Sherlock is a fictional detective created by author and
physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A London-based "consulting
detective" whose abilities border on the fantastic, Holmes is famous for
his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise, and his
use of forensic science skills to solve difficult cases.
Holmes, who first appeared in
publication in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The
first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887
and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890.
The character grew tremendously in popularity with the first series of short
stories in Strand Magazine, beginning with A Scandal in Bohemia in 1891;
further series of short stories and two novels published in serial form
appeared between then and 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1880 up
to 1914.
All but four stories are
narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are
narrated by Holmes himself ("The Blanched Soldier" and "The
Lion's Mane") and two others are written in the third person ("The
Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The
Musgrave Ritual" and "The Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson
the main story from his memories, while Watson becomes the narrator of the
frame story. The first and fourth novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of
Fear, each include a long interval of omniscient narration recounting events
unknown to either Holmes or Watson.
Doyle said that the character of
Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a
clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing
large conclusions from the smallest observations. However, some years later Bell
wrote in a letter to Conan Doyle: "you are yourself Sherlock Holmes and
well you know it." Sir Henry Littlejohn, lecturer on Forensic Medicine and
Public Health at the Royal College of Surgeons, is also cited as a source for
Holmes. Littlejohn served as Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health of
Edinburgh, providing for Doyle a link between medical investigation and the
detection of crime.
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