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Lord Blackhood der Kether’s
THE NEW STRAND MAGAZINE
MAY 2001 Volume MMI
Number Six
The Complete Chronological
Canon of Mr. Sherlock Holmes
Finally, in 1997, a half-decent chronological canon of the life and cases of Sherlock Holmes was drawn up. In the Robinson publication of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF NEW SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURES, editor Mike Ashley not only put all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories into historical perspective, but also practically every serious SH pastiche (be they short stories or novels).
Why only half-descent? With the greatest respect to Ashley’s dedicated and extensive research, his judgment has a tendency to be influenced by the notion that Dr John Watson doesn’t know what time of day it is; let alone which year he’s living in. Though we may blame Nigel Bruce for the public assumption that Watson’s wits were less dull than cannon balls, this does not excuse a literary editor who should have noticed that Doyle portrayed the good doctor as a reasonably intelligent man.
The single greatest flaw in this erroneous judgment is that it forces any compiler of chronologies to be over haughtily selective. Incorrectly date just one story, an you can throw the rest out by a substantial margin.
In this particular instance, Ashley dated THE SIGN OF FOUR as having occurred in September 1888. The main problem with this is that practically every story written since implies that Watson and Mary Morstan married the year before. In fact, in the very next story – A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA – Watson refers to the repercussions of his recent marriage in a case commencing on the 20th of March 1888.
What evidence is there that Ashley was justified in his dating of THE SIGN OF FOUR?
“He disappeared upon the third of December, 1878 – nearly ten years ago.”
There is also a brief reference to an occurrence in 1882 – “about six years ago” – but that (along with the above quote) is as concrete as the dating gets in the whole novel; and even then, we are relying on third hand recollections.
My resulting dissatisfaction with Ashley’s timeline prompted me to re-write it slightly; making the necessary adjustments at the places where Ashley states “it is set in such-and-such a year, but this is obviously wrong as John and Mary don’t meet for another couple of months” (or words to that effect at least).
I mean absolutely no disrespect to Mike Ashley, who (otherwise) accomplished a particularly rough assignment. Unlike Ashley, I have not included the names of pastiche authors, nor elaborated on as many of the case details.
I owe this table of chronology almost entirely to Mike Ashley and write this simply as my set of critical amendments. I hope that it may help clear up any of those interesting little problems which the complex tangle of Sherlock Holmes’ stories so plentifully present.
Normal - Events rather than cases
Bold - Doyle’s Official Canon
Italics - Unrecorded but mentioned by Doyle
Small Caps - Doyle Mentioned; recorded by others
Small Caps Italics - Apocryphal
1853/4
Estimated
birth of Sherlock Holmes (junior to Watson by two years)
1872
Estimated
commencement of Holmes’ College Education.
1873/4
Unspecified Month For All
The
above-mentioned case incited Holmes’ interest in and vocation for detection.
The Affray at the Kildare Street Club
The Bothersome Business of the Dutch Nativity
1875
Unspecified
Month For All
Holmes
initially hears of The Disappearance of James Phillimore.
The Highgate Miracle
The Case of the Vanishing Head-Waiter
1877
Unspecified
Month For All
Holmes
finds new accommodation in Montague Street
Unmentioned
Case No. 1
Unmentioned
Case No. 2
The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
1878/80
Unspecified
Month For All
Vamberry,
the Wine
Merchant
The
Case
of the Old Russian
Woman
[a.k.a: The Adventure of the Old
Russian Woman]
The
Singular Affair of the Aluminium Crutch
Victor
Lynch the Forger
Venomous
Lizard or Gila
[a.k.a: Vanderbilt and the
Yeggman]
The Case of the Maplestead Magpie
The
Case
of the Hammersmith Wonder
[a.k.a: Vigor, the Hammersmith
Wonder: continues in The Case of the Paradol
Chamber]
Merridew
of Abominable Memory
Mortimer
Mabley [early client of Holmes’]
1881
January
Holmes and Watson meet for the first time and take up mutual residence at 221b Baker Street.
March
A Study In Scarlet
The Adventure of the Resident Patient
1882
February
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Sabina Hall
1883
March
April
The Adventure of the Speckled Band
1884
Unspecified
Month For All
The
Delicate Case of the King of Scandinavia
The
Service of Lord Backwater
1885
[a.k.a: The
Dreadful Business of the Abernetty Family]
April/May
The Adventure of the Copper Beeches
1886
April
The Adventure of the Yellow Face (Holmes’ cocaine addiction – though Watson has
clearly known of it for some time – is first mentioned in this case)
Unspecified Month For the Following Five
[a.k.a: The Arnsworth Castle
Business]
Vittoria - The Circus Belle
The Adventure of the Suspect Servant
November
[a.k.a: Colonel Upwood and the
card scandal of the Nonpareil Club]
1887
January
The Valley of Fear
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
February
[a.k.a: Morgan the Poisoner]
Unspecified Month For the Following Seven
The Adventure
of the Silver Buckle
[a.k.a: The Singular Adventures
of the Grice Patersons in the Island of Uffa]
April
The Adventure of the Reigate Squires
[Spring
- Unspecified Months For the Following Five]
The Adventure of the Unique Hamlet
[a.k.a: The
Case
of the Camberwell Poisoners]
The
Case
of the Maupertuis Scandal
[a.k.a: The Colossal Schemes of
Baron Maupertuis]
Sherlock
Holmes’ health briefly deteriorates
The Horror of Hanging Wood
June
The
Adventure
of the Amateur Mendicant Society
July
August
The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
September
The Sign of Four
[a.k.a:
The Sign of the Four]
This
adventure introduces the character of Mary Morstan; Holmes’ client and a key
figure in the case. During the course of events, Morstan and Watson fall in
love with each other and announce their engagement at the matter’s conclusion.
October
Watson
marries Mary Morstan and – upon leaving Baker Street as his place of residence
– takes up private practice.
November
[a.k.a:
The Trepoff
Murder]
The
Case
of the Paradol Chamber
1888
[Unspecified
Month]
The
Vanishing
of the Atkinsons
[a.k.a: The Singular Tragedy of
the Atkinson Brothers at Trincomalee]
The
Delicate Mission with the Dutch Royal Family.
March
A Scandal in Bohemia
April
The Adventure
of the Sealed Room
[a.k.a: Colonel Warburton’s
Madness]
July
The
Adventure
of the Green Empress
[a.k.a: The Adventure of the
Second Stain]
October/November
[a.k.a: Murder By Decree]
1889
May/June
A Case of Identity
The Dundas Separation Case
The Adventure of the Fallen Star
The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk
The Man With the Twisted Lip
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
July
The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
The Adventure of the Tired
Captain
August
The Adventure of the Crooked Man
September
October
[a.k.a: Mme Montpensier and Mlle
Carère]
The
Case
of the Man Who Was
Wanted
[a.k.a: The Adventure of the
Sheffield Banker]
November
The Case of the Exalted Client
The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts
December
The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
1890
May
The Strange Case of the Tongue-Tied Tenor
June
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
June/July
The Adventure of the Purple Hand
September
Sherlock Holmes and the Thistle of Scotland
The Adventure of the First-Class Carriage
October
The Red-Headed League
November
The Adventure of the Dying Detective
The Problem of the Purple Maculas
1891
April/May
The Adventure of the Final Problem
During this adventure, Holmes dissolves the agency
of crime run by Professor James Moriarty. Moriarty pursues Holmes to
Switzerland, where the great detective finally kills him. Fearing Moriarty’s
second in command – Colonel Sebastian Moran – had also slipped the net, Holmes
allows Watson to believe that he perished along with the Napoleon of crime.
1891
(May) - 1894 (February)
The
Great Hiatus, during which Holmes travels, experiments and investigates. While
Holmes is away in Europe, Mary Watson nee
Morstan dies.
1894
March
The Adventure of the Empty House
During the course of this case, Sherlock Holmes reveals to Watson that he is still alive, and also succeeds in trapping Colonel Moran.
The Adventure of the Second Stain
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
August
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
September
The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger
The Case of the Smith-Mortimer Succession
Huret: The Boulevard Assassin
[a.k.a: The Adventure of the Parisian Gentleman]