Sherlock Holmes

For the other versions of the character, see Sherlock Holmes (homonymy)

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Illustration by Sidney Paget
Sherlock Holmes
Informations
Aliases	Escott Mr. Harris Altamont
Nationality	British
Gender	Male
Occupations	Consulting detective
Family	Mycroft Holmes (older brother)
External informations
First appearance	A Study in Scarlet (1887)
Last appearance	“The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place” (1927)
Portrayed by	List of portrayers

”

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
– Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is the titular main character of Sherlock Holmes novel series by doctor and author Arthur Conan Doyle. The character made his first appearance in the 1887 novel A Study in Scarlet, and he went on to feature in three more novels: The Sign of the Four (1890); The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902); and The Valley of Fear (1915). He was also featured in fifty-six short stories.

He was the first and only consultant detective in the world, serving as a last resort for the official police or for private individuals in a case where they are unable to cope, and the younger brother of britannic government official Mycroft Holmes. With a penchant for observation and science and a consequent lack of real friends, Sherlock Holmes initially acted as an advisor to his friends, but it was not until an incident involving one of his first and only friends, Victor Trevor, that he first considered making it his profession, eventually becoming the world's first consulting detective. He also let his friend and biographer Dr. Watson take part in a huge number of investigations during his career and recount them in his column, from their first meeting at St Bartholomew's Hospital.

Biography

Early life

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Work as consultant detective

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Retirment

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Personality and habits

”

“I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?”
– Sherlock Holmes

Holmes devotes most of his life to his work as a consulting detective, and the interest of a case generally matters more to him than the financial reward or social position of the client. His practice at 221B Baker Street brings him into contact with people from widely different social backgrounds, while his own routine is largely determined by the presence or absence of work that can sufficiently occupy his attention. Watson's first description of their life together in A Study in Scarlet is important in this respect: Holmes is described as quiet and regular in his habits, usually going to bed before ten, breakfasting before Watson rises, and leaving the house in the morning, but Watson also observes that periods of exceptional energy can be followed by several days during which Holmes remains on the sofa, scarcely speaking or moving. The contrast is therefore not between an inherently chaotic lifestyle and periods of order, but between a normally controlled routine and the considerable disruption that can accompany his professional activity or, conversely, the absence of an interesting case. When an investigation requires his attention, Holmes may devote himself to it for prolonged periods, travel, alter his hours, neglect ordinary activities, or remain absorbed in a particular line of inquiry, whereas quieter periods at Baker Street are occupied by reading, scientific work, music, smoking and other intellectual or practical pursuits. His dissatisfaction with inactivity is particularly explicit in The Sign of the Four, where he describes the stimulation provided by difficult problems as essential to the effective use of his faculties, a characteristic that has also been examined by scholars of the Holmes canon.

Baker Street consequently functions both as Holmes's home and as the centre of his professional life, with clients regularly visiting the sitting-room and Watson recording the wide variety of people who come to consult him. His personal habits are considerably less orderly than his methods of investigation: in “The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual”, Watson remarks on the contrast between Holmes's methodical reasoning and his untidy domestic life, describing cigars kept in a coal-scuttle, tobacco in a Persian slipper and unanswered correspondence pinned to the mantelpiece with a knife; Holmes also has a marked reluctance to destroy documents connected with his previous cases, so that papers and other professional material accumulate around him. This disorder does not imply an absence of organization in his professional work, since the materials he retains often have a practical value, and his ability to classify and retrieve information forms an important part of his investigative methods. His activities at home include playing the violin, reading and studying, with music serving at times as a serious intellectual and artistic occupation rather than merely a means of passing time, while tobacco accompanies many of his periods of concentration and leisure. The stories mention cigarettes, cigars and several varieties of pipe, whereas the familiar curved calabash associated with later representations of Holmes is not one of the characteristic pipes described by Conan Doyle.

Holmes's use of cocaine belongs principally to the earlier part of the canon and is presented specifically in connection with his need for mental stimulation. In The Sign of the Four, Watson discovers that Holmes uses a seven-per-cent solution of cocaine and objects strongly to the practice, while Holmes describes the drug as providing the stimulation that he lacks when no sufficiently difficult problem is available; morphine is mentioned in the same context, but it has a much smaller role in the stories. The canon therefore establishes drug use as one of Holmes's habits during a particular period of his life, but it does not justify presenting it as an unchanging feature of his character. His hours of eating and sleeping are similarly dependent on circumstances: the early description of his regular habits demonstrates that he is capable of maintaining a conventional routine, while investigations can lead him to remain awake for long periods, postpone meals or leave Baker Street at unusual hours. His attitude towards ordinary social conventions is comparable in that respect, since he can disregard them when they interfere with his work without being generally incapable of courtesy or formal behaviour; his manner varies according to the situation, and his familiarity with Watson contrasts with the more controlled conduct he often adopts towards clients and strangers.

Most of the relationships regularly depicted in Holmes's life are connected with his profession, although his association with Scotland Yard is more cooperative than his criticisms of its detectives might initially suggest. Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson frequently work on the same cases as Holmes, whose independent methods lead him to challenge their conclusions while also providing information, examining evidence and relying on their authority when an official intervention is required. His relationship with the police is consequently one of professional independence rather than opposition, although he occasionally acts outside ordinary procedure when he believes that circumstances require it; “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton” provides one of the clearest examples of Holmes confronting a situation that cannot readily be resolved through conventional legal means. His professional world nevertheless extends beyond Scotland Yard, encompassing clients of very different social positions as well as informants and other associates whom he uses when an investigation requires information that cannot easily be obtained through conventional channels. Baker Street remains the centre of this network, and Watson's companionship gives Holmes a personal relationship that is at once domestic, intellectual and professional.

Romantic relationships occupy comparatively little place in the canon, which does not give Holmes a regular love life. His encounter with Irene Adler in “A Scandal in Bohemia” is exceptional because she succeeds in anticipating his strategy and prevents him from recovering the photograph sought by the King of Bohemia; Holmes nevertheless regards the outcome with respect rather than resentment, and when the King offers him a valuable reward, he asks instead for Adler's photograph. Watson concludes that Holmes subsequently refers to her by the honourable title of “the woman”, a designation that reflects the lasting impression made by her intelligence and the fact that she defeated him in the particular circumstances of their encounter. The story provides no established romantic relationship between them, and the wider canon offers little evidence of a sustained romantic life, so that Holmes's principal personal attachment remains his friendship and partnership with Watson. His existence is consequently centred less on conventional domestic or social life than on the intellectual and professional activity that gives structure to his time, although the stories also show that his life at Baker Street encompasses music, reading, scientific interests, acquaintances and periods of ordinary routine alongside his investigations.

Abilities

Intelligence

”

“I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair.”
– James Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes

To be added

Investigation

”

“I don’t know how you manage this, Mr. Holmes, but it seems to me that all the detectives of fact and of fancy would be children in your hands. That’s your line of life, sir, and you may take the word of a man who has seen something of the world.”
– Old Trevor to Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes investigating with his looking glass (“The Adventure of the Norwood Builder” (October 1903), illustration by Sidney Paget)

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Observation and deduction

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Investigative methods

In addition to his observation and deduction techniques, Sherlock Holmes follows several investigative methods. One of these is reasoning backward, which consists in starting from the end of an event and deducing what led to that result. This technique has been mentioned in particular in A Study in Scarlet and “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”.

Strategy and deception

Sherlock Holmes was known for frequently using deception for reaching his goals or capture a criminal. In A Study in Scarlet, he attempted to trick Jefferson Hope using the ring he lost in Lauriston Gardens as bait, thwarted only by the double foresight of the murderer, who had previously sent a disguised accomplice in his place who managed to lose him shortly afterwards. He also set a second trap by making him come to his apartment, having deduced beforehand that he was none other than the cab driver, enabling the police to arrest him. In “A Scandal in Bohemia”, he set an elaborate trap for the blackmailer Irene Adler, using a few accomplices to simulate a fire and his knowledge of human pyschology, finally succeeding in making her unwittingly reveal the hiding place of the compromising photo in her possession. In “The Adventure of the Dying Detective”, he tricked the planter and murderer Culverton Smith by feigning illness and extracting a confession from Smith on his apparent deathbed, having also taken care to have Watson hide in the room as a witness. In The Valley of Fear, he tricks Cecil Barker by urging him to go and retrieve the dumbbell he'd sent into a nearby stream, pretending it was about to be dredged.

He was also a master strategist, having been able to conduct a phenomenal months-long long distance duel with the mathematician and similarly extremely skilled tactician James Moriarty, eventually managing to destroy his organization thanks to a grouped trap, although Moriarty managed to escape.

Forensics sciences

Sherlock Holmes conducting chemical experience

To be added

Deciphering

Sherlock Holmes deciphering a coded message

Holmes was shown to be a talented cryptograph and decipherer. While before he began his career in “The Adventure of the Gloria Scott”, he only used simple means, such as reading a message backwards or alternating words, his expertise improved steadily in the years that followed. In “The Adventure of the Dancing Men”, he managed to crack the secret code behind the dancing men, using the specificities and probabilities of the British language, albeit with difficulty. In “The Adventure of the Red Circle”, he easily deciphered the signal code used by Gennaro and Emilia Lucca to communicate. In The Valley of Fear, he deciphers the coded message Fred Porlock has sent him using an almanac.

Graphology expertise

Sherlock Holmes was an adept graphologue. In “A Scandal in Bohemia”, he determines the German nationality of the author of a letter by the wording of one of the sentences. In “The Adventure of the Reigate Squire”, he delivers a detailed analysis of a handwritten message.

Criminology knowledge

To be added

Other

He had some understanding of German, as shown in A Study in Scarlet when he understand the german word "rache" as "revenge". It has also been shown that he knows Italian, first by speaking it as an Italian priest in “The Adventure of the Final Problem”, and then in “The Adventure of the Red Circle” by understanding and sending a message to Italian Emilia Lucca.

Boxing and stick fighting

To be added

Disguises and spying

Sherlock Holmes was know for his extensive usage of disguise. Although he only wore a scarf over his mouth when tailing a Jefferson Hope accomplice in A Study in Scarlet, he quickly switches to elaborate disguises, to the point of provoking the desolation of Watson, who claims that the stage lost a great actor the day Holmes decided to devote his life to criminal cases. In “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton”, he disguise as a plumber to explore and locate Charles Augustus Milverton's house freely and seduce his maid. In “The Adventure of the Final Problem”, he disguise as a venerable italien priest for escaping the Professor Moriarty. In “The Adventure of the Empty House”, he disguises himself as an old novel collector to escape the vigilance of Colonel Sebastian Moran, who has sworn to kill him. In “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”, he disguise in French ouvrier to overtake Watson in Montpelier.

He was also a talented spy. In “His Last Bow”, he says he spent two years infiltrating Von Bork's German spy organization based in England.

Illustrations of disguises

• 
  “A drunken-looking groom.”
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  “An amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman.”
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  “A tall, thin old man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon his knees, staring into the fire.”
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  “A common loafer.”
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  “A venerable Italian priest.”
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  “A strange old novel-collector.”
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  “An unshaven French ouvrier.”

Relationship

John Watson

”

“I am lost without my Boswell.”
– Sherlock Holmes to Watson

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson

To be added

James Moriarty

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Adaptations

• 
  Eille Norwood in The Sign of Four (1923)
• 
  Alan Wheatley in Sherlock Holmes (1951)
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  Peter Cushing in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) (left), Sherlock Holmes (1964) (center), and The Masks of Death (1984) (right)
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  Douglas Wilmer in Sherlock Holmes (1964)
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  Tom Baker in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982)
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  Ian Richardson in The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
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  Jeremy Brett in Sherlock Holmes (1984)

Quotes

See: Sherlock Holmes/Quotes

Gallery

See: Sherlock Holmes/Gallery