Ramblings: Sherlock Holmes Day / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Birthday

Sherlock Holmes Day / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Birthday

Today - May 22nd, marks the birth date of one of Crime literature's most beloved authors - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and his most famous character, Sherlock Holmes.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on May 22nd, 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland. While he was educated as a medical doctor, he became famous for his work as an author. 

His first story featuring the iconic detective was A Study In Scarlet, published in 1887. In total, he wrote 56 short stories and 4 novels featuring Sherlock Holmes. At one point he grew tired of writing Sherlock Holmes stories and he considered writing a death for Holmes. Feeling some pressure from his mother not to kill the character, he instead started charging a much higher amount to the publisher for Sherlock Holmes stories, thinking that would discourage the publisher from wanting more, but the publisher was willing to pay the increased price without issue, making him one of the highest paid authors of his time. Ultimately he did write a scene in where Holmes seems to go over the side of a waterfall with his nemesis Professor Moriarty - but later wrote more stories passing the scene off as a diversion to Holmes other enemies, and saying only Moriarty actually went over the falls.

Doyle also wrote in other genres, including; Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Poetry, History, and Non-Fiction, as well as plays.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died July 7, 1930 of a heart attack. Since then there have been many authors who have written stories featuring the iconic detective, as well as movies and T.V. 

Happy Reading, 

Christine