Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Creator of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle was born May 22, 1859 at Picardy Place, Edinburgh. He was the son of Charles Altamont Doyle, a civil servant in the Edinburgh Office of Works, and Mary (Foley) Doyle. His father suffered from epilepsy and alcoholism and was institutionalised, dying in an asylum in 1893.

Doyle's mother kept a boarding house. Doyle was educated in Jesuit schools and later studied at Edinburgh University, qualifying as a doctor in 1885. After graduation Doyle practiced medicine until 1891, when he became a full time writer.

In developing his literary character, Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on a Doctor Joseph Bell, a surgeon and teacher he had studied with while attending Edinburgh University. Dr. Bell had the ability to diagnose patients before they told him anything.

A Study in Scarlet was the first story about Holmes and Watson, written in 1886 and published in 1887. The second Sherlock Holmes story, The Sign of the Four, was written for the Lippincott's Magazine and later stories appeared in the Strand.

By 1893 Doyle had tired of Holmes and killed him off in the The Final Problem. Holmes meets Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland and disappears. Nevertheless, public demand brought the return of Holmes, with stories appearing until 1927.

His first wife, Louise Hawkins, died in 1906, and he married Jean Leckie in 1907. In 1900 and 1906 he ran unsuccessfully for Parliament and was knighted in 1902. After the death of his son, Kingsley, in World War I he turned to spiritualism and the occult.

Doyle died on July 7th, 1930 of heart disease at his home, in Windlesham, Sussex. Conan Doyle's other publications include non-fiction, plays, verse, memoirs, short stories, and several historical novels and supernatural and speculative fiction.

When the first Sherlock Holmes short story was published in the Strand Magazine in July 1891, the Strand's circulation rose immediately. Doyle had already published two Holmes novels: A Study in Scarlet appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and The Sign of Four appeared in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in February 1890, but neither had achieved anything like the success the short stories were to have.

By 1892 , the Holmes short stories had made Conan Doyle one of the most popular authors of the day.

Sherlock Holmes Publishing History

A Study in Scarlet	Beeton's Christmas Annual	December 1887
The Sign of the Four	Lippincott's Magazine	February 1890
The Hound of the Baskervilles	the Strand Magazine	August 1901
The Valley of Fear	the Strand Magazine	September 1914

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
A Scandal in Bohemia	the Strand Magazine	July 1891
The Red headed League	the Strand Magazine	August 1891
A Case of Identity	the Strand Magazine	September 1891
The Boscombe Valley Mystery	the Strand Magazine	October 1891
The Five Orange Pips	the Strand Magazine	November 1891
The Man with the Twisted Lip	the Strand Magazine	December 1891
The Blue Carbuncle	the Strand Magazine	January 1892
The Speckled Band	the Strand Magazine	February 1892
The Engineer's Thumb	the Strand Magazine	March 1892
The Noble Bachelor	the Strand Magazine	April 1892
The Beryl Coronet	the Strand Magazine	May 1892
The Copper Beeches	the Strand Magazine	June 1892

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Silver Blaze	the Strand Magazine	December 1892
The Yellow Face	the Strand Magazine	February 1893
The Stock broker's Clerk	the Strand Magazine	March 1893
The "Gloria Scott"	the Strand Magazine	April 1893
The Musgrave Ritual	the Strand Magazine	May 1893
The Reigate Puzzle	the Strand Magazine	June 1893
The Crooked Man	the Strand Magazine	July 1893
The Resident Patient	the Strand Magazine	August 1893
The Greek Interpreter	the Strand Magazine	September 1893
The Naval Treaty	the Strand Magazine	October 1893
The Final Problem	the Strand Magazine	Dec. 1893

The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Empty House	Collier's Magazine	September 1903
The Norwood Builder	Collier's Magazine	October 1903
The Dancing Men	Collier's Magazine	December 1903
The Solitary Cyclist	Collier's Magazine	December 1903
The Priory School	Collier's Magazine	January 1904
Black Peter	Collier's Magazine	February 1904
Charles Augustus Milverton	Collier's Magazine	March 1904
The Six Napoleons	Collier's Magazine	April 1904
The Three Students	the Strand Magazine	June 1904
The Golden Pince Nez	the Strand Magazine	July 1904
The Missing Three Quarter	the Strand Magazine	August 1904
The Abbey Grange	the Strand Magazine	September 1904
The Second Stain	the Strand Magazine	December 1904

His Last Bow
The Cardboard Box	the Strand Magazine	January 1893
Wisteria Lodge	Collier's Magazine	August 1908
The Bruce Partington Plans	the Strand Magazine	December 1908
The Devil's Foot	the Strand Magazine	December 1910
The Red Circle	the Strand Magazine	March & April 1911
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax	the Strand Magazine	December 1911
The Dying Detective	Collier's Magazine	November 1913
His Last Bow	the Strand Magazine	September 1917

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes
The Mazarin Stone	the Strand Magazine	October 1921
The Problem of Thor Bridge	the Strand Magazine	Feb & March 1922
The Creeping Man	the Strand Magazine	March 1923
The Sussex Vampire	the Strand Magazine	January 1924
The Three Garridebs	Collier's Magazine	October 1924
The Illustrious Client	Collier's Magazine	November 1924
The Three Gables	Liberty Magazine	September 1926
The Blanched Soldier	Liberty Magazine	October 1926
The Lion's Mane	Liberty Magazine	November 1926
The Retired Colourman	Liberty Magazine	December 1926
The Veiled Lodger	Liberty Magazine	January 1927
Shoscombe Old Place	Liberty Magazine	March 1927