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". . . a most extraordinary case. . . a most incomprehensible affair."
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- CD = Closed door
- KD = Kitchen door
- B = Body
- H = Top hat
- W = Window
- F = Fireplace
- D = 'Rache' scrawled in blood
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"A short passage, bare-planked and dusty, led to the kitchen and offices. Two doors opened out of it to the left and to the right. One of these had obviously been closed for many weeks. The other belonged to the dining room, which was the apartment in which the mysterious affair had occurred.
It was a large square room, looking all the larger from the absence of all furniture.. . . Opposite the door was a showy fireplace, surmounted by a mantelpiece of imitation white marble.. . . The solitary window was so dirty that the light was hazy and uncertain. . . At present my attention was centred upon the single grim, motionless figure which lay stretched upon the boards. . . A top hat, well brushed and trim, was placed upon the floor beside him."
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Sketch of Crime Scene at 3, Lauriston Gardens
off the Brixton Road
Friday, March 4, 1881
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Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the novel A Study In Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes story, in 1886 at the age of 27. He had already published short stories in several magazines of the day, such as the periodical London Society. He was working as a general practice doctor in Southsea, England.
He originally titled it "A Tangled Skein". After many rejections, he eventually saw it published by Ward, Lock & Co. in Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 for which he received £25 in return for the full rights (although Conan Doyle had pressed for a royalty instead).
The story, and fictional character, attracted little public interest when it first appeared. Only ten copies of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 are known to exist now and they have considerable value.
The novel was produced in book form in July 1888, published by Ward, Lock & Co. This book was illustrated by Arthur Conan Doyle's father, Charles Doyle. A second edition appeared the following year and contained illustrations by George Hutchinson, and J. B. Lippincott Co. published the first American edition in 1890. Numerous further editions, translations and dramatisations have appeared since.
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