Books like The World of Sherlock Holmes by Michael Harrison

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s second Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, follows Holmes and Watson as they investigate a mysterious treasure and a crime tied to a former convict.

Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective tale follows Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate the legend of an undead hound on Dartmoor, revealing secrets that threaten a family’s legacy.

> The figure in deerstalker and Inverness cape, smoking a calabash pipe and repeating "Elementary, my dear Watson," is familiar to all. Yet none of the features of this image of Sherlock Holmes are to be found in Conan Doyle, they have been introduced by artists who illustrated the stories and actors who played the part. >Some of the artistic and theatrical interpretations of Sherlock Holmes and his world were extraordinarily accurate; others were interesting misrepresentations of the original character. Here is a vivid demonstration of the great variety of imaginative ways that Sherlock Holmes has been seen in the entertainment media - films, the stage, television - and commercially - comics, cereal boxes, cigarette advertising, games, and so forth. Rare and hitherto unpublished posters, advertisements, and stills have been included. > Here is a sampling of the fascinating material to be found in this largest picture gallery of Holmes ever assembled: >"Which of You Is Holmes": a chapter on impersonators, comprising over twenty stage and at least thirty screen and television Holmeses, which includes comments from the actors on the problems of portraying him. "I want to make money on 'Holmes' quick, so as to be through with it," William Gillette is quoted as saying, and Alan Wheatley thought, "In my opinion he just seemed to be an insufferable prig," while today's Robert Stephens has said, "When I did it, it was more melancholic, more disillusioned." >An amazing collection of more than seventy pictures of Holmes in and out of disguise, in and out of Baker Street, with and without Watson, and particularly when tackling that demoniac dog in *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (a comparison of the seven film and two television adaptations of this best-known Sherlock Holmes story) >"Furnished Rooms to Let" shows and describes the various settings used in the dramatizations, both interiors of the famous consulting room and exteriors of Baker Street: including the versions of the confrontation there between the two Master Minds >The file even has a firsthand account of that unique expedition of 1968 when Holmes, Watson, and a handful of characters from the adventures toiled through Switzerland to re-enact the Holmes-Moriarty death struggle at the Reichenbach Falls.

This book details how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the doctor, became a detective writer. It draws on his education by Dr. Joseph Bell in Edinburgh University on how to observe and reason on even the smallest details when considering physical evidence of a possible crime. Through real life events, crimes and celebrated murders, we learn that Doyle was more like Sherlock Holmes in his methods and observations, and that he was at times, very much a real private detective. This is a fascinating case book on crimes and causes, for Doyle was always looking to help those who needed help. The last fifteen years of his life were spent on investigation and vigorous support of the spiritualist movement, but this did not entirely take away his interest in the various fields of criminology. Some of the major crimes of the early 20th Century are also discussed, and Doyle's observations are interesting to read.

This work has long been out of print. In fact, those few copies found in the last decade have often brought prices usually attached to rare books and curiosa. The original edition was first published by Macmillan in 1933. Mr. Starrett revised and enlarged the work for a University of Chicago edition in 1960. This is the first paperback edition. Throughout the world this book is still recognized as the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes. (back cover)

A companion volume that pairs Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes tales—from “A Study in Scarlet” to “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton”—with a collection of contemporary critical essays exploring the mysteries’ literary and cultural significance.