Although Edgar Allan Poe is credited with inventing the detective story in the 1840s, and although two novellas featuring Sherlock Holmes appeared in 1887 (
A Study in Scarlet) and 1890 (
The Sign of the Four), it was the series of twelve Holmes stories that appeared in
The Strand Magazinebetween July 1891 and June 1892, published together late in 1892 as
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, that gave the modern detective story its form and made it, along with science fiction and fantasy, one of the most popular genres of fiction for over a century. Thus
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmesranks among the most important works of popular fiction of the last 125 years, since it created one of popular culture’s most enduring icons: the detective. People who have never read a Holmes story, or…
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Citation: Clausson, Nils. "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 August 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=10036, accessed 23 November 2024.]
