Who created Sherlock Holmes?
Quick answer
Sherlock Holmes was created by Scottish writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887. Doyle went on to write four novels and 56 short stories about the brilliant London detective and his friend Dr. John Watson.
Key facts
- Author
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
- First story
- A Study in Scarlet (1887)
- Address
- 221B Baker Street, London
- Archenemy
- Professor James Moriarty
The four Holmes novels
| Year | Novel |
|---|---|
| 1887 | A Study in Scarlet |
| 1890 | The Sign of the Four |
| 1902 | The Hound of the Baskervilles |
| 1915 | The Valley of Fear |
The 56 short stories were collected in books such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892).
The real-life inspiration
Doyle trained as a doctor in Edinburgh. One of his professors, Dr. Joseph Bell, amazed students by deducing patients’ jobs and backgrounds just by observing them. Doyle based Holmes’s famous powers of observation and deduction on Bell.
The detective Doyle tried to kill
Doyle grew tired of Holmes and wanted to write historical novels. In The Final Problem (1893), Holmes fell to his apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland while fighting Moriarty. Readers were so upset that some reportedly wore black armbands. Doyle brought Holmes back in The Hound of the Baskervilles and then explained his survival in “The Empty House” (1903).
Holmes facts
- The phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” never appears in Doyle’s stories in that exact form.
- The deerstalker hat came mostly from illustrations by Sidney Paget.
- 221B Baker Street didn’t exist when the stories were written; today the Sherlock Holmes Museum uses that address.
- Holmes has been portrayed on screen more often than almost any other fictional human character, from Basil Rathbone to Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr.
Holmes is now in the public domain in the US and UK. For another famous British author, see who wrote Pride and Prejudice. Benedict Cumberbatch also played Alan Turing.
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