His Last Bow

His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes is a 1917 collection of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, including the titular short story, "His Last Bow. The War Service of Sherlock Holmes" (1917). The collection's first US edition adjusts the anthology's subtitle to Some Later Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. All editions contain a brief preface, by "John H. Watson, M.D.", that assures readers that as of the date of publication Holmes is long retired from his profession of detective but is still alive and well, albeit suffering from a touch of rheumatism.

For the short story, see His Last Bow (short story).
Not to be confused with His Last Vow.
His Last Bow
First edition cover
AuthorArthur Conan Doyle
IllustratorRichard Gutschmidt
Cover artistJoseph van Abbé
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSherlock Holmes
GenreDetective fiction
PublisherJohn Murray
Publication date
22 October 1917
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages305
Preceded byThe Valley of Fear 
Followed byThe Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes 
TextHis Last Bow at Wikisource

Description

The book was published in the UK by John Murray in October 1917, and in the US by George H. Doran Co. that same month.[1]

The collection contains "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", which was also included in the first edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) but was dropped from later editions of that book.

Six of the stories were published in The Strand Magazine between September 1908 and December 1913.[2][3] The Strand published "The Adventure of Wistaria Lodge" as "A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes" and divided it into two parts, called "The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles" and "The Tiger of San Pedro".[4] Later printings of His Last Bow correct Wistaria to Wisteria.

The final story, "His Last Bow. The War Service of Sherlock Holmes" (1917), an epilogue about Holmes' war service, was first published in Collier's on 22 September 1917—one month before the book's premiere on 22 October.[2][3]

Contents
  1. Preface by John H. Watson (1917)
  2. "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" (1908)
  3. "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box" (1892)
  4. "The Adventure of the Red Circle" (1911)
  5. "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" (1908)
  6. "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913)
  7. "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" (1911)
  8. "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot" (1910)
  9. "His Last Bow. The War Service of Sherlock Holmes" (1917)

Adaptations

His Last Bow was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in 1993–94 as part of Bert Coules' complete radio adaptation of the canon, starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson. Notable guest stars included Kevin Whately as Browner in "The Cardboard Box" and Edward Petherbridge as Culverton Smith in "The Dying Detective". The episodes were written by Bert Coules, Roger Danes, Peter Ling, and Robert Forrest, and directed by Enyd Williams and Patrick Rayner.[5]

gollark: I have an infinitely long list of things which aren't normal distributions.
gollark: Not EVERYTHING is a normal distribution.
gollark: What?
gollark: No. But *you* might not want to have your beliefs messed with weirdly.
gollark: Apparently people often end up with weird nonsensical beliefs after psychedelic use.

References
  1. Cawthorne, Nigel (2011). A Brief History of Sherlock Holmes. Running Press. p. 138. ISBN 978-0762444083.
  2. "His Last Bow". De Encyclopédie de Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes. Société Sherlock Holmes de France. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. "His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes". De Encyclopédie de Conan Doyle & Sherlock Holmes. Société Sherlock Holmes de France. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  4. Doyle, Arthur Conan (October 1979). The Sherlock Holmes Omnibus (2nd illustrated ed.). John Murray. ISBN 071953691X.
  5. Bert Coules. "His Last Bow". The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved 12 December 2016.

First edition dustjacket image courtesy of Lucius Books Ltd.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.