Doyle, Holmes, and Watson—a “Special” Trinity

Abstract

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was both a physician and a versatile author of historical novels, short stories, volumes of poems, plays, histories, science fiction, and publications on occult science. He was the creator of a spectacularly popular series of crime-solving adventures involving the exploits of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. In the span of about 40 years, 4 novels and 56 related short stories featuring Holmes and Watson were published. They have sold in the many millions of copies, including various editions and translations. The central figures of these adventures have been metamorphosed from characters in stories into real persons. They were so well drawn by Doyle that they transcended the printed page and became living, breathing human beings to thousands of enthusiastic devotees. Enough books and articles have been published about these characters and their adventures to fill a sizable library. Bibliographic tools note at least 30,000 items such as biographies, postage stamps issued in their honor, directories, encyclopedias, periodicals, cards, cartoons, advertisements, memorabilia, more than 300 movies, more than 75 television productions, more than 70 plays, several musicals, 35 different series broadcast on the radio, and at least 1 ballet. Sherlock Holmes has even been awarded an Honorary Diploma in the Art and Science of Sleuthing from Colorado State University (Fort Collins). Holmes and Watson are 2 of the most immediately recognizable figures in popular culture. Their images have been adapted countless times for innumerable purposes. Biographical data concerning them can be drawn from the research efforts of Holmesian authorities. Sherlock Holmes, probably William Sherlock Holmes, was born on January 6, 1854, in the North Riding of Yorkshire (England). His father, a country squire, was probably named Sigerson, and his maternal grandmother was a sister of French painter Horace Vernet (1789-1863). Sherlock had 2 brothers, Mycroft and Sherrinford. Mycroft worked for the English government, and Sherrinford emigrated to the Territory of New Mexico, where he died of smallpox in 1885. Sherlock attended either the University of Cambridge or the University of Oxford. He went to London after about 2 years without obtaining his degree. Holmes never married because he believed it would bias his judgment. In many respects, he was a complicated character. Nothing could exceed his puissance when he was working, but now and again a reaction would seize him, and for hours on end he would lie on the sofa hardly uttering a word or moving a muscle. He sometimes turned to drugs for stimulation, and then an even blacker depression would overtake him, from which he could be rescued only by a case. John Henry or Hamish Watson was born on July 7 or September 18, 1852, in Hampshire (England). He had 1 brother, Henry, who was “a drunkard.” After his mother's death when he was still quite young, Watson moved with his father to Australia. He returned to England, obtained his medical degree in 1878 at the University of London, practiced medicine (first at the St Bartholomew Hospital in London and then at the army surgical school at Netley near Southampton), and was subsequently sent to India, where he was attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as assistant surgeon. Watson was wounded on July 27, 1880, at the “fatal battle of Maiwand” (Afghanistan). After a long convalescence in a base hospital, he returned to England, where he was introduced to Holmes and began their “great partnership.” From 1903, he served as medical officer at a London asylum, took a teaching post in Birmingham, set up a general practice, did some surgery, retired, and finally settled in the Northwest. Watson was kind, sensible, genial, and composed. He enjoyed sports, tales of the sea, Turkish baths, and dogs. He was possessed of a kind of wild courage and tended to be romantic, easily deceived, occasionally rash, and sometimes headstrong. Regarding the deaths of Holmes and Watson, we can borrow from a sonnet written by Vincent Starrett (1886-1974): “Here dwell together still two men of note Who never lived and so can never die…. Here, though the world explode, these two survive. And it is always eighteen ninety-five.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr John Watson were honored on a set of 4 stamps showing scenes from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. One of the stamps (Scott No. 632), issued by Turks and Caicos Islands in 1984, depicts Holmes introducing Dr Watson to Mycroft Holmes in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.