Introduction

Arthur Conan Doyle

Living a life that was anything but “elementary, my dear Watson,” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was known as an impetuous, brilliant, and curious man full of contradictions. Sought for his skill in deductive reasoning, he preferred the mysteries of spiritualism; famed for his classic detective fiction, he desired instead to write historic nonfiction; immortalized for creating the stoic, logical Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle died positing the existence of fairies and the ability to speak to the dead. In 1887, he introduced Sherlock Holmes in the novel A Study in Scarlet. The character was instantly embraced by readers, and Conan Doyle began producing novels and short stories to meet public demand. By the end of his life, he had also attempted works of science fiction and spiritualism, but none were ever as widely acclaimed as the beloved Sherlock Holmes.

Essential Facts

1. Sherlock Holmes was modeled after Conan Doyle’s mentor in medical school, Dr. Joseph Bell. Bell was said to be able to deduce a patient’s illness simply by looking at him or her.
2. When Conan Doyle killed Sherlock Holmes, subscriptions to The Strand, a periodical in which the author’s work was published, dropped by 20,000 almost overnight.
3. King Edward VII knighted Conan Doyle for his literary support of England during the Boer War. Some, however, claim the king did it simply to bribe the author to write more Holmes stories.
4. Feeling the pressure and needing the income, Conan Doyle yielded to the fan base and wrote The Hound of Baskervilles, a novel occurring chronologically before Holmes’ death, and he eventually “resurrected” the character in 1903.
5. Conan Doyle’s dying words to his second wife were “the greatest and most glorious adventure of all—you are wonderful.”