STAMP VIGNETTE ON MEDICAL SCIENCE
RUNNING HEAD
Doyle, Holmes, and Watson—a “Special” Trinity
JACK D. KEY, MA, MS; MARC A. SHAMPO, PHD; AND ROBERT A. KYLE, MD
S ir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was both a physi-
cian and a versatile author of historical novels, short
stories, volumes of poems, plays, histories, science fiction,
and publications on occult science. He was the creator of a
spectacularly popular series of crime-solving adventures
involving the exploits of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John
Watson. In the span of about 40 years, 4 novels and 56
related short stories featuring Holmes and Watson were
published. They have sold in the many millions of copies,
including various editions and translations. The central
figures of these adventures have been metamorphosed
from characters in stories into real persons. They were so
well drawn by Doyle that they transcended the printed page
and became living, breathing human beings to thousands of
enthusiastic devotees. Enough books and articles have been
published about these characters and their adventures to fill
a sizable library. Bibliographic tools note at least 30,000
items such as biographies, postage stamps issued in their
honor, directories, encyclopedias, periodicals, cards, car-
toons, advertisements, memorabilia, more than 300 mov-
ies, more than 75 television productions, more than 70
plays, several musicals, 35 different series broadcast on the
radio, and at least 1 ballet. Sherlock Holmes has even been
awarded an Honorary Diploma in the Art and Science of
Sleuthing from Colorado State University (Fort Collins).
Holmes and Watson are 2 of the most immediately
recognizable figures in popular culture. Their images have
been adapted countless times for innumerable purposes.
Biographical data concerning them can be drawn from the
research efforts of Holmesian authorities.
Sherlock Holmes, probably William Sherlock Holmes,
was born on January 6, 1854, in the North Riding of York-
shire (England). His father, a country squire, was probably
named Sigerson, and his maternal grandmother was a sister
of French painter Horace Vernet (1789-1863). Sherlock
had 2 brothers, Mycroft and Sherrinford. Mycroft worked
for the English government, and Sherrinford emigrated to
the Territory of New Mexico, where he died of smallpox in
1885. Sherlock attended either the University of Cam-
722 Mayo Clin Proc. • June 2005;80(6):722
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bridge or the University of Oxford. He went to London
after about 2 years without obtaining his degree. Holmes
never married because he believed it would bias his judg-
ment. In many respects, he was a complicated character.
Nothing could exceed his puissance when he was working,
but now and again a reaction would seize him, and for hours
on end he would lie on the sofa hardly uttering a word or
moving a muscle. He sometimes turned to drugs for stimula-
tion, and then an even blacker depression would overtake
him, from which he could be rescued only by a case.
John Henry or Hamish Watson was born on July 7 or
September 18, 1852, in Hampshire (England). He had 1
brother, Henry, who was “a drunkard.” After his mother’s
death when he was still quite young, Watson moved with
his father to Australia. He returned to England, obtained his
medical degree in 1878 at the University of London, prac-
ticed medicine (first at the St Bartholomew Hospital in
London and then at the army surgical school at Netley near
Southampton), and was subsequently sent to India, where
he was attached to the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers as
assistant surgeon. Watson was wounded on July 27, 1880,
at the “fatal battle of Maiwand” (Afghanistan). After a long
convalescence in a base hospital, he returned to England,
where he was introduced to Holmes and began their “great
partnership.” From 1903, he served as medical officer at a
London asylum, took a teaching post in Birmingham, set
up a general practice, did some surgery, retired, and finally
settled in the Northwest. Watson was kind, sensible, genial,
and composed. He enjoyed sports, tales of the sea, Turkish
baths, and dogs. He was possessed of a kind of wild cour-
age and tended to be romantic, easily deceived, occasion-
ally rash, and sometimes headstrong.
Regarding the deaths of Holmes and Watson, we can
borrow from a sonnet written by Vincent Starrett (1886-
1974):
“Here dwell together still two men of note
Who never lived and so can never die….
Here, though the world explode, these two survive.
And it is always eighteen ninety-five.”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr John
Watson were honored on a set of 4 stamps showing scenes
from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. One of the
stamps (Scott No. 632), issued by Turks and Caicos Islands
in 1984, depicts Holmes introducing Dr Watson to Mycroft
Holmes in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.
© 2005 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
• www.mayoclinicproceedings.com