Sherlock Holmes

A detailed Summary of Sherlock Holmes

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he had no idea that his creation would become on of the most read and talked about fiction characters ever. Doyle himself did not even think that the Sherlock Holmes stories were good literature, but as he found out, people were not interested in the quality of his writing but rather being entertained by the world's most famous detective.

Holmes was created in March 1886 but was not introduced to the public until November 1887 due to lack of funding for his stories. He first appeared in 'A Study of a Scarlet' which was printed as part of a magazine called 'Beeton's Christmas Annual'. The public was also introduced to Holmes' colleague and biographer, Dr Watson.

The Victorian public was fascinated by sensational crime and Holmes himself was described as having an immense knowledge of sensational literature. There was a great popularity in late-Victorian London for dismembering murder victims and distributing them around the town. One particular audacious murderer travelled in horse-drawn cabs with the head of his victim on his lap (wrapped in a napkin ), but gave himself away when he payed double the fare when he was told that it was 'sixpence a head'. This was also a

It was not until 1901 that Doyle had a change of heart and decided to write more Holmes mysteries. The initial result of Doyle's change of heart was one of the greatest Holmes mysteries ever written, "The Hound of the Baskervilles". It was here that the Holmes phenomenon reached its early peak. Queues of fans would wait outside the Strand Magazine office in London on a monthly basis to get their next dose of Holmes. It was like a drug people could not get enough of. In America alone, the print run of the magazine was increased by nearly 200,000 copies.

Doyle not only captured a generation's imagination but also transformed the way people thought. At the turn of the century, people began to look to science for more and more answers. Holmes was at the forefront of this new way of thinking. Doyle himself actually created finger print forensic science as we know it today. He said that no two people have exactly the same finger prints. Holmes used this science to assist him in many of his cases. Doyle not only bought science to crime solving but a new logic. The logic of looking for clues and associating them with the most likely source. Knowledge was for the first time becoming power.<

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 810
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Sherlock Holmes

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