Books You Must Read – Sherlock Holmes

With the two competing television serials; Elementary in the United States and Sherlock in Britain, as well as the motion pictures and references,  it suits you to read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes.

The first appearance of the fiction detective called Sherlock Holmes was in 1887.  The story, A Study in Scarlet y begins in 1881,  when Dr. Watson, returns to London after fighting in the Second Anglo-Afghan  War.

Watson confides in a friend that he is  looking for a place to live and it is this friend who introduces him to Sherlock Holmes who needs someone to share the rental on a flat at 221B Baker Street.

(Those familiar with the British ‘Sherlock’ are familiar with this beginning, only that Dr. Watson returns from the current war in Afghanistan.)

Sherlock Holmes was not the first detective, that honour goes to Edgar Alan Poe who created that genre. However, Holmes is extremely popular due to his powers of deduction.

The stories of Sherlock Holmes continued until 1927,  a total of four novels and 56 short stories.

Sir Arthur ConanConan Doyle often stated that he based his character of Sherlock Holmes on Dr. Joseph Bell who was a  surgeon in Edinburgh.

Dr. Bell was noted for drawing broad conclusions from minute observations.

Sir Henry Littlejohn, the Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh was also cited as an inspiration for the character of  Holmes.    Dr. Littlejohn was a Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health who provided the link between medical investigation and the detection of crime.

Conan Doyle did not supply many personal details of Sherlock Holmes.  Outside of his drug use, his playing a violin, one doesn’t know much about his appearance or family or personal life.

Considering all the ‘hype’ about Sherlock Holmes, one is virtually impelled to read the original stories so as to give themselves a background, and catch the allusions in the television serials.