Arthur Conan Doyle, Creator of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, eventually studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and built his writerly ambitions there. He published his first short story when he was only 20 and still deep in his medical training. He achieved his Doctor of Medicine in 1885 and continued professional studies as he continued to write and write and write. In 1886 he sold A Study in Scarlet, featuring a detective who was based on an instructor he had in medical school. It was published a year later, and the definition of what constituted a mystery in Western fiction began to be forever changed.
Within a few years of the debut of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle was ready to kill him off and move on to his many other projects, thus betraying a pattern of never quite understanding what was best for himself as a writer. Eventually, however, Holmes and Watson were featured in 56 short stories and 4 novels. The tension between rationality and suspense, between dissection and animation, was a powerful creative drive for Doyle. Sometimes he doesn’t seem to have understood it, and sometimes it is captured perfectly, flawlessly. It has been a gift to over a century of other writers, those who work within the canon’s inspiration and those who push back in various ways.
Doyle kept writing his science fiction and his beloved historical novels as he nailed down immortality with Sherlock Holmes. We carry what we can of what is in print. He is a good writer for that bridge age between YA and adult literature, by the way. And the comfort of his storytelling style, even when one thrills to the Hound of the Baskervilles all over again, makes him a writer for all ages and tastes and backgrounds. Enjoy!
Sir Nigel: A Novel of the Hundred Years War
Sir Nigel: A Novel of the Hundred Years War
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a prolific writer born in Scotland, who started out as a medical doctor and took an occupational detour that made him world-famous. While studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, he augmented his income by writing stories — a pursuit that led to the creation of Sherlock Holmes, one of literature's best-loved detectives. Doyle also wrote many works of history and science fiction, plus plays and poetry. Set against the fourteenth-century war between England and France, Sir Nigel is an action-packed adventure classic, filled to the brim with history, conflict, chivalry, and a dash of romance.
This illustrated epic, which the author calls "the most complete, satisfying, and ambitious thing I have ever done," introduces young squire Nigel Loring as he leaves home to serve King Edward at the start of the Hundred Years' War. Though small of stature, Nigel possesses a "lion heart and the blood of a hundred soldiers thrilling in his veins" that propel him to accomplish heroic acts in his quest for knighthood. The star upon his path is his beloved Lady Mary, who waits for him to complete three courageous acts so he can win her hand in marriage. Faced with fierce combat, a desperate battle at sea, and a terrifying encounter with the Red Ferret that leaves him close to death, can Nigel fulfill his promise?
Reprint of the Smith, Elder & Co, London, 1906 edition.