The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)

by Arthur Conan Doyle

For other versions of this work, see The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.

Layout 2

 

The Case Book of
Sherlock Holmes

 

 

COPYRIGHT, 1927,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

 

Copyright, 1926, 1927,
By Liberty Weekly, Inc.

Copyright, 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924,
By International Magazine Company, Inc,

Copyright, 1924,
By P. F. Collier & Son Company

THE CASE BOOK OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
—C—
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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 début 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-six years ago, they have been produced in a broken series which now contains no fewer than fifty-six stories, republished in The Adventures, The Memoir, 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 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 reading 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.

CONTENTS

chapter		page
I	The Adventure of the Illustrious Client	13
II	The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier	49
III	The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone	77
IV	The Adventure of the Three Gables	100
V	The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire	124
VI	The Adventure of the Three Garridebs	147
VII	The Problem of Thor Bridge	170
VIII	The Adventure of the Creeping Man	206
IX	The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane	234
X	The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger	260
XI	The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place	276
XII	The Adventure of the Retired Colourman	300

 

The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes