The Cas of Sherlock Holmes

Title: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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Language: English
Date first posted: December 2001
Date most recently updated: March 2002
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Title: The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
CONTENTS
PREFACE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT
THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLANCHED SOLDIER
THE ADVENTURE OF THE MAZARIN STONE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GABLES
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SUSSEX VAMPIRE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE GARRIDEBS
THE PROBLEM OF THOR BRIDGE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CREEPING MAN
THE ADVENTURE OF THE LIONS MANE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE VEILED LODGER
THE ADVENTURE OF SHOSCOMBE OLD PLACE
THE ADVENTURE OF THE RETIRED COLOURMAN
PREFACE
I fear that Mr. Sherlock Holmes may become like one of those popular
tenors who, having outlived their time, are still tempted to make
repeated farewell bows to their indulgent audiences. This must cease
and he must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary. One likes
to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of
imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding
may still make love to the belles of Richardson, where Scott's heroes
still may strut, Dickens's delightful Cockneys still raise a laugh, and
Thackeray's worldlings continue to carry on their reprehensible
careers. Perhaps in some humble corner of such a Valhalla, Sherlock and
his Watson may for a time find a place, while some more astute sleuth
with some even less astute comrade may fill the stage which they have
vacated.
His career has been a long one--though it is possible to exaggerate
it; decrepit gentlemen who approach me and declare that his adventures
formed the reading of their boyhood do not meet the response from me
which they seem to expect. One is not anxious to have one's personal
dates handled so unkindly. As a matter of cold fact, Holmes made his
debut in A Study in Scarlet and in The Sign of Four, two small booklets
which appeared between 1887 and 1889. It was in 1891 that "A Scandal in
Bohemia," the first of the long series of short stories, appeared in
The Strand Magazine. The public seemed appreciative and desirous of
more, so that from that date, thirty-nine years ago, they have been
produced in a broken series which now contains no fewer than fifty-six
stories, republished in The Adventures, The Memoirs, The Return, and
His Last Bow. and there remain these twelve published during the last
few years which are here produced under the title of The Case Book of
Sherlock Holmes. He began his adventures in the very heart of the later
Victorian era, carried it through the all-too-short reign of Edward,
and has managed to hold his own little niche even in these feverish
days. Thus it would be true to say that those who first read of him, as
young men, have lived to see their own grown-up children following the
same adventures in the same magazine. It is a striking example of the
patience and loyalty of the British public.
I had fully determined at the conclusion of The Memoirs to bring Holmes
to an end, as I felt that my literary energies should not be directed
too much into one channel. That pale, clear-cut face and loose-limbed
figure were taking up an undue share of my imagination. I did the deed,
but fortunately no coroner had pronounced upon the remains, and so,
after a long interval, it was not difficult for me to respond to the
flattering demand and to explain my rash act away. I have never
regretted it, for I have not in actual practice found that these
lighter sketches have prevented me from exploring and finding my
limitations in such varied branches of literature as history, poetry,
historical novels, psychic research, and the drama. Had Holmes never
existed I could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood a
little in the way of the recognition of my more serious literary work.
And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past
constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape
of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of
thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT
"It can't hurt now," was Mr. Sherlock Holmes's comment when, for the
tenth time in as many years, I asked his leave to reveal the following
narrative. So it was that at last I obtained permission to put on
record what was, in some ways,