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Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes For other uses, see Sherlock Holmes (disambiguation). tween medical investigation and the detection of crime.[7] Another inspiration is thought to be Francis “Tanky” Sherlock Holmes (/ˈʃɜːrlɒk ˈhoʊmz/) is a fictional private Smith, a policeman and master of disguise who went on detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan to become Leicester’s first private detective.[8] Doyle. Known as a “consulting detective” in the sto- Another inspiration might be Maximilien Heller, by ries, Holmes is known for a proficiency with observation, French author Henry Cauvain. It is not known if Co- forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the nan Doyle read Maximilien Heller, but in this 1871 fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a novel (16 years before the first adventure of Sherlock wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard. First ap- Holmes), Henry Cauvain imagined a depressed, anti- pearing in print in 1887 (in A Study in Scarlet), the char- social, polymath, cat-loving, and opium-smoking Paris- acter’s popularity became widespread with the first series based detective.[9][10][11] of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891; additional stories ap- peared from then to 1927, eventually totalling four novels and 56 short stories. All but one are set in the Victorian 2 Fictional character biography or Edwardian periods, taking place between about 1880 to 1914. Most are narrated by the character of Holmes’s 2.1 Early life friend and biographer Dr. Watson, who usually accom- panies Holmes during his investigations and often shares quarters with him at the address of 221B Baker Street, London, where many of the stories begin. Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the most well-known, with Guinness World Records listing him as the “most portrayed movie charac- ter” in history.[1] Holmes’s popularity and fame are such that many have believed him to be not a fictional charac- ter but a real individual;[2][3][4] numerous literary and fan societies have been founded that pretend to operate on this principle. The stories and character have had a pro- found and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture as a whole, with both the original tales as well as thousands written by authors other than Conan Doyle being adapted into stage and radio plays, television, films, video games, and other media for over one hundred years. 1 Inspiration for the character Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for whom he had worked as a clerk. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations.[5] However, he later wrote to Doyle: “You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it”.[6] Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medi- cal Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh Medical The cover page of Beeton’s Christmas Annual issue which con- School, is also cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Little- tains Holmes’s first appearance in 1887 (A Study in Scarlet). john, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, provided Doyle with a link be- Details about Sherlock Holmes’s life, except for the ad- 1 2 2 FICTIONAL CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY ventures in the books, are scarce in Conan Doyle’s orig- inal stories. Nevertheless, mentions of his early life and extended family paint a loose biographical picture of the detective. An estimate of Holmes’s age in "His Last Bow" places his year of birth at 1854; the story, set in August 1914, describes him as sixty years of age.[12] Holmes says that he first developed his methods of deduction as an under- graduate; his earliest cases, which he pursued as an ama- teur, came from fellow university students.[13] A meeting with a classmate’s father led him to adopt detection as a profession,[14] and he spent six years after university as a consultant before financial difficulties led him to accept John H. Watson as a fellow lodger (when the first pub- lished story, “A Study in Scarlet”, begins). Beginning in 1881 Holmes has lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London. According to an early story[15] 221B is an apartment at the upper end of the street, up seventeen Holmes and Watson in a Sidney Paget illustration for "Silver steps. Until Watson’s arrival Holmes worked alone, only Blaze". occasionally employing agents from the city’s underclass; these agents included a host of informants, and a group cold and unemotional manner. You have of street children he called “the Baker Street Irregulars". attempted to tinge it ["A Study in Scarlet"] The Irregulars appear in three stories: A Study in Scarlet, with romanticism, which produces much the The Sign of the Four and "The Adventure of the Crooked same effect as if you worked a love-story .... Man". Some facts should be suppressed, or, at least, a His parents are not mentioned in the stories, although just sense of proportion should be observed in Holmes mentions that his “ancestors” were “country treating them. The only point in the case which squires". In "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", he deserved mention was the curious analytical claims that his grandmother was sister to the French artist reasoning from effects to causes, by which I Vernet, without further clarifying whether this is Claude succeeded in unravelling it.[17] Joseph, Carle, or Horace Vernet. Holmes’s brother — Sherlock Holmes on John Watson’s “pam- Mycroft, seven years his senior, is a government offi- phlet”, The Sign of the Four cial who appears in “The Adventure of the Greek Inter- preter”, "The Final Problem", and "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" and is mentioned in "The Ad- Nevertheless, Holmes’s friendship with Watson is his venture of the Empty House". Mycroft has a unique civil most significant relationship. When Watson is injured service position as a kind of human database for all as- by a bullet, although the wound turns out to be “quite su- pects of government policy. He lacks Sherlock’s interest perficial”, Watson is moved by Holmes’s reaction: in physical investigation, however, preferring to spend his time at the Diogenes Club. 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, 2.2 Life with Watson hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only Holmes works as a detective for twenty-three years, with time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well physician John Watson assisting him for seventeen.[16] as of a great brain. All my years of humble but They were roommates before Watson’s 1887 marriage single-minded service culminated in that mo- and again after his wife's death. Their residence is main- ment of revelation.[18] tained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson. Most of the stories are frame narratives, written from Watson’s point of view as summaries of the detective’s most interesting 2.3 <span id=""Great Hiatus"">The cases. Holmes frequently calls Watson’s writing sensa- Great Hiatus tional and populist, suggesting that it fails to accurately and objectively report the “science” of his craft: Conan Doyle wrote the first set of stories over the course of a decade. Wishing to devote more time to his histori- Detection is, or ought to be, an exact cal novels, he killed off Holmes in a final battle with the science and should be treated in the same criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty in “The 3 mary occupation. The move is not dated precisely, but can be presumed to predate 1904 (since it is referred to retrospectively in “The Second Stain”, first published that year). The story features Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement to aid the war effort. Only one other adven- ture, "The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane" (narrated by Holmes), takes place during the detective’s retirement. 3 Personality and habits Holmes and Moriarty struggle at the Reichenbach Falls; drawing by Sidney Paget. Final Problem” (published 1893, but set in 1891). After resisting public pressure for eight years, the author wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles (which appeared in 1901, with an implicit setting before Holmes’s death; some the- orise that it occurs after “The Return”, with Watson plant- ing clues to an earlier date).[19][20] In 1903 Conan Doyle wrote “The Adventure of the Empty House”, set in 1894; Holmes reappears, explaining to a stunned Watson that he had faked his death in “The Final Problem” to fool his enemies. “The Adventure of the Empty House” marks Sidney Paget illustration from “The Adventure of the Golden the beginning of the second set of stories, which Conan Pince-Nez” Doyle wrote until 1927. Watson describes Holmes as "bohemian" in his habits Holmes aficionados refer to the period from 1891 to and lifestyle. Described by Watson in The Hound of the 1894—between his disappearance and presumed death in Baskervilles as having a “cat-like” love of personal clean- “The Final Problem” and his reappearance in “The Ad- liness, Holmes is an eccentric with no regard for contem- venture of the Empty House”—as the Great Hiatus:[21] porary standards of tidiness or good order. In "The Ad- the earliest known use of this expression is in the arti- venture of the Musgrave Ritual", Watson says: cle “Sherlock Holmes and the Great Hiatus” by Edgar W. Smith, published in the July 1946 issue of The Baker Street Journal.
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