The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes facts for kids
Dust-jacket illustration of the first edition of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
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| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Sherlock Holmes |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Publisher | John Murray |
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Publication date
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1927 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 320 |
| Preceded by | His Last Bow |
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the very last collection of short stories about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, written by Arthur Conan Doyle. There are twelve exciting stories in this book. They were first published in a magazine called Strand Magazine between 1921 and 1927.
Contents
What's in a Name?
When The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes was first published in June 1927, it had slightly different names in different countries. The first British version, published by John Murray, was called The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Notice the hyphen between "Case" and "Book".
However, the first American version, published by George H. Doran Co., was called The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. Here, "Case Book" was two separate words. To make it even more confusing, some later publishers released the collection as The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, with "Casebook" as one word.
What Stories Are Inside?
The first edition of The Case-Book, published by John Murray in 1927, did not list the stories in the order they were first published. Here is the list of the twelve stories:
| Chapter | Story | First publication | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Magazine(s) | |||
| 1 | "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" | 8 November 1924 | Collier's | |
| 2 | "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" | 16 October 1926 | Liberty | |
| 3 | "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" | October 1921 | The Strand Magazine | |
| 4 | "The Adventure of the Three Gables" | 18 September 1926 | Liberty | |
| 5 | "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" | January 1924 | The Strand Magazine Hearst's International |
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| 6 | "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" | 25 October 1924 | Collier's | |
| 7 | "The Problem of Thor Bridge" | February–March 1922 | The Strand Magazine Hearst's International |
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| 8 | "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" | March 1923 | The Strand Magazine Hearst's International |
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| 9 | "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" | 27 November 1926 | Liberty | |
| 10 | "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" | 22 January 1927 | Liberty | |
| 11 | "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" | 5 March 1927 | Liberty | |
| 12 | "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" | 18 December 1926 | Liberty | |
Who Owns the Stories?
When a book or story is written, it usually has a copyright. This means only the writer or their family can decide how it's used for a certain amount of time. After this time, the work enters the public domain. This means anyone can use it freely.
In the United States, two stories from The Case-Book – "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger" and "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" – were the last Sherlock Holmes stories still protected by copyright. They became free for everyone to use on January 1, 2023. In the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, the copyright for these stories ended much earlier, on January 1, 1981.
Sherlock Holmes on Screen and Radio
Many of the stories from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes have been turned into radio shows and TV series.
- Radio shows like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1930–1936) and The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939–1950) adapted all the stories.
- The BBC also made a Sherlock Holmes radio series (1952–1969) that included almost all the stories from this collection.
- The famous Granada television series (1984–1994) adapted most of the stories, too. For example, "The Mazarin Stone" and "The Three Garridebs" were combined into one episode.
- More recently, The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes radio series (2005–2016) adapted all the stories in the collection.
