edit] Weapons and martial arts

Pistols On occasion Holmes and Watson carry pistols with them, in the case of Watson often his old service revolver. However, Watson only describes these weapons as being used on seven occasions.^[27]

Cane Holmes, as a gentleman, often carries a stick or cane. He is described by Watson as an expert at singlestick and twice uses his cane as a weapon.^[28]

Sword In "A Study in Scarlet" Watson describes Holmes as a expert with a sword - although in none of the stories is Holmes mentioned as using a sword. ^[29] It is mentioned in "Gloria Scott" that Holmes practiced fencing.

Riding crop In several stories, Holmes appears equipped with a riding crop. In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" he uses it to lash out at a venomous snake and in "A Case of Identity", he comes close to thrashing a swindler with it. Using a "hunting crop," Holmes knocks a pistol from John Clay's hand in "The Red-Headed League."

Fist-fighting Holmes is described as a formidable fist-fighter. In The Sign of the Four, Holmes introduces himself to a prize-fighter as:

“

"The amateur who fought three rounds with you at Alison's rooms on the night of your benefit four years back." McMurdo responds by saying, "Ah, you're one that has wasted your gifts, you have! You might have aimed high, if you had joined the fancy."

”

Holmes engages in hand to hand combat with his adversaries on several occasions throughout the stories, inevitably emerging as the victor.^[30] It is also, once again, mentioned in "Gloria Scott" that Holmes trained as a boxer.

Martial arts "The Adventure of the Empty House", Holmes recounts to Watson how he used martial arts to overcome Professor Moriarty and fling his adversary to his death at the Reichenbach Falls. He states that "I have some knowledge, however, of baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me." The name "baritsu" appears to be a reference to the real-life martial art of bartitsu.

[edit] Knowledge and skills

In the very first story, A Study in Scarlet, something of Holmes's background is given. In early 1881, he is presented as an independent student of chemistry with a variety of very curious side interests, almost all of which turn out to be single-mindedly bent towards making him superior at solving crimes. An early story, "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott", presents more background on what influenced Holmes to become a detective: a college friend's father complimented him very highly on his deductive skills. Holmes always uses scientific methods and focuses on logic and the powers of observation and deduction.

In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes claims he does not know that the Earth revolves around the sun, as such information is irrelevant to his work solving crimes. Directly after having heard that fact from Watson, he says he will immediately try to forget it. He says he believes that the mind has a finite capacity for information storage, and so learning useless things would merely reduce his ability to learn useful things. Dr Watson subsequently assesses Holmes's abilities thus:

1. Knowledge of Literature.—Nothing.
2. Knowledge of Philosophy.—Nothing.
3. Knowledge of Astronomy.—Nothing.
4. Knowledge of Politics.—Feeble.
5. Knowledge of Botany.—Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
6. Knowledge of Geology.—Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks, has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry.—Profound.
8. Knowledge of Anatomy.—Accurate, but unsystematic.
9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature.—Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

However, even at the very end of A Study in Scarlet itself, it is shown that Holmes knows Latin and needs no translation of Roman epigrams in the original—though knowledge of the language would be of doubtful direct utility for detective work. Later stories also contradict the list. Despite Holmes's supposed ignorance of politics, in "A Scandal in Bohemia" he immediately recognises the true identity of the supposed "Count von Kramm". Regarding non-sensational literature, his speech is replete with references to the Bible, Shakespeare, and even Goethe.

Moreover, in "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" Watson reports that in November 1895, "Holmes lost himself in a monograph which he had undertaken upon the Polyphonic Motets of Lassus"—a most esoteric field of knowledge, for which Holmes would have had to "clutter his memory" with an enormous amount of information which had absolutely nothing to do with crime-fighting—knowledge so extensive that his monograph was taken as "the last word" on the subject.^[31] The later stories abandon the notion that Holmes did not want to know anything unless it had immediate relevance for his profession; in the second chapter of The Valley of Fear, Holmes instead declares that "all knowledge comes useful to the detective", and near the end of "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", he describes himself as "an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles".

Holmes is also a competent cryptanalyst. He relates to Watson, "I am fairly familiar with all forms of secret writing, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon the subject, in which I analyse one hundred and sixty separate ciphers." One such scheme is solved using frequency analysis in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men".

Holmes's analysis of physical evidence is both scientific and precise. His methods include the use of latent prints such as footprints, hoof prints and bicycle tracks to identify actions at a crime scene (A Study in Scarlet, "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", "The Adventure of the Priory School", The Hound of the Baskervilles, "The Boscombe Valley Mystery"), the use of tobacco ashes and cigarette butts to identify criminals ("The Adventure of the Resident Patient", The Hound of the Baskervilles), the comparison of typewritten letters to expose a fraud ("A Case of Identity"), the use of gunpowder residue to expose two murderers ("The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"), bullet comparison from two crime scenes ("The Adventure of the Empty House") and even an early use of fingerprints ("The Norwood Builder"). Holmes also demonstrates knowledge of psychology in "A Scandal in Bohemia", luring Irene Adler into betraying where she had hidden a photograph based on the “premise” that an unmarried woman will seek her most valuable possession in case of fire, whereas a married woman will grab her baby instead. In the first story, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes claims to have invented a chemical process to detect old blood stains — although different blood types would not be recognised until years later.

Despite the excitement of his life (or perhaps seeking to leave it behind) Holmes retired to the Sussex Downs to take up beekeeping ("The Second Stain"), and wrote a book on the subject, entitled "Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with Some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen".^[32] His search for relaxation can also be seen in his love for music, notably in "The Red-Headed League", where Holmes takes an evening off from a case to listen to Pablo de Sarasate play violin.

[edit] Influence

[edit] Role in the history of the detective story

Although Sherlock Holmes isn't the original fiction detective (he was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's C. Auguste Dupin and Emile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq), his name has become a by-word for the part. His stories also include several detective story tropes such as the loyal but less intelligent assistant, a role for which Dr Watson has become the archetype.

[edit] An inspiration for scientists

Sherlock Holmes has occasionally been used in the scientific literature. Radford (1999)^[33] speculates on his intelligence. Using Conan Doyle’s stories as data, Radford applies three different methods to estimate Sherlock Holmes’s IQ, and concludes that his intelligence was very high indeed. Snyder (2004)^[34] examines Holmes’ methods in the light of the science and the criminology of the mid- to late-19th century. Kempster (2006)^[35] compares neurologists’ skills with those displayed by Holmes. Finally, Didierjean and Gobet (2008)^[36] review the literature on the psychology of expertise by taking as model a fictional expert: Sherlock Holmes. They highlight aspects of Doyle’s books that are in line with what is currently known about expertise, aspects that are implausible, and aspects that suggest further research.

[edit] Legacy

[edit] Fan speculation

The fifty-six short stories and four novels written by Conan Doyle are termed the "canon" by Holmesians. Early scholars of the canon included Ronald Knox in Britain and Christopher Morley in New York.

Writers have produced many pop culture references to Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle, or characters from the stories in homage, to a greater or lesser degree. Such allusions can form a plot development, raise the intellectual level of the piece or act as Easter eggs for an observant audience.

Some have been overt, introducing Holmes as a character in a new setting, or a more subtle allusion, such as making a logical character live in an apartment at number 221B. One well-known example of this is the character House on the show House M.D, whose name and apartment number are both references to Holmes. Often the simplest reference is to dress anybody who does some kind of detective work in a deerstalker and cloak (as seen right). Another rich field of pop culture references is Holmes' ancestry and descendants, but really the only limit is the writer's imagination. A third major reference is the quote, "Elementary, my dear Watson," (which was never actually said by Holmes).^[37] Another common misattribution is that Holmes, throughout the entire novel series, is never explicitly described as wearing a "deerstalker hat." Although, Holmes does don "an ear flapped traveling cap" in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Sidney Paget first drew Holmes wearing the deerstalker cap and inverness cape in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" and subsequently in several other stories.

[edit] The Great Hiatus

Holmes fans refer to the period from 1891 to 1894—the time between Holmes' disappearance and presumed death in "The Adventure of the Final Problem" and his reappearance in "The Adventure of the Empty House"—as "the Great Hiatus."^[38] It is notable, though, that one later story ("The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge") is described as taking place in 1892.

Conan Doyle wrote the first set of stories over the course of a decade. Wanting to devote more time to his historical novels, he killed off Holmes in "The Final Problem," which appeared in print in 1893. After resisting public pressure for eight years, the author wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, which appeared in 1901, implicitly setting it before Holmes' "death" (some theorise that it actually took place after "The Return" but with Watson planting clues to an earlier date).^[39][40] The public, while pleased with the story, was not satisfied with a posthumous Holmes, and so Conan Doyle resuscitated Holmes two years later. Many have speculated on his motives for bringing Holmes back to life, notably writer-director Nicholas Meyer, who wrote an essay on the subject in the 1970s entitled "The Great Man Takes a Walk." The actual reasons are not known, other than the obvious: publishers offered to pay generously. For whatever reason, Conan Doyle continued to write Holmes stories for a quarter-century longer.

Some writers have come up with other explanations for the hiatus. In Meyer's novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, the Hiatus is depicted as a secret sabbatical following Holmes' treatment for cocaine addiction at the hands of Sigmund Freud, and presents Holmes making the light-hearted suggestion that Watson write a fictitious account claiming he had been killed by Moriarty, saying of the public, "They'll never believe you in any case."

In his memoirs, Conan Doyle quotes a reader, who judged the later stories inferior to the earlier ones, to the effect that when Holmes went over the Reichenbach Falls, he may not have been killed, but he was never quite the same man after. The differences in the pre- and post-Hiatus Holmes have in fact created speculation among those who play "The Great Game" (making believe Sherlock Holmes was a historical person). Among the more fanciful theories, the story "The Case of the Detective's Smile" by Mark Bourne, published in the anthology Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, posits that one of the places Holmes visited during his hiatus was Alice's Wonderland. While there, he solved the case of the stolen tarts, and his experiences there contributed to his kicking the cocaine addiction.

[edit] Societies

In 1934 were founded the Sherlock Holmes Society, in London, and the Baker Street Irregulars, in New York. Both are still active today (though the Sherlock Holmes Society was dissolved in 1937 to be resuscitated only in 1951). The two initial societies founded in 1934 were followed by many more Holmesians circles, first of all in America (where they are called "scion societies"—offshoots—of the Baker Street Irregulars), then in England and Denmark. Nowadays, there are Sherlockian societies in many countries like India and Japan being the more prominent countries which have a history of such activity.

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London maintains a moderately up-to-date links page, pointing at other Sherlockian sites in a range of countries and languages. It is also one of many societies worldwide who arrange visits to the scenes of the Sherlock Holmes adventures (Holmesian topography), such as the Reichenbach Falls in the Swiss Alps.

[edit] Museums

During the 1951 Festival of Britain, Sherlock Holmes' sitting-room was reconstructed as the masterpiece of a Sherlock Holmes Exhibition, displaying a unique collection of original material. After the 1951 exhibition closed, items were transferred to the Sherlock Holmes Pub, in London, and to the Conan Doyle Collection in Lucens (Switzerland). Both exhibitions, each including its own very good Baker Street Sitting-Room reconstruction, are still to be seen today. In 1990 The Sherlock Holmes Museum was opened in Baker Street London and the following year in Meiringen Switzerland another Museum was also opened, but naturally they include less historical material about Conan Doyle than about Sherlock Holmes himself. The Sherlock Holmes Museum in Baker Street, London was the first Museum in the world to be dedicated to a fictional character.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] Adaptations of the original stories

As Sherlock Holmes is such a popular character, there have been many theatrical stage and cinematic adaptations of Conan Doyle's work — much in the same way that Hamlet or Dracula are often revised and adapted. The Guinness World Records has consistently listed him as the "most portrayed movie character" with over 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films.

Basil Rathbone starred as Sherlock Holmes, alongside Nigel Bruce as Dr Watson, in fourteen films (two for 20th Century Fox and a dozen for Universal Pictures) from 1939-1946. Jeremy Brett is generally considered the definitive Holmes of recent times, having played the role in four series of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, created by John Hawkesworth for Britain's Granada Television, from 1984 though to 1994, as well as depicting Holmes on stage. Brett's Dr Watson was played by David Burke and Edward Hardwicke in the series.

Between 1979 and 1986, Soviet television broadcast a series of five television films, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, starring Vasily Livanov as Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Watson. The series were produced at the Lenfilm movie studio and contained a total of eleven parts.

In the 2009 movie Sherlock Holmes, based on the graphic novel by Lionel Wigram and directed by Guy Ritchie, the role of Holmes is performed by Robert Downey Jr., in a reinterpretation more focused in the character's martial abilities.

[edit] Related and derivative works

In addition to the canonical Sherlock Holmes stories, Conan Doyle's "The Lost Special" (1898) features an unnamed "amateur reasoner" clearly intended to be identified as Holmes by his readers. His explanation for a baffling disappearance, argued in Holmes' characteristic style, turns out to be quite wrong — evidently Conan Doyle was not above poking fun at his own hero. A short story by Conan Doyle using the same idea is "The Man with the Watches". Another example of Conan Doyle's humour is "How Watson Learned the Trick" (1924), a parody of the frequent Watson-Holmes breakfast table scenes. A further (and earlier) parody by Conan Doyle is "The Field Bazaar." He also wrote other material, especially plays, featuring Holmes. Many of these writings are collected in the books Sherlock Holmes: The Published Apocrypha edited by Jack Tracy, The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by Peter Haining and The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes compiled by Richard Lancelyn Green.

In 1907 Sherlock Holmes began appearing in a series of German booklets. Among the writers was Theo van Blankensee. Watson has been replaced by a 19 year old assistant from the street, among his Baker Street Irregulars, with the name Harry Taxon, and Mrs. Hudson has been replaced by one Mrs. Bonnet. From number 10 the series changes its name to "Aus den Geheimakten des Welt-Detektivs". The French edition changes its name from "Les Dossiers Secrets de Sherlock Holmes" to "Les Dossiers du Roi des Detectives".^[41]

Sherlock Holmes' abilities as both a good fighter and as an excellent logician have been a boon to other authors who have lifted his name, or details of his exploits, for their plots. These range from Holmes as a cocaine addict, whose drug-fuelled fantasies lead him to cast an innocent Professor Moriarty as a super villain (The Seven-Per-Cent Solution), to science-fiction plots involving him being re-animated after death to fight crime in the future (Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century).

In 1981 Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Italian television network RAI agreed to co-produce the animated Japanese television series Mei Tantei Homuzu (The Famous Detective Holmes) in which the characters were anthropomorphized as dogs in an Edwardian England. Due to a copyright dispute with the Estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, production did not begin until 1984. The series of twenty-six episodes was broadcast in Japan between November 6, 1984, and May 20, 1985. Some of the episodes were based on Conan Doyle stories (examples include “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” and “Silver Blaze”) and others were original. Six episodes were directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who also wrote some of the other episodes. The overall series reflected Miyazaki’s animation at the time, including slapstick, crowd scenes, mechanical vehicle chases, and strong female characters. In one of the Miyazaki-directed episodes, for example, Holmes’ landlady Mrs. Hudson is featured as a youthful, vibrant, and active protagonist. Twelve of the episodes were translated into English under the name Sherlock Hound.

Some authors have supplied stories to fit the tantalising references in the canon to unpublished cases (e.g. "The giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared" in "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"), notably The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Conan Doyle's son Adrian Conan Doyle with John Dickson Carr, and The Lost Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Ken Greenwald, based rather closely on episodes of the 1945 Sherlock Holmes radio show that starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and for which scripts were written by Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher. Others have used different characters from the stories as their own detective, e.g. Mycroft Holmes in Enter the Lion by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright (1979) or Dr James Mortimer (from The Hound of the Baskervilles) in books by Gerard Williams.

Laurie R. King recreates Sherlock Holmes in her Mary Russell series (starting with The Beekeeper's Apprentice), set during World War I and the 1920s. Her Holmes is (semi) retired in Sussex, where he is literally stumbled over by a teenage Russell. Recognizing a kindred spirit, he gradually trains her as his apprentice. As of 2009 the series includes nine full length novels and a short story tie-in with a book from her Kate Martinelli series, The Art of Detection.

Carole Nelson Douglas' series the Irene Adler Adventures is based on the character Irene Adler from Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia." The first book, Good Night, Mr. Holmes, retells "A Scandal in Bohemia" from Irene's point of view. The series is narrated by Adler's companion, Penelope Huxleigh, in a role similar to that of Dr. Watson.

The film They Might Be Giants, is a 1971 romantic comedy based on 1961 play (both written by James Goldman) in which the character Justin Playfair, played by George C. Scott, is convinced that he is Sherlock Holmes, and manages to convince many others of that, including the psychiatrist Dr. Watson, played by Joanne Woodward, who is assigned to evaluate him so he can be committed him to a mental institution.

The film Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) explores youthful adventures of Holmes and Watson as Secondary School students, a period unexamined by Conan Doyle.^[42]

[edit] The original stories

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The original Sherlock Holmes stories consists of fifty-six short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

[edit] Novels

• A Study in Scarlet (published 1887, in Beeton's Christmas Annual )
• The Sign of the Four (published 1890, Lippincott's Monthly Magazine)
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialised 1901–1902 in The Strand)
• The Valley of Fear (serialised 1914–1915 in The Strand)

[edit] Short stories

For more detail see List of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories.

The short stories were originally published in periodicals; they were later gathered into five anthologies:

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1891–1892 in The Strand)
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1892–1893 in The Strand as further episodes of the Adventures)
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1903–1904 in The Strand)
• His Last Bow (contains stories published 1908–1913 and 1917)
• The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (contains stories published 1921–1927)

[edit] Lists of favourite stories

There are two famous lists of favourite stories: that of Conan Doyle himself, in The Strand in 1927, and that of the Baker Street Journal in 1959.

Conan Doyle's list: "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" "The Red-Headed League" "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" "The Adventure of the Final Problem" "A Scandal in Bohemia" "The Adventure of the Empty House" "The Five Orange Pips" "The Adventure of the Second Stain" "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" "The Adventure of the Priory School" "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"

The Baker Street Journal's list: "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" "The Red-Headed League" "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" "A Scandal in Bohemia" "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons" "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" "The Adventure of the Empty House"

[edit] Holmes by other authors

• See: Non-canonical Sherlock Holmes works, List of authors of new Sherlock Holmes stories, and Sherlock Holmes speculation

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Accardo, Pasquale J. (1987). Diagnosis and Detection: Medical Iconography of Sherlock Holmes. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 0517502917. 
• Baring-Gould, William (1967). The Annotated Sherlock Holmes. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. ISBN 0517502917. 
• Baring-Gould, William (1962). Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: The Life of the World's First Consulting Detective. New York: Clarkson N. Potter. OCLC 63103488. 
• Blakeney, T.S. (1994). Sherlock Holmes: Fact or Fiction?. London: Prentice Hall & IBD. ISBN 9781883402105. 
• Bradley, Alan (2004). Ms Holmes of Baker Street: The Truth About Sherlock. Alberta: University of Alberta Press. ISBN 0888644159. 
• Campbell, Mark (2007). Sherlock Holmes. London: Pocket Essentials. ISBN 9780470128237. 
• Dakin, David (1972). A Sherlock Holmes Commentary. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0715354930. 
• Duncan, Alistair (2008). Eliminate the Impossible: An Examination of the World of Sherlock Holmes on Page and Screen. London: MX Publishing. ISBN 1904312314. 
• Duncan, Alistair (2009). Close to Holmes: A Look at the Connections Between Historical London, Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. London: MX Publishing. ISBN 1904312500. 
• Green, Richard Lancelyn (1987). The Sherlock Holmes Letters. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. 
• Hall, Trevor (1969). Sherlock Holmes: Ten Literary Studies. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0715604694. 
• Hammer, David (1995). The Before-Breakfast Pipe of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. London: Wessex Pr.. 
• Harrison, Michael (1973). The World of Sherlock Holmes. London: Frederick Muller Ltd.. 
• Jones, Kelvin (1987). Sherlock Holmes and the Kent Railways. Sittingborne, Kent: Meresborough Books. 
• Keating, H. R. F. (2006). Sherlock Holmes: The Man and His World. Edison, NJ: Castle. ISBN 0785821120. 
• Kestner, Joseph (1997). Sherlock's Men: Masculinity, Conan Doyle and Cultural History. Farnham: Ashgate. ISBN 1859283942. 
• King, Joseph A. (1996). Sherlock Holmes: From Victorian Sleuth to Modern Hero. Lanham, US: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810831805. 
• Klinger, Leslie (2005). The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393059162. 
• Klinger, Leslie (1998). The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library. Indianapolis: Gasogene Books. ISBN 0938501267. 
• Lester, Paul (1992). Sherlock Holmes in the Midlands. Studley, Warwickshire: Brewin Books. ISBN 9780947731854. 
• Lieboe, Eli. Doctor Joe Bell: Model for Sherlock Holmes. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1982; Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2007. ISBN 9780879721985
• Mitchelson, Austin (1994). The Baker Street Irregular: Unauthorised Biography of Sherlock Holmes. Romford: Ian Henry Publications Ltd. ISBN 9780802143259. 
• Payne, David S. (1995). Myth and Modern Man in Sherlock Holmes: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Uses of Nostalgia. Bloomington, Ind: Gaslight's Publications. ISBN 093446829. 
• Redmond, Christopher (1987). In Bed with Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Conan Doyle's Stories. London: Players Press. ISBN 9780802143259. 
• Redmond, Donald (1983). Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Sources. Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press. 
• Rennison, Nick (2007). Sherlock Holmes. The Unauthorized Biography. London: Grove Press. ISBN 9780802143259. 
• Richards, Anthony John (1998). Holmes, Chemistry and the Royal Institution: A Survey of the Scientific Works of Sherlock Holmes and His Relationship with the Royal Institution of Great Britain. London: Irregulars Special Press. ISBN 0760771561. 
• Riley, Dick (2005). The Bedside Companion to Sherlock Holmes. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 0760771561. 
• Riley, Peter (2005). The Highways and Byways of Sherlock Holmes. London: P.&D. Riley. ISBN 978-1874712787. 
• Roy, Pinaki (2008). The Manichean Investigators: A Postcolonial and Cultural Rereading of the Sherlock Holmes and Byomkesh Bakshi Stories. New Delhi: Sarup and Sons. ISBN 9788176258494. 
• Shaw, John B. (1995). Encyclopedia of Sherlock Holmes: A Complete Guide to the World of the Great Detective. London: Pavillion Books. ISBN 9781857935028. 
• Starrett, Vincent (1993). The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. London: Prentice Hall & IBD. ISBN 9781883402051. 
• Tracy, Jack (1988). The Sherlock Holmes Encyclopedia: Universal Dictionary of Sherlock Holmes. London: Crescent Books. ISBN 9780517654446. 
• Tracy, Jack (1996). Subcutaneously, My Dear Watson: Sherlock Holmes and the Cocaine Habit. Bloomington, Ind.: Gaslight Publications. ISBN 0934468257. 
• Wagner, E.J. (2007). La Scienza di Sherlock Holmes. Torino: Bollati Boringheri. ISBN 9780470128237. 
• Weller, Philip (1993). The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes. Simsbury: Bracken Books. ISBN 1858911060. 
• Wexler, Bruce (2008). The Mysterious World of Sherlock Holmes. London: Running Press. ISBN 9780762432523. 

[edit] See also

• Arsène Lupin
• Dr. Gregory House
• Father Brown
• Forensic chemistry
• Forensic science
• Harry Dickson
• HOLMES2 (police computer system)
• Kogoro Akechi
• List of people who have played Sherlock Holmes
• Meiringen
• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
• Professor Challenger (another Conan Doyle character)
• Professor Moriarty
• Solar Pons
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
• The Sleuth (Disney)
• William Gillette
• Case Closed

[edit] External links

• The Sherlock Holmes Museum 221b Baker Street, London England.
• The Sherlock Holmes Society of London London society founded in 1951.
• Sherlockian Major Sherlock Holmes Reference with Original Stories, Pictures, articles and links to other holmesian websites.
• Baker Street Dozen Sherlock Holmes in Books, Film and Media
• Bert Coules' website (BBC Radio 4 canonical and original stories, 1989–2004)
• Discovering Sherlock Holmes at Stanford University
• Sherlock Holmes Special Collections
• The Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota Special Collections and Rare Books
• Edward Winter, Chess and Sherlock Holmes

v • d • e Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Novels A Study in Scarlet (1887) · The Sign of the Four (1890) · The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) · The Valley of Fear (1915) Short story collections The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) · The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) · The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) · His Last Bow (1917) · The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927) Major characters Sherlock Holmes · Dr John Watson · Professor Moriarty · Irene Adler · Inspector Bradstreet · Tobias Gregson · Mycroft Holmes · Stanley Hopkins · Mrs. Hudson · Inspector Lestrade · Sebastian Moran · Mary Morstan · Baker Street Irregulars Related topics Canon of Sherlock Holmes  · 221B Baker Street · Other media  · Sherlockiana

v • d • e Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet (1887)  · The Sign of the Four (1890)  · The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)  · The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)  · The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)  · The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1904)  · The Valley of Fear (1914)  · His Last Bow (1917)  · The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)  · Professor Challenger The Lost World (1912)  · The Poison Belt (1913)  · The Land of Mist (1926)  · When the World Screamed (1928)  · The Disintegration Machine (1929)  · Other works Micah Clarke (1888)  · The White Company (1891)  · Sir Nigel (1906)  · J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement (1884)  · The Mystery of Cloomber (1889)  · The Firm of Girdlestone (1890)  · The Parasite (1894)  · Rodney Stone (1896)  · The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard (1903)  · The Maracot Deep (1929) Other Charles Altamont Doyle  · Richard Doyle  · John Doyle  · The Great Wyrley Outrages  · Spiritualism