The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Cover of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Author	Arthur Conan Doyle
Illustrator	Sidney Paget
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Sherlock Holmes
Genre	Detective fiction
Publisher	George Newnes
Publication date	1893 (dated 1894)
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	viii, 279
Preceded by	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Followed by	The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of short stories. It was written by the British author Arthur Conan Doyle. The book was first published in late 1893, but it had the year 1894 printed on it.

This book was the second collection of stories about the clever detective Sherlock Holmes. It followed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Just like the first book, it had pictures drawn by Sidney Paget.

The twelve stories in this collection first appeared in The Strand Magazine. They were published there from December 1892 to December 1893. In the United States, most of these stories were first printed in Harper's Weekly.

Arthur Conan Doyle originally planned for these to be the very last Holmes stories. He even wanted to end the character's life in the story "The Final Problem". However, readers loved Sherlock Holmes so much that they demanded more.

Because of this, Doyle wrote another Holmes novel in 1901–1902. It was called The Hound of the Baskervilles. This story happened before "The Final Problem". Later, a new series of stories began with The Return of Sherlock Holmes. In these stories, it was revealed that Holmes actually survived!

About the Book

This collection of stories is a classic in detective fiction. It features Sherlock Holmes and his loyal friend, Dr. Watson. They solve many puzzling cases together. The book shows Holmes's amazing skills in observation and deduction.

The Exciting Stories Inside

The stories in this book are presented in the same order they appeared in the magazine. Here are the twelve adventures you will find:

• "The Adventure of Silver Blaze"
• "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"
• "The Adventure of the Yellow Face"
• "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk"
• "The Adventure of the Gloria Scott"
• "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual"
• "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"
• "The Adventure of the Crooked Man"
• "The Adventure of the Resident Patient"
• "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter"
• "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty"
• "The Final Problem"

Why One Story Was Different

When The Memoirs was first published in London in 1894, it did not include "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box". All twelve stories had been in The Strand Magazine. The first US edition did include it, but it was quickly removed in later printings.

Because of this, "The Cardboard Box" was not reprinted for many years. Today, most British versions of the book include it in its original place. However, many American versions put it in a different collection called His Last Bow.

Bringing Stories to Life

Many of the stories from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes have been made into films, radio shows, and TV series.

• The Stoll film series (1921–1923) turned all the stories into short films.
• The radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1930–1936) also adapted all of them.
• The Granada television series (1984–1994) adapted eight of these stories.
• All the stories were adapted for BBC Radio 4 in the BBC Sherlock Holmes 1989–1998 radio series.
• The radio series The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (2005–2016) also adapted every story from this collection.