Sherlock Holmes books

Arthur Conan Doyle quote.

Arthur Conan Doyle quote.

When an Internet user requests “Sherlock Holmes books” on Google, the stories of the (probably) most famous police investigator of all time appear on the screen. He is - along with Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin and Agatha Christie's Poirot - one of the "founding" characters of the detective genre. What's more, the significance of his name goes far beyond the literary field.

In fact, This popular culture icon created by the illustrious Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is an inescapable reference in the audiovisual arts. Not surprisingly, it has inspired more than thirty titles between feature films and television series. In this section, the performances of world-famous actors (R. Downey Jr. or Jeremy Brett, for example) have made Holmes a universal figure.

About the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Birth, family and first studies

Son of artists Charles A. Doyle and Mary Foley, Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on May 22, 1859. He grew up under the care of a wealthy, conservative-thinking Catholic family. Accordingly, young Arthur was enrolled in Jesuit schools in England (primary and part of secondary) and Austria (high school).

Higher education

In 1876, Doyle began his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh. Alli stood out due to his qualifications and in different sports (boxing, rugby, cricket golf)… In the same way, in that house of studies he became a disciple of the renowned forensic doctor Joseph Bell, who impressed the young Arthur with the precision of his deductive processes.

First stories

Bell had a crucial influence in the construction of the character that gave Doyle literary fame: Sherlock Holmes. Equally, The mystery of the Sasassa Valley (1879) —short story published in the Chambers's Edinburgh Journal— he performed his debut. The following year he completed his training as a surgeon aboard the whaler The Hope, In the Arctic.

Later, he embarked on the SS Mayumba, a ship in which he traveled a large part of the West African coast. These journeys inspired stories such as J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement (1884) and The Captain of the Pole-Star (1890) In 1889 he received his doctorate degree thanks to his thesis Dorsal tabes.

Transition to letters

In 1882, Doyle tried to make a living from medicine in the office of his old college classmate, George T. Budd. But, like his subsequent offices in Portsmouth and London, this initiative was unsuccessful. Therefore, began to create texts more frequently, including, The Cloomber Mystery (1888) y Study in Scarlet (1887), the first starring Holmes.

Also, Conan Doyle had time to devote himself to playing golf, soccer (he was a Portsmouth AFC goalkeeper) and cricket (he was part of the prestigious Marylebone CC). On the other hand, He was married from 1885 to Louise Hawkins, with whom he had two children, until her death in 1906 (tuberculosis). Later, the writer had three more children in his second marriage to Jean E. Leckie.

Doyle's love-hate relationship with Sherlock Holmes

In 1891 Arthur Conan Doyle expressed in a letter to his mother which the character of Holmes was "wearing down his mind". However - despite the alleged death of the detective, narrated in The final problem-, the Scottish author released stories about Holmes until 1927 (The Sherlock Holmes Archive). In fact, Doyle died in England just three years after that publication, on July 7, 1930.

In any case, Doyle was widely shown not to "depend" on Holmes to create good stories and editorial successes. Among those, stand out the six books starring Professor Challenger, his numerous historical novels -Rodney stone (1896), for example - and manifestos such as The great war of the Boer (1900). The latter earned the Edinburgh author the title of Sir.

The Holmesian Canon

Fifty-six stories grouped in five collections plus four novels make up the so-called Holmesian canon created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. As for the order to read the narratives starring Sherlock Holmes, there are two proposed ways.

The first refers to the biography of the detective, including a coherent sequence for his feigned demise and subsequent reappearance. The second way of approaching the holmesian canon es according to the release timeline shown below (the titles that are not indicated as novels correspond to collections of stories):

  • Study in Scarlet (1887). Novel.
  • The sign of the four (1890). Novel.
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
  • Memories of Sherlock Holmes (1903)
  • The baskerville's hound (1901-1902). Novel.
  • The return of Sherlock Holmes (1903)
  • Valley of terror (1914-1916). Novel.
  • His last bow (1917)
  • The Sherlock Holmes Archive (1927)

Sherlock Holmes biography

According to the guidelines of Doyle's writings, Sherlock Holmes was born in 1854. He was the son of an English landowner and a woman descended from Gallic artists. He also had two brothers: Sherrinford (barely mentioned in the entire Holmesian canon) and Mycroft.

He received higher education in the subjects of chemistry, medicine, law and musicology at some prestigious UK university (Doyle doesn't specifically point out which one). It is precisely at that stage as a university student that Holmes began his detective work, along with theatrical activities.

Personality traits

After his stay at the university, Holmes moved near the British Museum in order to complement your scientific studies. In the meantime, he met Dr. Watson —With whom he shared seventeen of his twenty-three years of career— in the laboratory of Saint Bartholomew Hospital during 1881. For his part, Sherlock's partner described it with the following qualities:

  • Tabloid literature fan. Although he occasionally alluded to writers such as Goethe, La Rochefoucaud or Jean-Paul.
  • Evidence null knowledge about Astronomy and Philosophy, little insight into politics and basics about British law.
  • He was a specialist in chemistry and played the violin in an excellent way.
  • He proved to have extensive information on botany (especially in matters related to poisons and drugs), although he ignored matters such as agriculture.
  • He manifested basic knowledge about geology and composition of soils.
  • Expert boxer and fencer.

Other characters and some curiosities

Towards the end of the XNUMXth century, Holmes rejected the distinction of sir (Knight of the Empire), but accepted the Legion of Honor in a reserved way. As for women, the detective was always very suspicious of them along with expressions of chivalry, respect and admiration. Especially towards his beloved Irene Adler.

A nemesis with extraordinary intellectual abilities

The brilliant Professor Moriarty was Holmes's nemesis, as well as the cause of his (apparent) demise at the Reichenbach waterfall, Switzerland. However, the eminent detective reappeared three years later in The return of Sherlock Holmes (1903), specifically in the case of The empty house.

Pick up

After retiring from his investigative work, Holmes moved to Sussex, England, to devote himself to reading philosophy and beekeeping. (He even wrote a very detailed beekeeping manual.) Anyway, he had time to solve almost by chance another important case in The adventure of the lion's mane (1907)

Finally, Holmes participated in the planning of an intricate counterintelligence mission in the years leading up to the Great War.. After 1914 there is no record (within the Holmesian canon) of the life of the most famous police investigator in the history of literature.

Reading order of the Holmesian canon according to the detective's biography

- The corvette Gloria Scott

- The Musgrave ritual

- Study in Scarlet

- The polka dot band

- The resident patient

- The aristocrat bachelor

- The adventure of the second stain

- Reigate's Squires

- Scandal in Bohemia

- The man with the twisted lip

- The five orange seeds

- A case of identity

- The League of Redheads

- The Adventure of the Dying Detective

- The blue carbuncle

- Valley of Terror

- The yellow face

- The Greek interpreter

- The sign of the four

- The baskerville's hound

- The Copper Beeches Mystery

- The Boscombe Valley Mystery

- The Stockbroker's Clerk

- The naval treaty

- The carton

- Engineer's thumb

- The hunched man

- The Wisteria Lodge Adventure

- Silver star

- The beryl crown

- The final problem

- The adventure of the empty house

- The Adventure of the Golden Glasses

- The adventure of the three students

- The adventure of the lonely cyclist

- The adventure of Peter "El Negro"

- Norwood Builder's Adventure

- The Bruce-Partington plans

- The Adventure of the Veil Tenant

- Sussex Vampire Adventure

- The adventure of the missing striker

- Abbey Grange's Adventure

- The Devil's Foot Adventure

- The adventure of the puppets

- The retired color maker

- Charles Augustus Milverton

- The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

- Thor's bridge problem

- The adventure of the Priory school

- The Shoscombe Old Place Adventure

- The Adventure of the Three Garridebs

- The disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

- The Illustrious Client Adventure

- The adventure of the Red Circle

- The soldier with bleached skin

- The adventure of the Tres Frontons

- The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

- The man who crawled

- The adventure of the lion's mane

- The last greeting


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