The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Online editions: Project Gutenberg · LibriVox audio · AudioBooksForFree.com audio

Second short-story collection, originally serialised in The Strand Magazine (1892–93), collected 1893. Twelve stories narrated by John Watson, with one (GLOR) narrated by Holmes himself. Ends with Holmes’s apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls — Doyle’s attempt to kill off the character permanently.

Stories

#	Code	Title	Notable for
I	SILV	Silver Blaze	The “dog that didn’t bark”; a stolen racehorse; the most-quoted Holmes story
II	CARD	The Adventure of the Cardboard Box	Two severed ears in a box; crime of passion; publication history controversy
III	YELL	The Yellow Face	One of the few cases where Holmes is wrong; racial theme
IV	STOC	The Stockbroker’s Clerk	Impersonation scheme; connects to REDH
V	GLOR	The “Gloria Scott”	Holmes’s first ever case; narrated by Holmes; his university years
VI	MUSG	The Musgrave Ritual	Another pre-Watson Holmes case; a ritual recitation conceals buried treasure
VII	REIG	The Reigate Squires	Holmes recovering from illness; torn paper; a murder in Surrey
VIII	CROO	The Crooked Man	Military betrayal in India; a dying man’s secret; a mongoose
IX	RESI	The Resident Patient	A doctor’s suspicious backer; Russian nihilists; a staged suicide
X	GREE	The Greek Interpreter	Introduces Mycroft Holmes; a captive interpreter; the Diogenes Club
XI	NAVA	The Naval Treaty	Stolen state document; a long, tightly plotted thriller
XII	FINA	The Final Problem	Professor Moriarty’s first direct appearance; Holmes and Moriarty fall at the Reichenbach Falls

Key takeaways

SILV contains the most famous line in the Canon that Holmes did not say exactly as popularly quoted: Inspector Gregory asks if there is anything to which Holmes wishes to draw his attention — Holmes replies, “To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” Gregory: “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” Holmes: “That was the curious incident.” The negative evidence (absence of a bark) solves the case.
YELL is one of the Canon’s most significant failures. Holmes constructs an elaborate theory about a woman’s secret — and is entirely wrong. The story ends with Holmes asking Watson, if he ever grows too confident, to whisper “Norbury” in his ear. It is a rare and deliberate self-deflation.
GLOR is Holmes’s origin story: his first case, which he handled as a university student. Told by Holmes to Watson. Along with MUSG, it gives the only glimpses of Holmes before Watson.
GREE introduces Mycroft Holmes — Sherlock’s older, more brilliant but wholly sedentary brother — and the Diogenes Club, the institution for men who want a club without conversation.
FINA is the story Doyle wrote to kill Holmes. Moriarty confronts Holmes at Baker Street, threatening him; Holmes and Watson flee to the Continent; at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, Holmes and Moriarty struggle and both apparently fall to their deaths. Watson discovers this via a note. Doyle intended this as the end.
CARD has a complicated publication history: originally published in The Strand as part of The Adventures run (1893) but removed from the Adventures collection on grounds that it was too adult (the crime involves infidelity). It was later included in the US edition of His Last Bow and in this Gutenberg Memoirs text. Doyle lifted the key paragraph about Holmes’s meditation on life’s chain of cause and effect (the “what is the meaning of it, Watson?” passage) into CARD from NAVA.

New entities introduced

Professor Moriarty — first direct Canon appearance (FINA); previously only named/implied
Mycroft Holmes — introduced (GREE); the Diogenes Club
The Reichenbach Falls — the site of Holmes’s “death”

Illustrations

Illustrated by Sidney Paget for The Strand Magazine. ~90 illustrations across the 12 stories. NAVA received the most of any short story (15 illustrations).

Code	Story	Illustrations
SILV	Silver Blaze	9
CARD	The Adventure of the Cardboard Box	7
YELL	The Adventure of the Yellow Face	7
STOC	The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk	7
GLOR	The Adventure of the Gloria Scott	7
MUSG	The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual	6
REIG	The Adventure of the Reigate Squire	8
CROO	The Adventure of the Crooked Man	7
RESI	The Adventure of the Resident Patient	6
GREE	The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter	8
NAVA	The Adventure of the Naval Treaty	15
FINA	The Adventure of the Final Problem	9

Note: SILV (Silver Blaze) contains the illustration that cemented the deerstalker as Holmes’s defining hat. FINA’s illustrations — Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls — are among the most reproduced images in the entire Canon.

Browse all: Memoirs category on Wikimedia Commons