The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle

HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.‘It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished.’This collection of eleven stories depict Holmes and Watson at their very best and solving some of their most notorious cases, culminating in ‘The Final Problem’. In this infamous tale, Holmes comes face-to-face with his greatest opponent, the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, at the Reichenbach Falls.Each of the stories was previously published in The Strand magazine before being released together in a single volume in 1894. This is a quintessential collection, and a must-have for collectors and fans of one of the finest sleuths in English literature.

THE MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

Arthur Conan Doyle

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William Collins

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This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2016

Life & Times section © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from

Collins English Dictionary

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Cover image: The Death of Sherlock Holmes, English School (20th century) / Private Collection / © Look and Learn / Bridgeman Images

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780008167523

Ebook Edition © May 2016 ISBN: 9780008167530

Version: 2016-04-21

CONTENTS

Cover (#u8a562275-86e6-50ae-bc40-1513e19e18c2)

Title Page (#u94779996-620b-5577-846e-48a7705de7c1)

Copyright

History of William Collins

Life & Times

Silver Blaze

The Yellow Face

The Stock-Broker’s Clerk

The Gloria Scott

The Musgrave Ritual

The Reigate Squires

The Crooked Man

The Resident Patient

The Greek Interpreter

The Naval Treaty

The Final Problem

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases

About the Publisher

History of William Collins (#ucbdc8667-4b34-53ee-949a-adfbbd218b6e)

In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly ‘Victorian’ in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and The Pilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time.

A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of ‘books for the millions’ was developed, although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics, and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition – publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible, and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

Life & Times (#ucbdc8667-4b34-53ee-949a-adfbbd218b6e)

About the Author