Sir Arthur Conan Doyle1859-1930

Early Life• May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh,

Scotland• Father was a chronic alcoholic• Mother, Mary Doyle, was

passionate about books and a talented storyteller; her stories influenced her son

• Educated in England, where he realized his talent for storytelling

• Graduated at age 17• After returning home, he

committed his father to a lunatic asylum, which inspired The Surgeon of Gaster Fell

Career

• Decided to pursue medical career• During studies at the University of

Edinburgh, he met many authors• Became a ship’s surgeon during his

third year of study and traveled to the Arctic Circle; inspired Captain of the Pole Star

• Brief stint as doctor in Plymouth; inspired The Stark Munro Letters

• Opens his own practice in Portsmouth• Marries Louisa Hawkins in 1885

Career• Publishes the novel that makes

him famous, A Study in Scarlet, in 1888; introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

• Became more well-known in America

• Published Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand magazine

• Abandons medical career in 1891

• Writes The Final Problem in 1893 about the death of Sherlock Holmes

Career• After publishing The Final Problem, 20,000

readers cancelled subscriptions to The Strand• Volunteered as a medical doctor during the

Boer War; wrote The Great Boer War• Tried unsuccessfully to enter politics• Wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, inspired

by local folklore surrounding prison in Dartmoor• Knighted in 1902 by King Edward VII• Published The Return of Sherlock Holmes in

The Strand in 1903

Career• Wife Louisa dies in 1906;

remarries in 1907 to Jean Leckie

• The Valley of Fear published in 1914

• Offered to enlist in WWI, but was denied; wrote The British Campaign in France and Flanders

• Became deeply involved with Spiritualism and the occult

• Dies July 7, 1930

Spiritualism

• Spiritualism involves belief in: life after death, communication with ghosts, fairies, and the occult

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed in psychic powers and joined the British Society for Psychical Research in 1893

• Lectured on Spiritualism; also wrote various books and articles on the subject

• Investigated supposed hauntings and sightings of fairies

Sherlock Holmes• First introduced in A

Study in Scarlet• Character inspired by

Dr. Joseph Bell• The Adventures of

Sherlock Holmes was dedicated to Bell

• Doyle wrote to Bell: “You are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it.”

Sherlock Holmes

• Appeared in four novels, fifty-six short stories in five collections, and three plays

• First known film featuring Sherlock Holmes is Sherlock Holmes Baffled

• Over 60 films and television shows featuring Sherlock Holmes

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock

Holmes

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock

Holmes

Peter Cushing

Matt Frewer

• http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/• http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X

Wjgt9PzYEM&feature=related://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/index.htm

• http://www.siracd.com/life_spirit.shtml