I fear that Mr. Sherlock Holmes may become like one of those popular
tenors who, having outlived their time, are still tempted to make
repeated farewell bows to their indulgent audiences. This must cease
and he must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary. One likes
to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of
imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding
may still make love to the belles of Richardson, where Scott's heroes
still may strut, Dickens's delightful Cockneys still raise a laugh, and
Thackeray's worldlings continue to carry on their reprehensible
careers. Perhaps in some humble corner of such a Valhalla, Sherlock
and his Watson may for a time find a place, while some more astute
sleuth with some even less astute comrade may fill the stage which they
have vacated.
His career has been a long one--though it is possible to exaggerate it;
decrepit gentlemen who approach me and declare that his adventures
formed the reading of their boyhood do not meet the response from me
which they seem to expect. One is not anxious to have one's personal
dates handled so unkindly. As a matter of cold fact Holmes made his
_début_ in _A Study in Scarlet_ and in _The Sign of Four_, two small
booklets which appeared between 1887 and 1889. It was in 1891 that "A
Scandal in Bohemia," the first of the long series of short stories,
appeared in _The Strand Magazine_. The public seemed appreciative and
desirous of more, so that from that date, thirty-six years ago, they
have been produced in a broken series which now contains no fewer than
fifty-six stories, republished in _The Adventures_, _The Memoirs_, _The
Return_, and _His Last Bow_, and there remain these twelve published
during the last few years which are here produced under the title of
_The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes_. He began his adventures in the
very heart of the later Victorian Era, carried it through the
all-too-short reign of Edward, and has managed to hold his own little
niche even in these feverish days. Thus it would be true to say that
those who first read of him as young men have lived to see their own
grown-up children following the same adventures in the same magazine.
It is a striking example of the patience and loyalty of the British
public.
I had fully determined at the conclusion of _The Memoirs_ to bring
Holmes to an end, as I felt that my literary energies should not be
directed too much into one channel. That pale, clear-cut face and
loose-limbed figure were taking up an undue share of my imagination. I
did the deed, but, fortunately, no coroner had pronounced upon the
remains, and so, after a long interval, it was not difficult for me to
respond to the flattering demand and to explain my rash act away. I
have never regretted it, for I have not in actual practice found that
these lighter sketches have prevented me from exploring and finding my
limitations in such varied branches of literature as history, poetry,
historical novels, psychic research, and the drama. Had Holmes never
existed I could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood a
little in the way of the recognition of my more serious literary work.
And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past
constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape
of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of
thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.