The 60 Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle between 1887 and 1927. “The Canon” is a Sherlockian term for this authoritative body of work, distinguishing it from pastiches, adaptations, and apocrypha.
Structure
| Collection | Stories | Published | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Study in Scarlet | 1 (novel) | 1887 | First Holmes work; Holmes and Watson meet — ingested |
| The Sign of the Four | 1 (novel) | 1890 | Second novel — ingested |
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | 12 | 1892 | First short-story collection — ingested |
| The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | 12 | 1893 | SILV, FINA; Holmes’s “death” — ingested |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | 1 (novel) | 1902 | Set before FINA — ingested |
| The Return of Sherlock Holmes | 13 | 1905 | Holmes returns; EMPT, DANC, CHAS — ingested |
| The Valley of Fear | 1 (novel) | 1915 | Fourth novel — ingested |
| His Last Bow | 7* | 1917 | BRUC, DEVI, LAST — ingested |
| The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes | 12 | 1927 | Final collection — ingested |
| Total | 60 | 1887–1927 |
Works in this wiki
All 9 collections are now ingested — the complete Canon is covered:
- A Study in Scarlet (1887)
- The Sign of the Four (1890)
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
- The Valley of Fear (1915)
- His Last Bow (1917)
- The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
Not yet ingested
All canonical works are now ingested. No gaps remain.
BSJA four-letter codes
Sherlockian scholarship uses four-letter abbreviations for each story (established by Jay Finley Christ, popularised by the Baker Street Irregulars). These are used throughout this wiki for story citations.
Doyle’s relationship with Holmes
Doyle famously resented Holmes’s success, feeling it overshadowed his historical fiction. He killed Holmes at Reichenbach Falls in 1893 (FINA) intending to be done with him. Public pressure and financial necessity brought Holmes back in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902, set before FINA) and The Return (1905). Doyle continued writing Holmes sporadically until the Case-Book (1927), seven years before his death.