The inimitable Holmes...
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Sherlock Holmes was created by Arthur Conan Doyle, a practising medical man who became a full-time writer in the 1890s. The character of Holmes may well have been based on a doctor under whom he studied while at Edinburgh University, who apparently had the uncanny ability to diagnose a patient's symptoms and illness before they had told him a thing.
Holmes and his foil, Doctor Watson, first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet", and this set the tone for the plethora of stories to come. Holmes' genius was his ability to postulate his theories based on minute evidence, frequently unnoticed by his peers (and damn nearly always missed by the slow but dependable Watson). Scorching on the sole of a man's slippers would lead Holmes to deduce that he'd been ill with a cold, whilst a callus on a hand would yield conclusive proof as to the subject's profession. This eye for detail and genius for deduction formed a character who always (well, nearly always) got his man.
Holmes' peculiarities were what made him such a memorable figure, however. His skill in abstract violin-playing, his occasional cocaine binges and his tremendous bursts of intellectual energy made a whole generation of Victorians Conan Doyle addicts, to the extent that when the author wrote of his last battle and death (with the villainous Professor Moriarty, in the story "The Final Problem") there was a public outcry, and the character was resurrected. Fanclubs worldwide still bear testament to his enduring appeal. Quite simply, Holmes rules.
Holmes and his foil, Doctor Watson, first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet", and this set the tone for the plethora of stories to come. Holmes' genius was his ability to postulate his theories based on minute evidence, frequently unnoticed by his peers (and damn nearly always missed by the slow but dependable Watson). Scorching on the sole of a man's slippers would lead Holmes to deduce that he'd been ill with a cold, whilst a callus on a hand would yield conclusive proof as to the subject's profession. This eye for detail and genius for deduction formed a character who always (well, nearly always) got his man.
Holmes' peculiarities were what made him such a memorable figure, however. His skill in abstract violin-playing, his occasional cocaine binges and his tremendous bursts of intellectual energy made a whole generation of Victorians Conan Doyle addicts, to the extent that when the author wrote of his last battle and death (with the villainous Professor Moriarty, in the story "The Final Problem") there was a public outcry, and the character was resurrected. Fanclubs worldwide still bear testament to his enduring appeal. Quite simply, Holmes rules.
