Author's Note: This will seem a little like a report. In fact, it will seem a lot like a report. Since we divided the five topics that needed to be covered into an essay each, I kind of didn't know what to write. Since the story behind Sherlock Holmes is to me really cool, I decided to write about that. But I found so many facts, it got pretty long, and more like a report. Also, it felt fitting to add by sources, because I surly didn't write this without them. By: Shaun C.
The author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, actually knew Sherlock Holmes. It is true that he is a fictional character, but he was based off a college professor of Doyle, named Joseph Bell. It is said that the observational skills were so well described that a man, Robert Louise Stevenson, recognized who the character was based off. The Sherlock Holmes stories are most likely Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous work.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories about Sherlock Holmes started in 1887 in Portsmouth. He had set up a medical business, however, not very successful. While waiting for patients, he wrote a novel called A Study in Scarlet, which was the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes. Thus, Sherlock Holmes was born. The well-known character now has 60 stories. "There’s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it." These words were said by Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson in a Study in Scarlet. It gave the book its title, and Sherlock Holmes described the mystery as his “study in scarlet.”
After A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle kept writing about Sherlock Holmes. The next being Sign of the Four, written in 1890. He wrote two more novels featuring Holmes, the Hound of the Baskervilles, and the Valley of Fear. Along with novels, he also wrote 56 short stories that were published in Strand Magazine. They were first published in the magazine along with illustrations by Sidney Paget. The stories were a great hit. When the Hound of the Baskervilles was published, the sales hit their peak. He continued to write short stories about Holmes until 1926.
It was in 1893 that the great Sherlock Holmes met his death. Arthur Conan Doyle decided to end Sherlock Holmes, because he “takes my mind of better things.” In the story The Final Problem, Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty fell to their death off the edge of Reichenbach Falls. However, Arthur Conan Doyle had to respond to a public outcry. So, in 1901, he picked our hero back up, and wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles. In The Adventures of the Empty House, it was explained that Professor Moriarty was dead, but Holmes lived and just faked dead for a while to catch some of his dangerous enemies. Sherlock Holmes was back in business.
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote other books, such as historical fiction novels. But Sherlock Holmes is far his most famous work. The story behind Sherlock Holmes amazed me, seeing that he was almost, but not quite, a real person. The stories started off as a book, but soon became a franchise. Everyone has heard of Sherlock Holmes, the man with the double-brimmed hat and clay pipe. He is used by other authors in many novels and stories. The Sherlock Holmes stories are famous, and the main character is possibly one of the most well-recognized character in literature.
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