The Classic Illustrated Sherlock Holmes, In Dust Jacket

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Classic fiction, hardback.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Crime

636 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains all 37 short stories of Sherlock Holmes plus the novel "Hound of the Baskervilles". I got this book about 25 years ago and have been reading one or two of the short stories every year.

Many many hours of enjoyment. Just a great read that I think everyone should experience.

I will be the first to admit that you really have to be in the mood for the style of writing that Doyle employs but when I'm in the mood nothing is better. Of course Sherlock Holmes is almost too smart to be believable and Watson can sometimes be a bumbling idiot but come on Holmes and Watson are two of the greatest characters in literature history! There are no secrets to give away or spoilers because we're all familiar with Sherlock Holmes so just go out and read this if you haven't.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this book since I was about ten years old and never finished it. It's taken me a long time to get here, but I'm glad I finally did. I took my time, and started over on this book, and finally made my way through it. Now I just need to finish the rest of the Sherlock Holmes stories not included in this book.

This includes several of the short story volumes and Hound of the Baskervilles.

[Marya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sherlock Holmes is a classic. These tales were revolutionary in their time and I can still appreciate Doyle's first use of what would later become tropes. The problem, as always, is one of time. So many people have been able to use, play, perfect and even parody these tropes, that seeing the original again can make it lose a little luster. It turns out that when I read this as a child, I loved the cleverness of the deductions (the curious incidence of the dog in the nighttime, for example). But as an adult rereading these tales, I realized that Doyle doesn't always play fair. Sometimes, Sherlock just cooks up solutions at the end without giving the reader the same clues. Sometimes those deductions are based on sloppy biases. Sometimes, there's a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing (especially action!). But the seed is there, and it's worth it to find that seed all over again.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first half of Holmes adventures, then needed a break on short stories so I put it down for awhile. Teenie suggested all four of us read A Tale of two Cities. Charles Dickens. A clasic I had not read. It was written in a flowery and detailed way, and it took me longer to read.

Then I got my copy of Diana Galbaldon of her four short stories and I also read that book. I don't know what date I went back to "The Hounds of the Baskerville", but itttr was in May 2013. I finished it and then the "Return adventures of Sherlock Homes" Finished last month.

I -- as all before me - am a Sherlock Homes fan...

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun read. Because it is mostly short stories, I read it here and there over a long time, and now that I'm done, I find I miss these characters each day.

One thought-provoking thing for me is Watson as a companion. A sounding board to Holmes, and silent for hours watching his friend work. The silence made me think of the book Quiet that I finished a little while ago about introverts. I place value on this trait of quiet observance too.

This edition was particularly fun as it is printed to appear like it did in the Strand magazine as originally published with the illustrations.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "The Hound Of The Baskervilles" from this version. It was a delight to read, because of the original fomatting and illustrations. I did find the newspaper form a little distracting when trying to find my place however!

Also, the story was better than the movie I had nightmares about as a little girl, and not nearly as frightening.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this languishing in one of my many book cases a few weeks ago. I had never read much by Doyle and was surprised to see how differently the character of Dr. Watson was penned vs. his portrayal by Nigel Bruce in the film series.

Again this is a book I can pick up and read a short story without getting started on one of the longer novels.

[Crystal Ellyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!!!!! I will be reading more Sherlock Holmes books.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has beautiful classic black and white illustrations throughout.