Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan DoyleLIFE…

• Was a British author • Born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May

22, 1859• Studied medicine at University of

Edinburgh (*Met Dr. Joseph Bell)• Opened own practice (not

successful)• In down time, began writing stories

LIFE, continued• Was very athletic (football[aka:

soccer], cricket, golf)• Married Louise Hawkins (died of TB in

1906) - had 2 children• Married Jean Leckie in 1907 - 3

children• Wrote an article about the Boer War• Was knighted in 1902• Wrote many historical articles and

nonfiction works.

DEATH• Found clutching his chest in the hall

of his home in East Sussex, England• Died of heart attack on July 7, 1930, aged 71• His tombstone in New Forest,

Hampshire reads: STEEL TRUE

BLADE STRAIGHTARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

KNIGHTPATRIOT, PHYSICIAN & MAN OF LETTERS

WORK• THE CANON (of Sherlock Holmes)

– 4 novels & 56 short stories– First NOVEL: A Study in Scarlet (included

Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson)– First book of SHORT STORIES (1892) : The

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes– Originally published short stories monthly in

the Strand Magazine– Second collection (1894): The Memoirs of

Sherlock Holmes

SHERLOCK HOLMES• A FICTIONAL character• Based on Conan Doyle’s medical

professor Dr. Joseph Bell (gifted surgeon, great observational and deduction skills)

• Lived at 221b Baker Street, London (landlady Mrs. Hudson)

• Assistant, Narrator, & Foil of stories: Dr. John Watson

• Many readers thought HOLMES was REAL!

DEATH OF HOLMES• After two novels and 24 short stories,

Conan Doyle grew tired of Holmes and wanted to spend his time with more “important” work - so he killed him off in the short story “The Final Problem” in 1893.

• How? In a battle with his nemesis Professor Moriarty - they both fall to their deaths at the Reichenbach Falls

• Readers were OUTRAGED! – Wore black armbands– Sent death threats to Conan Doyle– Placed memorials at the Reichenbach Falls

THE RETURN OF HOLMES

• Eventually, Conan Doyle DID decide to bring back Holmes, and he did so in a story called “The Adventure of the Empty House.”

• Apparently, Holmes had faked his own death to fool Moriarty’s henchmen.

• Conan Doyle went on to write 32 more stories and one more novel before officially retiring his famous detective.

QUIRKY STUFF

• ACD wrote a book called The Coming of the Fairies (1921).

• He was CONVINCED that fairies existed and proved it by adding photographs.

• The photographs were actually FAKED by two young girls - the “fairies” were actually paper cutouts!

THE COTTINGLEY FAIRIES

Modern Connections: HOUSE & HOLMES?

• Hmmm…• The names are similar.• Both are BRILLIANT -

always solving cases by observation and intelligence.

• Both have sidekicks: Wilson & Watson

• Notice the address behind Wilson?

Sherlock Holmes in Film

• The Guinness Book of World Records has consistently listed Sherlock Holmes as the "most portrayed movie character" with more than 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films

BUT THEN…• Then, while vacationing in

1901, ACD was playing golf with his friend BERTRAM FLETCHER ROBINSON.

• Robinson told him of a local legend about Squire Richard Cabell, a monstrously evil man, whose death came at the mouths of a pack of huge, fire-breathing hounds (called Black Shucks)…

WHAT?

• Conan Doyle could NOT pass this up… and he didn’t really want to invent a new detective, so to his readers’ joy, he made Holmes his main character once again.

• Incidentally, he did not bring Holmes back to life (yet), but set this story at an earlier time in Holmes’ life.

BASKERVILLE HALL• Cromer Hall in Norfolk, England was

the inspiration for BASKERVILLE HALL.

GRIMPEN MIRE• Fox Tor in Dartmoor. The swampy land

that lies beneath it, Fox Tor Mires, is said to have been the inspiration for Grimpen Mire in the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.