Sherlock Holmes is a famous character in literature, authored by Arthur Conan Doyle. All works about a detective who lives in London belong to the detective genre. It is believed that the fellow writer was the prototype of this literary character . It is known that Joseph Bell worked in a hospital and could easily guess and predict the character of a person in detail.
Sherlock Holmes Biography
If you analyze all the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, you can also calculate what Sherlock Holmes's date of birth is. It is believed that this character was born around 1854. Readers of the works of the great detective constantly tried to set a date of birth. But soon, after analyzing several stories, they came to the conclusion that, after all, Holmes was born on January 6th. It is this date that is now indicated in museums that are dedicated to this interesting and exciting literary character.
Little is known about his life. So, Sherlock has never been married and has no children either. But he still had relatives. In some works, his older brother Mycroft appears.
The family tree of the famous detective
There is little data on the ancestors of the detective in the works. In one of the stories, Sherlock Holmes himself, whose years of life are still interested in readers, talks about his family tree. He says that his ancestors were landowners who lived in some kind of outback. The life of these landowners proceeded quietly and calmly, as was followed by people of such an estate.
Sherlock also talks about his grandmother, whom he still remembered a little. She was the sister of a famous artist from France. By the way, the artist Vernet himself is also mentioned several times in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.
Says Sherlock Holmes, whose years of life still remain a mystery and are determined only approximately, and about his brother Mycroft, who is seven years older than a detective. Sherlock several times mentions that he occupies a high and important post in the government, but still he never calls him.
In addition to close family members, in the works about Sherlock Holmes, his distant relatives are mentioned. For example, Werner, who is just starting to work as a doctor. He is the one who purchases doctoral practice from Watson.
Character description
Holmes's main profession is a private consultant detective. But the father of a classmate, who was delighted with the unusual abilities of the young man, helped him to take this difficult path.
Sherlock Holmes, who spent many years of his life investigating and searching for criminals, is described by Arthur Conan Doyle as a tall and thin man.
Especially in the detective's appearance, the following details stood out: a piercing gaze of gray eyes, an aquiline nose and a square chin, which resolutely stood a little forward. The detective himself said that he was no more than six pounds, which is equal to 183 centimeters.
Holmes was a biochemist by education. He even worked as a laboratory assistant at a hospital in London for some time. But he still devoted his whole life to investigations. Even knowing the law, he did not always follow it when it came to the life of an innocent person. The detective never refused to help the poor man. He almost didn’t pay for his work, and if he had to do it, then more often it was symbolic.
Detective habits
Sherlock prefers to stay at home and, for no particular reason, tries not to go anywhere. He even investigates all his affairs at home. But at the same time he is completely indifferent to any amenities and luxury.
Holmes was never married and, as he himself claims, has never even been in love in his life. Although he is always polite with women and always ready to help them.
Sherlock has bad habits. For example, he often smokes a lot. Especially his strong tobacco fills the whole room when he tries to solve one of the new crimes. Sometimes he uses intravenous drugs, as it is unbearable for him to live without work.
Holmes Methods
Sherlock conducts every investigation of another crime in his various ways. Among them, the deductive method stands out. Having studied all the evidence and facts that are in the case, the detective draws up his picture of the crime, and then begins to look for the one to whom it was beneficial to commit.
Most often, the crimes that Holmes investigates are complex and complicated, so it’s impossible to understand them without investigation. He himself is trying to find evidence and question witnesses in order to understand everything about the crime committed.
Sometimes, to capture the criminal, the detective uses not only makeup, but also his excellent acting data.
Sherlock Holmes: years of events and facts
A well-known detective talks about his first open case in the work “Gloria Scott”. At that time, he was still in college.
Sherlock Holmes, whose birth and death dates are not set accurately, was not rich at 27. Therefore, he alone could not rent an apartment, but was looking for a companion, which John Watson became. Together they drove into an apartment on Baker Street at 222 B. The calm and balanced Mrs. Hudson became their mistress.
Watson and Holmes enter the apartment in 1881, and seven years later the doctor marries and leaves his friend. Sherlock is left to live alone.
In 1891, Sherlock disappears for everyone. He sets off on a journey, although many readers considered him dead in a clash with Professor Moriarty. In the future, the detective even published his travel notes, but under a pseudonym.
Only in 1894 did Sherlock Holmes, whose years of life are not given precisely and concretely, return to London and again settle in his apartment. Watson soon also moves to him after the death of his wife.
But here, Holmes was tired of everything, and soon he again left London to leave for the countryside and start raising bees. It is known that in the last story, Sherlock was about 60 years old.
Literary works with Sherlock Holmes
It is estimated that 60 works were written about the famous detective by Arthur Conan Doyle. Of these, only four stories, and the rest of the works are stories. In many of them, the story is narrated on behalf of his friend Dr. Watson.
The first work about the great detective was the detective "Study in Scarlet", which was written in 1887. The last story about Sherlock Holmes, the years whose actions are always interesting to readers, was published in 1927. His story, The Sherlock Holmes Archive, was a farewell piece.
It is worth noting that Arthur Conan Doyle was always dissatisfied with the fact that his detective works find more response from readers than his historical novels, which were the main ones in his literary work.
According to the writer himself, the best stories about Sherlock Holmes, whose years of life cannot be precisely named, are the following works: “Motley ribbon”, “Union of Reds”, “Empty House” and others.
Interesting Facts
To date, more than 210 films have already been released, where the main character is the private investigator Sherlock Holmes. That is why the number of adaptations fell into the Guinness Book of Records. It is known that in America about 14 films were shot. A large number of films came out in Russia. Many viewers fell in love with the film, where the role of a private investigator was played by Vasily Livanov.
Recently, in connection with the development of technological progress, computer games have also been created based on the plot of Detective Arthur Conan Doyle, which are very popular.