v The
first Sherlock Holmes adventure was A Study in Scarlet, followed by The
Sign of Four. Doyle then wrote several short story collections and novels,
most notably The Hound of the Baskervilles.
v The
main inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was Joseph Bell, one of Doyle's
professors at university. The resemblance (podobnosť) was so close that fellow writer Robert
Louis Stevenson noticed, writing to Doyle, "My compliments on your very ingenious and very
interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... can this be my old friend
Joe Bell?"
v Another inspiration was "The Murders
in the Rue Morgue" by the American, Edgar Allan Poe. It was the
first ever detective story. Doyle said, “Where
was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?”
v Doyle
had a hard time writing stories about Sherlock, and grew to dislike the series'
popularity. In 1891 he wrote to his
mother, "I think of slaying [killing] Holmes ... and
winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things."
His mother wrote back, "You won't! You can't! You mustn't!"
v Doyle
tried raising his asking price for Sherlock Holmes stories to ridiculous
levels, and was shocked to see publishers agree, making him the best paid
writer of his time.
v In
1891, Doyle created the arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty, to kill Holmes
in the story Final Problem. But fans were so upset that he kept writing
many more stories about Sherlock.
v Because
of Sherlock Holmes's popularity, many other authors have also written stories
about him, including Doyle's son, Adrian, who published twelve short stories in
1954. Stephen King wrote one in 1993, where, for once, Dr. Watson solves the
case before Holmes.
v Sherlock
Holmes has been the subject and inspiration for countless plays, radio and
television shows, and films, most recently directed by Guy Ritchie, and
featuring Robert Downy Jr. as Holmes, and Jude Law as Dr. Watson.
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