The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?' Similarly, the stories of Émile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq were extremely popular at the time Conan Doyle began writing Holmes, and Holmes's speech and behaviour sometimes follow those of Lecoq. Conan Doyle once wrote, 'Each is a root from which a whole literature has developed . Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the first detective in fiction and served as the prototype for many later characters, including Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), Sherlock Holmes's creator, in 1914Įdgar Allan Poe's C. The character and stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing and popular culture as a whole, with 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. Avid readers of the Holmes stories helped create the modern practice of fandom. Holmes's popularity and fame are such that many have believed him to be not a fictional character but a real individual numerous literary and fan societies have been founded on this pretence. By the 1990s, there were already over 25,000 stage adaptations, films, television productions and publications featuring the detective, and Guinness World Records lists him as the most portrayed human literary character in film and television history.

Though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the best known. Watson, who usually accompanies Holmes during his investigations and often shares quarters with him at the address of 221B Baker Street, London, where many of the stories begin. Most are narrated by the character of Holmes's friend and biographer Dr. All but one are set in the Victorian or Edwardian eras, between about 18. Referring to himself as a ' consulting detective' in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.įirst appearing in print in 1887's A Study in Scarlet, the character's popularity became widespread with the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with ' A Scandal in Bohemia' in 1891 additional tales appeared from then until 1927, eventually totalling four novels and 56 short stories. Sherlock Holmes ( / ˈ ʃ ɜːr l ɒ k ˈ h oʊ m z/) is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. ' The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place' (1927, canon) Sherlock Holmes in a 1904 illustration by Sidney Paget

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle