The main characters of the story Sherlock Holmes. The married life of the Watsons

Let me ask a rather strange question: “Did there really live a brilliant detective named Sherlock Holmes?”

No? Then why did half the world beg Conan Doyle to give Mr. Holmes's real address? (It’s elementary, after all, that Baker Street was named for purposes of conspiracy.) And why did the writer bring messages (from fully grown, respectable ladies and gentlemen) to give to the person mentioned?.. Yes, I completely forgot about autographs: Conan Doyle was simply tormented with requests to get an autograph famous detective!

The consulting detective received completely serious offers to investigate family secrets. The newspaper clippings bureau was wondering if a celebrity would like to become their regular subscriber. The image of Holmes (alone and with Dr. Watson) has been repeatedly depicted on postage stamps.

Holmes - V. Livanov

Someone meticulously calculated that 52 of Holmes's sayings became aphorisms and entered the everyday life of the British. The most famous of them: “This is a three-tube case, Watson!” And how many jokes about the famous detective are circulating around the world! Chapaev and Stirlitz are resting...

When Mr. Holmes retired and settled on a small farm in Sussex to indulge in his favorite pastime - raising bees, several elderly ladies were ready to manage his household, becoming a kind of successor to Mrs. Hudson. One particularly persistent lady insisted that she loved raising bees and was able to accurately “spot the queen.”

And finally, a message flashed in one of the English newspapers in 1957: Sherlock Holmes died on January 6, his birthday, at the age of 103.

So did the great detective really exist?

Dossier

Sherlock Holmes had a huge card index of all the criminals he knew. It is not surprising that information about the consulting detective himself was carefully collected and stored not only in the annals of Scotland Yard, but also in the private archives of the criminal world. We invite you to familiarize yourself with one of the documents that has reached us. The compiler and owner of the text, unfortunately, is unknown.

Dossier

Last name, first name: Holmes, Sherlock.

Year of birth: 1887 (see Encyclopædia Britannica). However, a certain Nathan Benjis, one of Mr. Holmes’ admirers, named a completely different year - 1854. And he even specified the day - January 6th.

Parents: father - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; mother - name unknown. Granddaughter of the sister of the French artist Horace Vernet (1789-1863).

Marital status: single

Close relatives: brother - Mycroft Holmes, seven years older than Sherlock. Politician.

Appearance: thin build, height more than six feet (more than 180 cm), thin aquiline nose, square, slightly protruding chin, sharp, piercing gaze, “somewhat creaky” voice.

Education: may have studied at Oxford. Cambridge is excluded.

Address: UK, London, Baker Street, 221-b. Occupation: private investigator or consulting detective.

Baker Street at the beginning of the 20th century

First thing: investigation into the causes of the sudden death of Magistrate Mr. Trevor (story "Gloria Scott").

Friends: a doctor named Watson (or Watson). The acquaintance took place in 1881.

Main enemies: Professor Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian Moran.

Bad habits: smoking, addiction to morphine and cocaine.

Hobby: chemistry, violin playing. Has a weakness for Turkish baths.

Favorite newspapers: Daily Telegraph, Times.

Sports hobbies: boxing, fencing, golf, swimming, martial arts. Shots a pistol very well.

Published works: brochures “Identification of tobacco varieties by ashes”, “Guide to bee breeding”, works on footprints, on the influence of professions on the shape of the hand, monograph “Polyphonic Motets of Lassus”. Sherlock Holmes also wrote two stories about his own investigations. The best of them is "Lion's Mane".

Special Notes: nothing is known about the life of Sherlock Holmes after 1914.

Predecessors

Among the ancestors of Sherlock Holmes were detectives Dupin and Legrand from the stories of E. Poe and Lecoq from the novels of the Frenchman E. Gaboriot. “Gaborio attracted me because of how he knew how to twist a plot, and Edgar Allan Poe’s insightful detective Monsieur Dupin was my favorite hero since childhood,” A. Conan Doyle once admitted. The third “ancestor” of the detective-consultant can be considered detective Cuff from W. Collins’ novel “The Moonstone”.

Name

In the 19th century, the American poet, writer and scientist Oliver Wendell Holmes was very popular in England. A. Conan Doyle always had his books on his shelf: “The Autocrat”, “The Poet”, “The Professor at the Dinner Table”. Sir Arthur once said: “Never have I so understood or loved a man whom I had never seen. Meeting him became the goal of my life, but ironically, I arrived in his hometown just in time to lay a wreath on his fresh grave.” Now it’s clear where the name Holmes came from? But with the name everything was not so simple. A. Conan Doyle hesitated for a long time what to call the great detective: Sheringford or Sherlock.

Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur

Modern biographers of Sir Arthur unanimously claim that for many years he was financially dependent on the consulting detective. And, as often happens in such cases, I didn’t particularly like this man. Having finally overcome the depressing lack of money, Conan Doyle happily drowned Sherlock Holmes in a Swiss waterfall. Is this true or a legend?

As you know, Conan Doyle was inseparable from Sherlock Holmes for almost his entire adult life. And during this time, his attitude towards the detective-consultant, like any normal person, changed many times.

Well, if we're really serious...

Start:
Do you know what the young doctor meant... no, of course, not Watson, but Conan Doyle, when he said that he was able to write “something... fresh, bright and tasty”? So, these are stories about Sherlock Holmes.

A few years later:
“Writing about Holmes was difficult because, in fact, each story required the same original, precisely constructed plot as a longer book. I decided that... I wouldn't write Holmes stories unless I had a real plot and a problem that really occupied my mind, because that's the first requirement for getting anyone else interested. If I managed to nurture this character for a long time and if the public believes and will continue to believe that the last story is no worse than the first, then I owe this entirely to the fact that I have never, or almost never, written stories through force” (A. Conan Doyle).

A little later:
The desire to part with Sherlock Holmes with dignity arose when Conan Doyle felt that he was tired and would soon begin to write low-grade stories. So from a trip to the Swiss mountains, the author took away not only admiration for the beauty of the land, but also the idea of ​​​​drowning the poor detective in a waterfall. “I heard that many even cried, but I myself, I’m afraid, remained absolutely cold and only rejoiced at the opportunity to express myself in other areas of fantasy.”

And suddenly Conan Doyle, just like Watson, received a dying message from the great detective. But the intonation here was not at all lyrical. “You’re a fool, you’re a fool! - wrote Sherlock Holmes. - For so many years you lived in luxury thanks to me. With my help, you rode a lot in cabs, where no writer had ever ridden before. From now on you will only travel in omnibuses!” Sir Arthur simply could not tolerate such treatment. And, offended, for ten years he tried not to think about Sherlock Holmes. (To be honest, these words belonged to James Barry, and I took them from his parody of writings about the great detective.)

Ten years later:
What made Conan Doyle return to stories about the famous detective is unlikely to be known for certain. We can assume three main reasons: requests from readers, financial difficulties and the desire to meet again the hero of his youth.

At the end of life:
One of the actors once asked Conan Doyle if it was possible to marry Sherlock Holmes. “Marry him, kill him, do whatever you want with him,” was the author’s answer. An important role here was played by the fact that Sir Arthur was increasingly confused with Holmes. Conan Doyle was especially infuriated by the bill sent to Sir Sherlock. Conan Doyle did not tolerate jokes with titles.

Result:
“I don’t want to be ungrateful to Holmes, who was a good friend to me in many ways. And if I got tired of him, it was because his image did not allow any contrasts” (A. Conan Doyle).

Declaration of love:

I have completed my simple task,
If you gave me at least an hour of joy
To a boy who is already half a man,
Or a man who is still half a boy.

(Epitaph on Sir Arthur's grave,
written by himself.)

Habits of a Consulting Detective

Unless there was urgent work, Mr. Holmes woke up late. When the blues came over him (oh, that notorious English spleen!), he, dressed in a mouse-colored robe, could remain silent for days. In the same “cheerful” attire, he carried out his endless chemical experiments. The remaining robes - red and bluish - expressed other states of mind and were used in a variety of situations.

At times, Sherlock Holmes was overwhelmed by the desire to argue, then, instead of the traditional clay one, he lit a cherry wood pipe. Deep in thought, the famous detective allowed himself to bite his nails (on his hands, of course). He was unreasonably little interested in food and his own health.

By the way, for some reason the consulting detective kept pipes and cigars in a coal bucket, and tobacco in the toe of a Persian shoe. However, this was only the most harmless detail of the chaos he created in the house. Justifying himself, Holmes said that in such chaos he could think better.

Sherlock Holmes' Friend: Breaking the Stereotype

You can familiarize yourself with the beginning of Dr. Watson’s life; to do this, you just need to open “A Study in Scarlet” and read the first few pages. For those who don’t have the book at hand, I’ll tell you briefly...

John Hamish Watson was born in the early 50s of the 19th century. He spent his childhood in Australia. He graduated from the Medical College of the University of London and entered the course of military surgeons at Netley. In Afghanistan, in the Battle of Maiwand, he was seriously wounded and sent into retirement.

(Further information about Watson should be closely followed throughout the numerous texts.)

Watson's father died, his older brother, having squandered his inheritance, became an alcoholic. The meeting with Holmes became a salvation from loneliness for the doctor. Watson helped the great detective for 17 years (not excluding the years when he was married). He also visited Holmes at the apiary in Sussex, after he stopped doing his investigations.

Watson was a good doctor and was popular with patients, first in Paddington and Kensington, then on Queen Anne Street, where he established a private practice.

These are all facts, and now let's turn to emotions. For some reason, many consider Watson to be a narrow-minded person and completely devoid of individuality. In fact, he was a charming gentleman, whose virtues include fearlessness, tolerance, impeccable attitude towards women, literary talent, the ability to be ironic about oneself and not to become despondent under any circumstances. And Watson was definitely not stupid. Don't believe me? Then remember the saying: “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are.”

Take another close look at Watson. Honestly, the doctor is often much nicer than Holmes. And life, by the way, did not spoil him at all (see biography).

Is Watson right?

Watson once wrote a humorous "Certificate" of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes - his capabilities

1. Knowledge in the field of literature - none.

2. Knowledge in the field of philosophy - none.

3. Knowledge in the field of astronomy - none.

4. Knowledge in the field of politics is weak.

5. Knowledge in the field of botany is uneven. Knows the properties of belladonna, opium and poisons in general. Has no idea about gardening.

6. Knowledge in the field of geology - practical, but limited. Identifies different soil samples at a glance. After walking, he shows me splashes of mud on his trousers and, based on their color and consistency, determines what part of London it is from.

7. Knowledge in the field of chemistry is deep.

8. Knowledge of anatomy is accurate.

9. Knowledge in the field of criminal chronicles is enormous. He seems to know all the details of every crime committed in the nineteenth century.”

10. Plays the violin well.

11. Excellent fencing with swords and espadrons, an excellent boxer.

12. Thorough practical knowledge of English laws.

It is unlikely that Dr. Watson heard Kozma Prutkov’s statement: “A specialist is like gumboil.” Mr. Holmes's biographer, however, has followed this aphorism almost exactly. And of course, I was wrong in many ways.

Let's start with the fact that Holmes did not just play the violin, but was a true music lover. He improvised, composed music himself, adored the work of German composers and constantly dragged poor Watson with him to concerts. In addition, Holmes was well versed in the advantages and disadvantages of Cremonese violins and easily discussed “the difference between the masterpieces of Stradivarius and Amati.”

Fiction was also no stranger to the consulting detective. He could choose the work of the English writer George Meredith as a topic for conversation. At times he quoted Goethe, G. Flaubert, and in the original, and once, by the way, in front of Watson, he pulled out a pocket volume of Petrarch to enjoy poetry on the road.

“Holmes had no knowledge of gardening,” said Dr. Watson. The fact in itself is dubious, because no Englishman has yet been born who knows nothing about growing plants. What can you do, national tradition! In addition, feeling London as his element, the great detective, as it turned out later, secretly dreamed of “plunging into the peace and silence of nature.”

“Let’s go for a walk in these wonderful groves, Watson, let’s admire the birds and flowers.”

So is Watson right?

There was an error

“I've never really worried about the details - sometimes you need to feel like you're in control. Once, when an alarmed editor wrote to me: “There is no second line of rails in this place,” I replied: “And I will lay one.” (A. Conan Doyle)

As you know, Dr. Watson voluntarily became Sherlock Holmes' biographer. Having taken on such a serious responsibility, he always tried to be extremely punctual. Except that in the “Motley Ribbon” the snake descended on a freely hanging cord, which, according to herpetologists, in principle could not be done, and the announcement of the “Union of Redheads” was published in the “Morning Chronicle”, a newspaper that by that time had long since gone bankrupt . But when talking about himself, Watson makes some rather strange mistakes. He cannot remember whether the bullet fired by the “merciless ghazi” was lodged in his shoulder or leg. Or he even forgets his own name. In "A Study in Scarlet" he calls himself John H. Watson (John G. Watson - in another translation), and in the story "The Man with the Cut Lip" he unexpectedly turns into James. Apparently, the war in Afghanistan did not end so harmlessly for the doctor. However, Watson preferred not to dwell on this topic too much.

Deduction method

This way of thinking logically was “taught” to Sherlock Holmes by Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Edinburgh Hospital. By the way, the famous detective partially inherited his extraordinary appearance from Bell. Don't believe me? Ask A. Conan Doyle.

“Bell was a very remarkable man, both in appearance and in mind. He was tall, wiry, dark-haired, with a long-nosed, penetrating face, attentive gray eyes, thin shoulders and a twitching gait. His voice was harsh. He was very strong in diagnostics, not only of diseases, but also of profession and character. For reasons that remained a mystery to me, he singled me out from the crowd of students who often visited his wards and made me his outpatient secretary... But I had ample opportunity to study his methods and make sure that he often, with a glance at the patient, learned about him more than I, who asked him questions” (A. Conan Doyle).

By the way, Joseph Bell was sympathetic to Sherlock Holmes and carefully followed the progress of his investigations.

Famous phrase

Sherlock Holmes's most famous line? "Elementary, Watson." However, Russian translators sometimes forced the detective to pronounce the tasteless “excellent” or “primitive”, “quite simple” or “nonsense”. Only occasionally on the pages of domestic publications does one encounter the proud “elementary, Watson!” But in 1991, a newspaper of the Holmesian society was published in Sverdlovsk, which was called... Well, of course, “Elementary, Watson!”

Sayings of Sherlock Holmes

Holmes, as a rule, spoke little, but his speech was filled with aphorisms. Let me remind you of just a few of them.

“My whole life is a continuous effort to escape the dreary monotony of our everyday life. Little riddles that I sometimes solve help me achieve this goal.”

“Crime investigation is an exact science, or at least it should be.”

“I imagine the human brain is like a little empty attic that you can furnish however you want.”

“If you throw away everything completely impossible, then exactly what remains - no matter how incredible it may seem - is the truth!”

“I never guess. A very bad habit: it has a detrimental effect on the ability to think logically.”

“You see everything, but you don’t give yourself the trouble to think about what you see!”

Unsolved cases

Among the unsolved cases of Sherlock Holmes was the disappearance of a certain James Phillimore, who returned home to get an umbrella and disappeared forever. The great detective failed to find traces of the Alicia boat, which once disappeared forever into the fog. What remains shrouded in darkness is the murder of Mr. Persano, a journalist by profession and a duelist by vocation, whose corpse was found frozen next to... a caterpillar unknown to science (or maybe a worm or even a worm; in English it’s all spelled the same - worm), in general, with something long and narrow, hidden in a matchbox.

Of course, not all of Holmes’s failures are mentioned here, but who likes to remember their defeats?!

Portrait painters

The first portrait of Sherlock Holmes was created by Conan Doyle's father, Charles Doyle. However, the publishers and, apparently, even his son did not like the work. In any case, Sir Arthur tried not to mention these drawings.

Readers first saw what the famous detective and his constant friend Doctor Watson looked like on the pages of the Strand Magazine. The author of the published portraits of Holmes and Watson was the artist Sidney Paget. The model in this case was Walter Paget, the illustrator’s younger brother and fellow worker. From the point of view of A. Conan Doyle, Sherlock turned out to be too handsome, having largely lost the expressiveness of his appearance. “However, from the point of view of ... the readers, it was for the better,” Sir Arthur later remarked condescendingly. When Sidney died in 1904, Walter continued his work.

The Americans, however, preferred a different image of the consulting detective. It was drawn by Frederick Dorr Steele. The theater actor William Gillett, generally recognized as the best Sherlock Holmes of the 19th century, posed for him.

However, it seems that Moscow artist Leonid Kozlov has surpassed everyone, who created 10,000 (!) drawings on the theme of “the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” Conan Doyle's daughter Jane, married to Lady Broument, blessed him in writing for such a great feat. Unfortunately, only one album by Leonid Kozlov has been published so far. (And there were supposed to be seven of them.) Gentlemen, publishers, when will we see the rest?

Theater

The young Doctor Conan Doyle, who wrote his first story about Holmes and Watson, could not even dream that he would make his heroes appear on the stage. Moreover, in order to save the rented theater from collapse.

However, a few years later, Conan Doyle had to write a play about Sherlock Holmes in a week. It was called, like the story of the same name, “The Speckled Ribbon.” The play firmly entered the theatrical repertoire and began to be performed throughout the country with triumph. "For execution title role(Please note!) We had an excellent rocky boa constrictor, who was my pride,” Conan Doyle recalled. “So you can imagine my indignation when I learned that one literary critic ended his dismissive review with the words: “The critical moment in this production is caused by the appearance of an obviously artificial snake.” I was ready to pay him decent money if he decided to take her to bed with him... In the end, we began to use artificial snakes..."

The Speckled Band was the second play about Sherlock Holmes. The first, as Conan Doyle said, “was written and best directed by William Gillett, the famous American actor. I really liked the play, the performance, and the financial result.”

There was also a play “Sherlock Holmes”, which combined the plots of several stories by Conan Doyle. She lasted on stage for 30 years, performing 230 performances. Among the performers was young Charles Chaplin. (The play was shown on American television in 1975.)

However, deep down, Conan Doyle was dissatisfied with all the productions without exception. “Before leaving the subject of the various theatrical incarnations of Holmes, I can say that all of them, like his portraits, differed from my original plan.”

I wonder if Sir Arthur has seen how Holmes dances dashingly in musicals or soars over the stage in a ballet?..

Movie

Did you know that in terms of the number of film adaptations (more than 200), Holmes and Watson were included in the Guinness Book of Records. And that the role of the great detective was played by 80 actors (and one of them, Sam Robinson, was black).

The first film, Sherlock Holmes Perplexed, was directed by Thomas Edison in 1900 and lasted 30 seconds. A film was later made based on William Gillett's play, but the film has not survived. Dr. Watson first appeared in 1906 in the American film Sherlock Holmes and the Great Murder Mystery. In 1912, The Speckled Band (England-France) was staged, and in 1914, The Hound of the Baskervilles. In 1927, the sound film “Sir Arthur Conan Doyle” appeared on the screens, where the writer himself talks about his books about Sherlock Holmes. I wish I could have a look!..

Obviously, it is impossible, and it is not necessary, to analyze all the films about Holmes and Watson. Therefore, N. Chernetskaya acted very wisely by dividing the history of foreign Holmesian cinema into five periods and naming the most famous couples Holmes-Watson.

1. The era of silent films and early sound films (1900-1939).

2. The Rathbone-Bruce era (1939-1946).

3. The period of disparate film and television versions.

4. Brett - Burke - Hardwick era (1984-1993).

5. Modern era.

Famous acting duets:

The first successful duet in the history of cinema was actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, with whose participation 14 films were shot. For Rathbone, Holmes's main characteristics were his energy and quick thinking. Bruce's Watson had outstanding slowness and slowness, which set off the famous detective.

A grandiose era in Holmesian cinema was the films (40 episodes!) with Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke, and then Edward Hardwick as Doctor Watson. Brett managed to embody in his hero the unity of opposites: consistency and spontaneity, energy and inertia, rationality and richness of feelings. Burke's and Hardwick's Watsons were each good in their own way. Burke personified youth, energy, simplicity, spontaneity, Hardwick portrayed a balanced, intelligent English doctor of the Victorian era.

The option with reincarnations is interesting. Thus, actor Patrick Macnee first played Watson opposite Roger Moore, then turned into Holmes in the television film The Phantom of London (1993).

Patrick Macnee played the role of Watson in another film, “The Incident at Victoria Falls” (1997). Sherlock Holmes here - Christopher Lee (Christopner Lee). Interestingly, in another film, Christopher Lee was Mycroft Holmes.

You can read more about foreign film adaptations on the Russian-language website “Sherlock Holmes at Nadezhda Chernetskaya”.

However, we know that the best Holmes in the world is, of course, Vasily Livanov, and the most charming Watson is Vitaly Solomin. It’s just not entirely clear whether foreign admirers of A. Conan Doyle share our opinion. In some sources you will read that foreigners recognized Livanov and Solomin as the most famous Holmes and Watson, in others that foreign moviegoers do not even suspect the existence of brilliant Russian actors. I wonder where the truth is?.. In any case, the “Russian” Holmes and Watson are familiar to the British. Having opened one of the British sites dedicated to the great detective, I was surprised to find Solomin and Livanov smiling on the screen.

Memorial places

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. in London, on Baker Street there was no house 221-b (the letter “b” simply means the second floor).

Now such a house exists, and it houses a permanent Sherlock Holmes Museum. It all started with an exhibition, which was opened by the widow of the writer Jean Conan Doyle in a house on Baker Street in the 1950s. Then some of the things were moved to the Sherlock Holmes Tavern on Northumberland Street. Here they are to this day, as well as portraits of film actors who played the role of a consulting detective. They say that in England there is a tradition - all those entering service in Scotland Yard consider it their duty to stop by the tavern on Northumberland Street and have a glass or two there.

However, let's return to the main museum. Those wishing to visit it can go to the Baker Street metro station. And don’t be surprised if a tall gentleman approaches them and hands them his business card with the surname Holmes. You are simply invited to visit the legendary house at number 221.

And here is a staircase of seventeen steps, which, as expected in the text, leads to the second floor. The famous Baker Street drawing room. A fireplace, armchairs, retorts for chemical experiments, a pipe in a coal bucket, master keys, a magnifying glass... However, fans of Sherlock Holmes will list all this without me, without even crossing the threshold of the museum.

(You can watch a video clip showing the setting of the famous living room on the English-language website.)

Downstairs, in the basement of building 221, there is a restaurant called Mrs. Hudson's, and next to it is a souvenir shop that sells pipes, key chains, postcards, handcuffs (real or not?), a model cab, a bust of the great detective and ... porcelain figurines of heroes, upon closer inspection, they turn out to be a table set consisting of a Holmes and Watson pepper shaker and salt shaker. Oh, this English humor! Or maybe business? However, it is curious which of the friends is the pepper shaker and which is the salt shaker.

The memory of Holmes is carefully preserved not only by the staff of the two museums.

There is a plaque at St. Bartholomew's Hospital stating that it was here, in 1881, that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson first met. The second memorial plaque was installed in Switzerland at the infamous waterfall.

Sculptures of Sherlock Holmes have been erected in several cities in England.

Awards

For reasons that are not fully clear, Sherlock Holmes refused to be knighted. This was in June 1902. However, he considered it an honor to accept the Legion of Honor. We will modestly keep silent about several memorable gifts the detective received from crowned heads and other powerful people.

And most recently, on October 16, 2002, Mr. Holmes was accepted as a member of the British Royal Society of Chemistry. Typically, this honor is awarded mainly to Nobel Prize laureates, outstanding scientists and industrialists. The society's general secretary, Dr David Giachardi, commenting on the decision to admit the great detective to the society, said: "He was a great man who used his clear mind, courage and scientific achievements in the fight against evil."

Hymn

This is not a bad joke, but a real anthem of one of the Holmesian societies. By the way, you are supposed to sing while standing.

Sherlock Holmes look-alikes

Doubles of Sherlock Holmes began to appear with incredible speed. I don’t know how it is in England and America, but here in Russia we have always been quite careless about... um... borrowing. Steal? Why not? The author is far away, but the reading public will like it. Therefore, I dare to suggest that the freshly baked Holmeses especially flourished in Russia. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Levinson publishing house released a series of books about the “adventures of Sherlock Holmes.” History is silent about who composed these fake crafts; most likely, a group of eternally hungry beginners or tragically untalented writers. The “epic” “The Secret of the Red Mask” was especially popular. This endless (96 issues!) work totaled 1536 pages. (Let Tolstoy and Tolkien be jealous!) And a certain Mr. Orlovets offered readers “reports on the adventures of Holmes in Russia.” In some publications, Holmes had a young assistant named Harry (and where did they put Watson?). So the noble private detective of Victorian England became a brother of Nat Pinkerton and Nick Carter. However, this is not entirely true. Contemporaries argued that more literate people wrote about Sherlock Holmes, “and Pinkerton - whoever is not too lazy.” It was not for nothing that Pinkerton was worth five kopecks, and Holmes was worth seven.

Fortunately, Conan Doyle did not know the Russian language (it is known for certain that he immediately put letters from Russia in a box, considering them read), and it never occurred to anyone to translate all this nonsense into the author’s native language. Sir Arthur was quite familiar with the nonsense that flashed in the English and American press with the regularity of meteorites. One “timeless masterpiece” was dedicated to a woman who came to Holmes for advice: “I don’t know at all what to think, sir. In one week I lost a car horn, a broom, a box of golf balls, a dictionary and a shoe horn...” “Nothing could be simpler, madam,” Sherlock replied. “It’s clearer than clear that your neighbor keeps a goat.” Another story “tells how Sherlock went to heaven and, thanks to his extraordinary powers of observation, immediately recognized and greeted Adam” (“gentlemen, hussars, be silent!”).

Then they began to write well and seriously. Among the authors (it is impossible to list them all) were Adrian Conan Doyle (son of Sir Arthur), the master of the detective genre John Dixon Carr, and the creator of numerous “horror films” Stephen King. (Their stories about Holmes have been translated into Russian.) US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not remain indifferent to the image of Holmes. He is the author of the book “The Baker Street Folio: Five Notes on Sherlock Holmes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt” (1945).

It is recognized that one of the best serious works is “A Study of Fear” by Ellery Queen (pseudonym of Frederick Dannay and Manfred Lee). Here Holmes solves the case of Jack the Ripper, whose sinister figure kept all of London in fear for a long time. (Queen E. A Study of Fear // Doyle A.K. Valley of Terror; Queen E. A Study of Fear. - St. Petersburg: Terra Incognita, . - P. 93-198.)

Among more or less modern works, we can offer a collection of stories by Mikhail Trushin and Vladimir Petrin “Illuminations of Sherlock Holmes” (1997). The cover was made by L. Kozlov. The book is written in the classic Doyle style and received brilliant reviews, including from Georgy Weiner. Unfortunately, it was published in Penza, and therefore is inaccessible to many readers. But fans of Sherlock Holmes can be consoled by books (“The Secret Archive of Sherlock Holmes,” “Sherlock Holmes in Orbit,” etc.) from the “Baker Street Mysteries” series, published by Terra publishing house. Of course, the level of essays, as happens in such cases, is not always the same.

The works of Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dixon Carr were published in the magazine Science and Life in the 1960s and 1970s. Nowadays the easiest way to find texts by these authors is on the Internet. Look, for example, for such books by A.K. Doyle, D. Carr: “The Wax Players”, “Two Women”, “Ruby Avas”, “The Mystery of the Locked Room”, “The Deptford Horror”, “The Fowlkes Crime” Race", "The Case of the Golden Watch".

These texts may disappoint you somewhat. And the point here is not in the authors of the stories, but in the translators. It’s not that they were completely bad, it’s just that few people are able to compete with Korn Ivanovich Chukovsky.

But there are no problems with the story “The Investigation of Dr. Watson” by Stephen King. It was published in the author’s collection of the “king of horrors” “Nightmares and Fantastic Visions” (M.: Mir, 1994).

Parodies

The image of Sherlock Holmes also attracted recognized classics. True, they preferred to write mainly parodies. For example, Bret Harte created “The Adventure of a Stolen Cigarette Case”, Mark Twain - “The Adventure of Double Sight”, O. Henry - the stories “The Adventures of Shamrock Johns” and “The Bloodhound”, James Barry - “The Adventures of Two Co-authors”. I give a bibliographic description of the last mentioned work, otherwise you will never find this text. (Barry J. Adventures of two co-authors // Doyle A.K. Life full of adventures. - M.: Vagrius, 2001. - P. 115-118.)

Literary hooliganism

This story is quite scandalous. Once upon a time, the world famous master detective ("father" of Nero Wolfe) Rex Stout gave a speech at a dinner of fans of the inhabitants of the house on Baker Street. In it, using the method of deduction, he proved that under the pseudonym “Doctor Watson” was hiding a lady, the legal wife of Sherlock Holmes. And he even named (with the evidence provided) her name - Irene Watson. How the writer came out of dinner alive is not known for certain. But all Conan Doyle fans still shudder at the mention of Rex Stout’s essay “Watson Was a Woman.”

Almost a joke

Once a certain S. Borisov created a story for a literary quiz, “The Death of a Russian Landowner.” The plot here is extremely simple: Holmes, sitting on Baker Street, discusses F. Dostoevsky’s novel “The Brothers Karamazov” with Watson. One can only guess how this wretched little story by S. Borisov ended up in one of the collections of A. Conan Doyle’s original works...

Holmes studies

Research works about Sherlock Holmes appeared already at the beginning of the 20th century. The books by R. Knox “A Study of the Literature Dedicated to Sherlock Holmes” (1911), H. W. Bell “Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, a Chronicle of Their Adventures” (1931), H. Brenkenley “Sherlock Holmes: Fact and Fiction” are considered classics to this day. "(1932).

The pinnacle of “Holmology studies” was “The Sherlockian Encyclopedia: A Universal Dictionary of Information Established About Sherlock Holmes and His Biographer, Dr. John G. Watson” by Jack Tracy. This work is considered the best reference book, a reference book for all Holmes fans. “Sherlockiana” was translated into Russian by I.N. Bogdanov. For this work, the Ural Holmesian Society awarded him the Watson Literary Prize. I wouldn't want to offend anyone, but what does that mean?..

Sherlock Holmes and everyday life

Sherlock Holmes has become such a part of our lives that sometimes you don’t even know where you’ll meet your favorite hero. For example, you accidentally go to “Children’s World”, and there are comics on the theme of the adventures of a consulting detective (not necessarily stupid ones) or a board game called “Sherlock Holmes”. You say this is for little ones? Nothing of the kind. Absolutely adult uncles and aunts play interactive games on the Internet, one of which is called, for example, “Sherlock Holmes: The Return of Moriarty.” And while walking home from work, you may accidentally hear the phrase “elementary, Watson!” or a mobile phone ringing that plays... the melody of Vladimir Dashkevich from the television film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” (directed by I. Maslennikov). My neighbor in the country has a huge dog named the Hound of the Baskervilles, of whom the whole neighborhood is desperately afraid. And one inhabitant of a neighboring village built himself a house on the edge of the swamp, which the locals don’t call anything other than “Baskerville Hall”.

And God forbid that you need a private detective agency in your life. It's called... guess for yourself.

"Sherlock Holmitos"

Just don’t think that this is some kind of snake or caterpillar. This is what modern Latin Americans call short, skillful conclusions that are not relevant to the matter. In short, what Sherlock Holmes considered to be false alternative moves. The term “Sherlock Holmitos” arose after the local population became acquainted with the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.

Jokes

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes has always been a fertile target for jokers..." said Conan Doyle. Indeed, there are many anecdotes about Holmes and Watson floating around the world (and the Internet). Unfortunately, almost all of them are either quite stupid or completely indecent (and sometimes both at once). Anyway, I only managed to pick six.

Holmes and Watson spend the night in a tent in the forest.
- Watson, does this constellation mean anything to you?
- Good weather, Holmes!
- Watson, our tent was stolen.

* * *

What do you think, Holmes?
- Elementary, Watson!

Barrymore, what's that squishing in my shoe?
- Oatmeal, sir!
- But what is she doing there?
- It's squishing, sir.

What kind of howl is heard over the swamps?
- Elementary, Watson! Sir Henry was again served porridge for breakfast.

Holmes and Watson are going on a trip. Holmes sends a friend to look at the thermometer. Returning, Watson reports: “Hanging.”

Holmes, we seem to have gotten to the bottom of the truth!
- Yes, Watson, now let's try to get out of the hole.

Listen, Watson... What is your strange name - Doctor?..

Quite seriously

“Don’t you know that I am not the creator of the image of Sherlock Holmes? It was the readers who created it in their imagination.” Conan Doyle spoke these words at a gala dinner in honor of his seventieth birthday. Something to think about, right?

In his memoirs, Sir Arthur called the surgeon Joseph Bell the prototype of Holmes, and Major Wood the prototype of Watson. Readers stubbornly thought otherwise. Some equated Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, others - between Doyle and Watson. It seems that both of them were not far from the truth: if you create a portrait of one person from two famous heroes, then, most likely, you will get an alter ego of their creator, Arthur Conan Doyle.

Why are we so attracted to stories and tales about Holmes and Watson? A dashingly twisted plot? Victorian era flavor? Perhaps all this is not the main thing. How many detective stories were created before and after Holmes and Watson, but it was Conan Doyle who managed to write something special, so to speak, number one. Moreover, this procedure is not subject to revision.

The secret of Holmes and Watson's success is in the harmonious duet and in the glorification of male friendship. Almost like A. Dumas in “The Three Musketeers”. Indeed, what is Holmes without Watson and Watson without Holmes?.. It is not without reason that stories where the great detective finds himself alone for some reason are much weaker than all the others.

I don’t know how other nations perceive the inhabitants of Foggy Albion, but for us, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson have long become the symbol of the English gentleman. We just never thought about it.

Nadezhda Voronova

Baker Street at the beginning XX century

Sherlock Holmes- the main character of the stories, a consulting detective who is fluent in the “deductive method.”
“His character is difficult. Very difficult. I would even say unbearable,” this is how their mutual friend recommended Holmes to Watson. As Watson himself noted after a short acquaintance with him - “He has a very narrow circle of interests. He does not know the simplest things. Although he knows criminal law, chemistry perfectly - or rather, that section of it that concerns poisons and explosives. He knows everything about weapons - bladed and firearms. He probably shoots well." And he boxes, as Watson had the opportunity to experience in practice.
He is selfless, prefers not to take money from low-income clients, and calculates his income in opera tickets.

Doctor Watson- friend, assistant and biographer of Sherlock Holmes.
The search for inexpensive housing turned into regular dangerous adventures for him, and reading London newspapers prompted him to take up his pen.
He was the regiment's boxing champion. His preferred weapons are revolvers and chairs. Has experience killing wild muskets. Knows how to cut stylish masks from black silk. He is amazing at breaking open Indian caskets with an English poker. Loves animals - especially a saddle of lamb. Indispensable when catching dangerous criminals and discussing orchids.
He was noticed in only two sins: snoring at night and studying pharmacology.
He repeatedly showed extraordinary courage: he single-handedly tracked down a killer in an abandoned house, caught runaway convicts in a swamp, and even shaved with a straight razor on a moving train.

Mrs. Hudson- landlady at 221B Baker Street.
By letting such a tenant as Holmes into the door, she doomed herself for life to a restless life for the good of Britain and an unconscious mastery of the deductive method.
A model of Victorian equanimity, punctuality and constancy.

Mycroft Holmes- brother of Sherlock Holmes, seven years older than him.
He is married, has a son, loves his dog, a red setter, and works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very famous... in his circle.
His brother Sherlock believes that Mycroft is very observant (much more observant than himself - moderator's note), and he could make an excellent detective if he did not prefer silence and a soft chair in the club to everything in the world.

Mary Morstan- Doctor Watson's wife.
A respectable, moderately modest, moderately smart girl. An ideal match for the same moderately modest and moderately intelligent gentleman.
She received the news of possible wealth without unnecessary emotions, which characterizes her from the best side. She also reacted indifferently to the news that wealth was being abolished.

Scotland Yard investigators

Inspector Lestrade- Scotland Yard detective.
Holmes spoke about him simply: “Fox terrier. Lots of energy, little intelligence.”
Tobias Gregson- Inspector of Scotland Yard, “the most intelligent detective of Scotland Yard,” according to Sherlock Holmes. He willingly accepts the help of the great detective.
Inspector Bradstreet- Scotland Yard detective.
Stanley Hopkins- a young Scotland Yard detective.

The rest of the characters.

Episode No. 1. Acquaintance.
Dr Grimsby Roylott- owner of a mansion near London; served in India, from where he brought a hyena and a baboon (as it later turned out, a poisonous snake). All the animals were allowed to roam around the mansion and garden at night.
According to Holmes, "really a brute." Prone to damaging good things, sophisticated murders through exotic animals.
He served in India for a long time, but his career ended in the most unpleasant way.
Character "rude, unrestrained." He perceived Watson as “every fool,” Mrs. Hudson as an “old hen,” and Mrs. Farintosh, unknown to us, as an “old fool.” According to other reviews - “a bandit” and a “terrible person” with a “mad disposition” (“everyone in their family is like that.”
Killed by his own weapon (a snake) while trying to kill his stepdaughter.
Helen Stoner - The adopted daughter of Dr. Grimsby Roylott and the twin sister of Julia Stoner, who was killed, as the investigation revealed, by her stepfather with the help of a poisonous snake.
Her intention to get married endangered her own life, due to the greed of her stepfather, who tried to prevent her stepdaughter from inheriting rights.
An unhappy but brave girl.

Episode No. 2. Bloody inscription.
Jefferson Hope- a man whose bride died at the hands of the Mormons, who decided to take revenge on the “fanatics.” He offered his victims two pills: one harmless, the other with poison, with the words “If there is no justice in the world, then I have no reason to live.” He left the bloody inscription “Revenge” at the crime scene. He was exposed by Sherlock Holmes, who considered Jefferson Hope "a ferocious, dangerous, but in some ways a very noble man" and died in prison from a cerebral hemorrhage.

Episode No. 3. King of blackmail.
Charles Augustus Milverton- in fact, the king of blackmail, obtaining “careless letters”, then extorted money for non-disclosure.
The king of blackmail, played on people's vices, mistakes and weaknesses. He has many victims to his name. "One of the nastiest people in London", according to Sherlock Holmes. In addition, he played an important role in Professor Moriarty’s networks - he obtained funds.
Lady Huxley- one of Milverton's victims. Her husband could not stand the publicity of her secret correspondence and died of cardiac arrest. Kills Milverton. Later she helps Holmes by giving him a secret code from Moriarty's papers, which she stole from Milverton.
“What a woman, what self-control, what common sense!” - Holmes spoke about her, almost being harmed by her enterprise.

Episode No. 4. Death fight.
Professor James Moriarty- the head of a powerful criminal organization, a genius of the criminal world. From a good family, he received an excellent education. Endowed with phenomenal mathematical abilities, allowing him to subtly manipulate the underworld of London. Sherlock Holmes crossed his path many times, but the murder of Milverton and the resulting loss of valuable documents of the organization, which allowed Holmes to expose him, were the last straw. Dies in a fight with Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls.
“This man has entwined his networks all over London, and no one really knows anything about him,” says Holmes.
Sebastian Moran- the second most dangerous person in London after Professor Moriarty. Retired Colonel, former officer in Her Majesty's Indian Army. He served in the first Bangalore Engineer Regiment. He was caught red-handed and fell into the trap of Sherlock Holmes.
A card sharper and hitman in the service of Professor Moriarty.

Peter Steiler Jr. - Involved in the case of the theft of Cupid's head at the Royal Museum
– all his life he was drawn to beauty, he could not resist. Holmes then
one treated him humanely.

Steiler was released early for good behavior and
lifting bought a modest hotel in the modest Swiss Alps.

If it weren't for Holmes, he wouldn't have lived here and admired this
beauty (damn it).

Episode No. 5. Tiger hunting.
Sir Ronald Adair- an honest young man, having won together with Colonel Moran and exposing him in fraud, gave the money to other players, as a result of which he ended up owing the colonel a round sum. He was shot by a colonel for non-payment of a debt.
Regular player and board member of the Bagatelle club. An avid gambler, but never goes beyond the limits of prudence. The youngest son of the governor of one of the English provinces in Australia.
Marker -
The spectacular six of Professor Moriarty.
Prone to colds, especially in spring. Widower, father of two children - a younger boy and an older girl. I was going to remarry, despite gout and a not quite correct bite.
He carried out small assignments and, thanks to his specific appearance, served as a means of psychological pressure on Moriarty’s “clients”. Catchphrase: “My advice to you.”

Hound of the Baskervilles.
Dr James Mortimer -
Country doctor, moved from London to the country in 1884.
Unambitious, absent-minded, dearly loves his cocker spaniel Snoopy. There is indirect evidence that he is married, although no one has ever seen his wife.
He became the unwitting initiator of the investigation when he discovered traces of an “og-huge dog” near the body of Sir Charles Baskerville.
Thanks to his “damned forgetfulness” and professionalism, he often switches to Latin when communicating with people, sees the skeleton in his interlocutor first of all, and prefers living grave remains, in which he often digs. As a result, he even managed to call Holmes “the second largest European expert.”
Sir Henry Baskerville -
He spent most of his childhood and youth in the United States and Canada and would have lived there happily if he had not received an inheritance in England.
A typical representative of the “golden youth” of the New World. Outwardly he is energetic, active and courageous, but inside he is unbalanced, prone to alcoholism and dependent.
I was very upset to learn that the Old World differs from the New World not only in clothes, but also in the menu.
In a stressful situation, he instinctively reached out to the first suitable individual of the opposite sex.
Catchphrases: “Who do they take me for in this hotel!”, “What is this, what, what is this, what was that?”
Secretly hates oatmeal and dogs.
John Barrymore- Sir Henry's butler
Butler. Representative of the fifth or sixth generation of Barrymores to live at Baskerville Hall. As a result, he has all the virtues of an English butler (probably at the genetic level), such as pathological equanimity, chronic neatness and punctuality, perfect diction, monumental coordination of movements and everything else that the owner to whom he is zealously devoted usually does not have.
Special features: neatly dressed, beard... black.
Catchphrase: "Oatmeal, sir!"
Eliza Barrymore- the wife of the butler John Barrymore, Sir Henry's housekeeper, cunning, curious, verbose, hysterical in nature. Thanks to this, she clarified a lot of things in the investigation, essentially pointing out the involvement of Laura Lyons in the case.
Jack Stapleton- cunning, friendly, cheerful.
A criminal adventurer with an entomological bent. Unable to cope with the loss of his social position after an “unpleasant incident” with an epidemic in the school he headed in Yorkshire, Stapleton, according to the old English tradition, went to great lengths, wanting to get the inheritance of Sir Charles Baskerville. The family legend about the dog only added to the charm of this purely English murder.
Baryl Stapleton -
Mrs Laura Lyons - Her maiden name was Laura Frankland. She married an artist named Lyons, who came to sketch, and then shamelessly abandoned her.
He makes a living by typing and is sliding down an inclined plane. She gives the impression of an intelligent woman, but apparently only externally. Her promiscuity in men almost destroyed her, making Laura an instrument in Stapleton’s criminal plans.
Mr Frankland- Laura Lyons' father. Active old senile. Over many years of practicing bad character, he lost all public interest in his person.
After a quarrel with his loving daughter Laura, he was left completely alone. He is trying to compensate for the current situation by attracting public attention through the judicial system.
He spent his entire fortune on legal fees. At the same time, he pretends that he has no personal interest in these matters - he is only fulfilling a public duty.

Treasures of Agra.
Irene Adler- a woman who managed to unravel Holmes’s plan when he, under the guise of a priest, wounded in a fight with beggars, entered her house and escaped. Holmes considered this case his defeat (despite the fact that he achieved his main goal), and about Irene Adler said: “This woman,” and instead of the reward offered by the King of Bohemia, he preferred to take a photograph of the above-mentioned person.
A mythical creature, the materialized personification of the feminine principle of Sherlock Holmes.
Before her, the great detective is powerless, like a savage before the idol of God. Abstract female logic cannot be analyzed, but is no less effective, and deduction is not a competitor to female intuition. A pure and cold mind next to someone like Irene Adler is nothing more than a beautiful yacht on the surface of the Pacific Ocean. You have a little time to enjoy the swim... while the ocean is truly "quiet"...
Thaddeus Sholto- an honest, eccentric, hypochondriac person, passionate about Eastern culture.
He gives the impression of a non-greedy, noble and stupid person. He loves to smoke hookah and at the same time worries about the mitral valve of his heart.
Bartholomew Sholto- Twin brother of Thaddeus Sholto.
Jonathan Small - Probably, about such people they say “Gentleman of Fortune”. The golden mean is not for them, they play a game of chance with this illusory “luck”, which accordingly provides them with only two options: Pan vs Lost. Or the treasures of Agra, or hard labor on the Andaman Islands. Their element is piracy. And piracy is not a banal robbery, it is the expropriation of expropriators, which gives a big jackpot and some kind of moral right. This is what Jonathan Small himself said. And he bears no ill will towards Sherlock Holmes... because those are the rules of the game of "luck".
Major Sholto - A typical representative of people who do not perceive money adequately. The result was acute attacks of stinginess, persecution mania, loss of conscience and common sense. Which is what he died with.
The jewelry, as expected, did not go to either him, his children, or Jonathan Small.
King of Bohemia

The twentieth century begins.

Sherlock Holmes's lover, Dr. Watson's wife, Mary Morstan, receives very little space in the stories about the adventures of the most famous detective in the world. Why did this happen and what is the fate of this woman?

Mary's early years

Mary Morstan was born in 1860 (according to other sources, in 1861) in the family of the British military man Arthur Morstan. Her exact place of birth is not specified. Most likely, this is India, where Captain Morstan served.

Judging by Mary's appearance, who is described as a pretty, blue-eyed blonde, her mother was European or English, but not Indian. Although such marriages were not uncommon among British military personnel in the 19th century. This woman probably did not have very good health, which was aggravated by the Indian climate: Mrs. Morstan died when Mary was very young. Or it was some kind of hereditary disease that later killed Mary.

The girl's father was a poor man, although his military career in India was going well. And he had no wealthy friends or relatives. After the death of his wife, he had no one to leave his daughter with, so he sent her to Edinburgh, to a private boarding school.

Mary's fate after the death of her mother, before meeting her future husband

Mary Morstan spent all her childhood years, until 1878, in a boarding school. She had not seen her father until that time.

The story does not exactly indicate the reason why, in 1878, Captain Arthur Morstan decided to take a leave of absence and, after many years of absence, return to his homeland and demand his share of the treasure from Major Sholto. Probably his daughter was the culprit. After all, by that time she had turned 17 - and at that age girls leave boarding schools. Most likely, Morstan planned, having received his share of the money, to take care of his daughter during the year's vacation. His telegram to Mary hinted at this. If this happened, Miss Morstan would become one of the richest brides in Britain.

However, fate instantly deprived the girl of all hopes. Arriving at her father's hotel, Mary Morstan learns that he is missing.

Left without her beloved father and without relatives who could provide for the orphan, the girl was forced to take a job as a companion to Mrs. Cecil Forrester. Although the woman treated her sympathetically, she paid Mary very little, which is why the girl was very poor.

4 years after her father disappeared, Mary learned that an unknown person was looking for her through an advertisement in the Times. Having told this man her address, Miss Morstan began to receive a large and very expensive pearl every year.

After 6 years, the same unknown person sent Mary an invitation to meet. However, the girl was afraid to go to the meeting alone and turned to private detective Sherlock Holmes.

The story “The Sign of Four”: the first acquaintance with Miss Morstan

Arriving at 221b Baker Street, the girl met Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, Dr. John Watson. This is where the events of Arthur Conan Doyle's story, “The Sign of Four,” begin.

Having learned Mary's story, Sherlock and John agree to help her. It is worth noting that Watson liked Miss Morstan immediately, and Holmes noticed this and reacted rather negatively to it.

Arriving at a meeting with Thaddeus Sholto, Dr. Watson's future wife learned the truth about her father's death. It turns out that while in India, Morstan and Sholto conspired with a prisoner named Jonathan Small. He told them where the treasures of the Rajah of the northern provinces were, and in return asked them to organize an escape for him and his three friends.

However, Sholto was stingy and mean: he single-handedly took possession of the valuables and left with them for England. After some time, Morstan visited him and demanded his share. During the quarrel, the captain became ill and died, and Sholto, fearing that he would be considered a murderer, hid the body and only on his deathbed told his sons about what had happened.

Since the major died before he could tell where the treasure was, his children for 6 years could not find it. At this time they sent Mary pearls so that she would not need anything. When the treasure was found, the Sholto brothers wanted to meet the girl and give her a third of the treasure.

But the deceived convict Jonathan Small managed to return to England. Together with his assistant, a native from the Andaman Islands, Small stole a treasure chest. When Sherlock and the police got on his trail, he threw the jewelry into the Thames.

Thus, Mary lost her chance to get rich for the second time in her life. However, fate had mercy: upon learning that she was poor, Watson confessed his feelings to her and proposed. Soon, Dr. Watson and Mary Morstan got married and began to live separately from Sherlock.

The married life of the Watsons

Little is known about Mary's married years. It is mentioned that she gave birth to Watson's son, and in 1893 (or in 1894) both mother and child died.

After Mary's death, Watson returned to Holmes and continued to be his partner.

As for the mention of this heroine in the works of Conan Doyle, after “The Sign of Four,” Mrs. Watson appeared in two more stories: “The Hunchback” and “The Mystery of Boscombe Valley.” By the time The Norwood Contractor was released, she had died.

Cause of death of Mary Watson

Why the wife and son died is not really explained in the books. A popular version is that the cause of this was some kind of infectious disease. At the same time, the true reason why Conan Doyle “killed” Watson’s young wife is widely known.

The fact is that writing stories about Holmes periodically bored the writer. He was more willing to write fantasy stories a la H. G. Wells. However, detective stories paid significantly more than others. Therefore, although he twice tried to complete the series of stories about Sherlock Holmes, first by killing his hero and then marrying Watson, the writer later returned to him again.

After the wedding, it became necessary to return the doctor to Holmes on Baker Street. And for this, the author had to “bring to the grave” the unfortunate Mary and her child.

The fate of Mary Elizabeth Morstan according to the creators of the series "Sherlock"

Unlike Irene Adler, the character of Mary does not appear in all film adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. But even if they show her, as a rule, the girl’s biography is not particularly changed.

However, in the modern British film adaptation - the series "Sherlock", Mary is given a lot of attention, and her biography is quite changed. What is it like?

As in the original, in the series the heroine is an orphan, only her name is Rosamund Mary. Having matured, the girl chooses the profession of a mercenary, and soon becomes very successful. Together with her 3 colleagues, she formed the AGRA group and performed various tasks to eliminate and save people for money.

One day, while carrying out a mission for the British government, AGRA was betrayed. As a result, only Rosamund managed to survive. She abandoned her past and, taking a new name, “Mary Morstan,” began working as a nurse in a London hospital.

Here she met John Watson and they began an affair. Six months later, the lovers got married, and Mary became pregnant. The all-powerful blackmailer Charles Magnussen found out about Mrs. Watson's past and began to pursue her. But Sherlock and John, having learned the truth, helped Mary escape punishment.

Nine months later she gave birth to Watson's daughter Rosamund. But it soon became clear that one of her comrades from AGRA was also alive and, considering Mary a traitor, wanted to kill her.

Sherlock manages to find out that the culprit was an employee of the British government, Vivian. Unmasked, she tried to kill the detective, but the bullet accidentally hit Mary, and she died.

Thus, as in the book, Watson returned to Baker Street again.

Other important stories about Sherlock Holmes

In addition to Mrs. Watson, there are 2 more important heroines in the book: Sherlock - the swindler Irene Adler, and the owner of the detective's apartment - Mission Hudson. What is known about them?

Irene Adler, unlike the book Mary, was not only a brilliant beauty, but also an adventurer. She was born in New Jersey (USA) in 1858. Possessing not only beauty, but also a fantastic voice, the girl managed to make an excellent career as an opera singer in Italy and Poland.

While touring in Warsaw, Adler became the mistress of the King of Bohemia. And some time after breaking up with him, she left the stage and moved to London. Here she meets British lawyer Godfrey Norton and secretly marries him.

Being a very practical person, Irene hides a photo of herself and the king, with which she can blackmail the monarch. Sherlock manages to find the hiding place, but Adler unravels his plan and manages to escape with his husband, taking the photo. In her farewell letter, she promises not to blackmail the king if he does not try to harm her.

Irene died sometime in 1888-1891. The details of her death are unknown.

Mrs. Hudson is another woman who was valued by Sherlock Holmes. The biographies of Mary Morstan and Irene Adler are more or less detailed in the books. But there is no such detailed information about Mrs. Hudson’s life, it is only specified that she is a widow. Moreover, she is smart, economical and very clean. Also, her name is not mentioned in the book, nor is her appearance.

Although Mrs. Hudson has a hard time getting along with Sherlock, his politeness and generosity towards her makes up for his antics. In addition, she understands that her tenant is doing a good deed, and sometimes she helps him herself.

We've all heard of Sherlock Holmes, who is considered by most people to be the greatest fictional detective of all time. His popularity is so great that there is an entire community called the Baker Street Irregulars, whose members develop the Sherlock Holmes universe by writing fan fiction and organizing reconstructions. Such popularity inevitably leads to the emergence of many myths about the character. Mythology becomes distorted over time, and some fictions are accepted as facts. Below are 10 common beliefs about Sherlock Holmes that are actually misconceptions.

10. Innocent people

Misconception: He didn't do bad things to innocent people just to solve another crime.

Sherlock Holmes is considered by many to be the white knight of the detective world: he solves crimes using only his wits, and innocent people are never harmed in the process. He's considered the greatest fictional detective, but Sherlock also had a dark side, and it's not just his addiction to drugs or eccentric habits. Sherlock Holmes was ready to do anything to solve a crime, and he often played with people's destinies just for fun. In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, he becomes engaged to a maid to get closer to a villain he suspects of committing a crime. After completing the investigation, he simply leaves the woman, which probably was not the most pleasant moment in her life. He didn't even try to explain the situation to her, and there are no more mentions of it in the books. He also hired a small group of street urchins to do his dirty work for him, whom he affectionately called the Baker Street Militia. The boys are mentioned in the following stories: The Sign of the Four, A Study in Scarlet and The Adventure of the Crooked Man.

9. Progressiveness


Misconception: Sherlock Holmes' social views were progressive

In the story “The Adventure of the Three Gables,” Sherlock Holmes engages in rude and racist dialogue with blacks. He calls the black boxer stupid just because of the color of his skin and even makes fun of the size of his lips. An excerpt describing Holmes’ dialogue with Steve Dixie, a black boxer: “Yes, it’s me, Steve Dixie. And Mass Holmes will probably feel it the hard way if he tries to fool me. “But that’s what you use least of all,” Holmes replied.” After the boxer leaves, Sherlock says: “Fortunately, you didn’t have to test the strength of his not very intelligent head, Watson. Your maneuvers with the poker were not lost on me. But in reality, Dixie is a pretty harmless guy. Just a hugely powerful, stupid, boastful child. Did you notice how easily it was possible to subdue him?” Sherlock later makes racist remarks about blacks in general. However, it is worth noting an important circumstance. At the time when these stories were written, such attitudes towards blacks were common - this, of course, does not justify racism, but it is also not a feature of Holmes that distinguishes him from the rest of the population of England at that time. It is also interesting that many researchers believe that “The Incident at the Three Skates,” which contains the most racist statements, is a fake, which was not written by Arthur Conan Doyle. This would not be surprising, since fan fiction on the theme of Sherlock Holmes began to appear a very long time ago.

8. Withholding information


Misconception: Sherlock Holmes does not give information he has to the police

In the recently released Sherlock Holmes films, there are several scenes in which Holmes takes evidence from a crime scene and hides it from the police. This allows him to always be several steps ahead during the investigation and solve crimes first. But in the books he acted completely differently. Sherlock Holmes always left enough clues for the police to guess what he had already understood - this is mentioned in the story “The Adventure of the Devils Foot”. He also often shared information with the police if he learned that they were on the wrong trail - such a situation happened in the story "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge". Sherlock Holmes was faster than the police only because he was better at deduction than them. Scenes in which Sherlock Holmes deliberately hides evidence damage the image of a detective who has never done such a thing.

7. Best friend


Misconception: Holmes trusts his best friend Doctor Watson

Doctor John Watson is Sherlock Holmes's best friend, who was also his biographer and assistant in particularly dangerous cases. Their friendship is very strong and they remain friends throughout their lives. Holmes even says that he would be “lost without his Boswell,” a reference to the famous 18th-century biographer Samuel Johnson. However, although Holmes appreciated Watson's medical knowledge and knew that he would always come to his aid in difficult times, he never completely trusted the doctor. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes asks Watson to observe what is happening in Baskerville Hall, but then heads to the swamp himself because he does not trust his friend. Moreover, he does not even inform Watson that he came to the same place where the Doctor was already. Also, in the story “Sherlock Holmes is Dying” (The Adventure of the Dying Detective), the detective pretends to be sick with a deadly disease, because he believes that Watson would not be able to keep the secret that it was just a pretense. Although Holmes claims that he respects Watson's professional qualities, the fact that he did not believe that the doctor could play along with him does not paint the detective in the best light.

6. Odd manners


Misconception: Holmes dressed eccentrically and was sloppy

Not all film adaptations feature this myth, but the latest film adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr., portrays this misconception to its fullest extent. Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes wears over-the-top clothes that don't fit him and gives off the image of a man with poor hygiene. However, in The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes is described as a man who takes care of his hygiene like a cat. He wears traditional, conservative clothing for his time and has always been described as an incredibly clean man. The same story tells that, despite the fact that Sherlock Holmes lived in an old hut on a swamp, during the investigation he remained clean and tidy - he even specially arranged for fresh bed linen and clothes to be brought there for him.

5. Cap and snorkel

Misconception: Holmes is always pictured wearing a deerstalker's hat and smoking a gourd pipe.

The popular image of Holmes wearing a deer hunter's hat and smoking pipe is so common that these accessories are considered an integral part of the detective. However, this is fiction. The cap and pipe combination was invented for the theater and was never used by Sherlock in the books. The gourd pipe (calabash) was first used by the actor in one of the first productions of the play about Sherlock Holmes. The actor chose it because the receiver could be easily held on his chest while he was talking. In the books, Holmes used a completely different pipe. This may seem like a nitpick, but it was worth mentioning because the deerstalker hat/calabash combination has become synonymous with Holmes and detective stories in general.

4. Middle age


Misconception: Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes - middle-aged gentlemen

In popular culture, Sherlock Holmes and his friend Doctor Watson are portrayed as sophisticated, middle-aged men. This mistake can be easily explained, because Dr. Watson had already been in the war and was a skilled doctor, and Holmes managed to gain a brilliant reputation. However, Holmes and Watson were actually quite young - in most stories they are just over 25 years old. Holmes and Watson are close in age: Sherlock is believed to have been born in 1854 and met the Doctor in 1881. Most of their adventures happened in the early years after they became friends, which means they were quite young - they were no more than 30 years old. The explanation for how they could achieve such heights at such a young age is simple: they were both outstanding young men. Although Dr. Watson is overshadowed by his friend, he was a good professional, had a brilliant mind and performed well during the war.

3. Short things


Misconception: Holmes did not spend more than a couple of months solving the case and ended his career at a relatively young age

There is a grain of truth in this: Sherlock did solve most crimes with unimaginable speed. And he planned to end his career at a young age. Holmes "retired" and began studying bees and even published a book, which he called his "great work", containing his observations collected while breeding bees. However, the government had a problem: there were information leaks in the government, they were losing agents and could not understand who was behind it. After several high-ranking officials asked him about it, Holmes finally agreed to take on the investigation of this case, which is described in the story “His Farewell Bow.” As a result, Holmes finds the German secret agent who was causing all the trouble and invites Doctor Watson to the final act. He tells Doctor Watson that his plan to capture a German agent was so complicated that he had to join a secret Irish society in America for two years - all in order to defeat one agent. It's safe to say that Holmes' work was incredibly thorough.

2. Irene Adler


Misconception: Sherlock Holmes loved Irene Adler

The creators of many films and television series believed that in order to make their works more interesting for viewers to watch, it was necessary to add a romantic storyline. You could see a dramatized example of this in films starring Robert Downey Jr., who played a bisexual, eccentric playboy in love with both Irene Adler and his friend Doctor Watson. The storyline about falling in love with Irene Adler is perfect, isn't it? Well, except that there was no love. Irene Adler is only mentioned in one story, A Scandal in Bohemia, and the only thing she says to Sherlock as she passes him is: "Good night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." Sherlock later describes her as a "Woman with a capital W", but only because she was the only woman who in any way surpassed him. He respected her for her intelligence, but did not regard her as a romantic interest, and she was never seen again in the books. If you need further proof, Arthur Conan Doyle described Sherlock Holmes as "inhuman, like Babbage's Analytical Engine" and believed that his famous detective was not interested in love.

1. Professor Moriarty


Misconception: Professor James Moriarty was his nemesis

Despite the popular belief drilled into us by many television series and films, Professor Moriarty was not Sherlock Holmes's worst enemy. Moreover, Moriarty appears in only one story - “The Final Problem”. He was also mentioned in passing in the story "The Valley of Fear" - he provided advice to other criminals for a fee. Apart from their famous battle at the Reichenbach Falls, there is no information in the books about any violent confrontation between Holmes and Moriarty. In fact, Arthur Conan Doyle was tired of the Sherlock Holmes character and wanted to move on to other projects, so he simply created a conflict between Moriarty and Holmes to kill off his most famous hero. However, fans of the books were so outraged by this that the author had to reluctantly resurrect Holmes. It is unlikely that there has ever been another character so beloved by the people that people wore black bands on their arms to mourn his death.

In the story "The Bruce-Partington Blueprints", set in November 1895, Mycroft Holmes is described as follows:

Portly, even overweight, he seemed the embodiment of enormous potential physical strength, but above this massive body towered a head with such a magnificent forehead of a thinker, with such penetrating, deep-set steel-colored eyes, with such a firmly defined mouth and such a subtle play of facial expression that you they immediately forgot about the clumsy body and clearly felt only the powerful intellect dominating it.

He occupies a significant post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although when Holmes did not know Watson well enough, he said that his brother “checks the financial statements of one ministry.” Sherlock, in the same story “The Bruce-Partington Drawings,” tells Watson about his brother:

He is in the service of the British government. And it is also true that he is sometimes the British government itself.<…>Mycroft receives £450 a year, occupies a subordinate position, has not the slightest ambition, refuses titles and titles, and yet is the most independent man in all of England<…>You see, he has a very special role, and he created it for himself<…>He is presented with the conclusions of all departments, he is the center, the clearinghouse where the overall balance is drawn up.<…>In his powerful brain, everything is sorted into shelves and can be presented at any time. More than once one of his words decided the issue of state policy - he lives in it, all his thoughts are absorbed in that alone.

Holmes also noted that Mycroft's specialty was "know everything". Like Sherlock, Mycroft is brilliant at the “deductive method”, even significantly superior to his brother in his mastery, but does not use it as a working tool, here is what Sherlock says about this: “If the art of the detective began and ended with brooding in the quiet armchair, my brother Mycroft would be the greatest crime-solver in the world. But he has no ambition and no energy.". Mycroft is also one of the founding members of the Diogenes Club of Whitehall, which brings together the most unsociable people in London. He rarely communicates with Sherlock: in the story “The Bruce-Partington Drawings” Sherlock says that Mycroft only visited him once on Baker Street, and by that time the detective had been living there for more than 10 years. Mycroft calls Sherlock “my boy”, and the detective calls his brother “dear Mycroft”.

Mary Morstan

She first appears in the work “The Sign of Four”, as a client. Until the age of seventeen, she was brought up in a private boarding school in Edinburgh.

She was a very young girl, blonde, fragile, graceful, dressed with impeccable taste and wearing impeccably clean gloves. But in her clothes there was noticeable that modesty, if not simplicity, that suggests straitened circumstances. She wore a dress of dark gray wool, without any trimmings, and a small hat of the same gray tone, which was slightly enlivened by a white feather on the side. Her face was pale, and her features were not distinguished by regularity, but the expression of this face was sweet and inviting, and her large blue eyes shone with spirituality and kindness.

Chapter II “We get to know the case”, novel “The Sign of Four”

Mary was supposed to inherit the wealth, but at the last moment it was lost. Immediately after this became clear, Watson confessed his love to her. Subsequently, they decided to get married, which Holmes was extremely upset about.

Holmes let out a cry of despair. - I was so afraid of this! - he said. - No, I cannot congratulate you.
- Don't you like my choice? - I asked, slightly hurt.
- Like (...) But love is an emotional thing, and, being such, it is the opposite of pure and cold reason.

The death of Mary Morstan is mentioned in passing by Sherlock Holmes in the story “The Empty House” with the words:

Somehow Holmes managed to find out about my wife's death, but his sympathy was expressed rather in his tone,
than in words.
“Work is the best antidote to grief, dear Watson,” he said, “and what awaits you and me tonight is
such work that the person who manages to successfully complete it will be able to safely say,
that he didn’t live his life in vain.

Before this, Watson himself says that his wife gave birth to a son, but both the son and Mrs. Watson died. After her death, Watson moves back to Baker Street.

Policemen

Mr Lestrade

Hopkins appears in the 1894 short story "Pince-nez in Gold," in which he is described as "a young, up-and-coming detective in whose career Holmes took an interest." In the story "Black Peter", set in 1895, there is a description of Hopkins by Dr. Watson:

“A thin, agile man of about thirty came into our room. He wore a modest woolen suit, but his bearing showed that he was accustomed to wearing a military uniform. I immediately recognized Stanley Hopkins, a young police inspector who, according to Holmes, showed great promise. Hopkins, in turn, considered himself a student of the famous detective and admired his scientific methods."

He comes from a good family, received an excellent education and is naturally endowed with phenomenal mathematical abilities. When he was twenty-one, he wrote a treatise on Newton's binomial, which won him European fame. After this, he received a chair in mathematics at one of our provincial universities, and, in all likelihood, a brilliant future awaited him. But the blood of a criminal flows in his veins. He has a hereditary tendency towards cruelty. And his extraordinary mind not only does not moderate, but even strengthens this tendency and makes it even more dangerous. Dark rumors spread about him on the university campus where he taught, and in the end he was forced to leave the department and move to London, where he began preparing young people for the officer exam...

The most brilliant mind in Europe, who also leads all the forces of hell.

Also, Holmes describes him as the "Napoleon of the underworld." This phrase was borrowed by Arthur Conan Doyle from one of the Scotland Yard inspectors in the case of Adam Worth, an international criminal of the 19th century who served as the prototype for the literary Moriarty.

It is interesting to note that Professor Moriarty, who became a shining example of a fictional villain and even managed to become a nomadic character in culture (as well as the “femme fatale”, Irene Adler), in Conan Doyle’s original works he himself appears directly in only one story - “The Last Case” Holmes." In addition, there is a description of Moriarty's appearance:

This man looks amazingly like a Presbyterian preacher, he has such a thin face, and gray hair, and stilted speech. Saying goodbye, he put his hand on my shoulder - just like a father, blessing his son to meet the cruel, cold world.

Possesses untold wealth. He takes every opportunity to hide his position, since his official income as a professor is approximately seven hundred pounds a year. Here is how he himself speaks about this:

...He tries to hide the size of his wealth. Not a single person should know this. I think he has at least twenty bank accounts, and it is likely that the main capital is located abroad, somewhere in Germany or France.

It also appears in books that are continuations of the stories about Sherlock Holmes, but written by other authors. For example, in the novel “The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes” by Jamyang Norbu, as well as in the novels by D. Gardner “The Return of Moriarty” (Russian translation was published in 2012 by the Veche publishing house, ISBN 978-5-9533-5837-8), “Moriarty’s Revenge” (Russian translation was published in 2012 by the Veche publishing house, ISBN 978-5-9533-6010-4), “Moriarty. The Last Chapter" (Russian translation was published in 2012 by the Veche publishing house, ISBN 978-5-9533-6011-1), in which Sherlock Holmes is no longer present.

Sherlock Holmes' clients

The famous detective's clients included people from the lowest strata to kings ("Scandal in Bohemia"). Most often, Holmes sees the client in advance while standing at the window. He brings this to Dr. Watson's attention, talking about how they are looking for a house at 221-b Baker Street. After Holmes solves the client's riddle, the latter ceases to be interesting to him, and Holmes no longer communicates with him.