http://www.sherlock-holmes.co.uk/library/historical/loading.html

The Sherlock Holmes Museum 221b Baker Street London NW1 6XE 

England

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson lived at 221b Baker Street between 1881-1904, according to the stories

written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The famous 1st floor study overlooking Baker Street is still faithfully  maintained as it was kept in Victorian Times.

Step back in time, and when you visit London, remember to visit the world's most famous address!

Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the

creation of Scottish-born author and physician Sir Arthur Conan

Doyle.

A brilliant London-based consulting detective,

Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skillful

use of "deductive reasoning" while using abductive reasoning

(inference to the best explanation) and astute

observation to solve difficult cases.

Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes. All but four

stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself, and two

others are written in the third person. The first two stories, short

novels, appeared in "Beeton's Christmas Annual" for 1887 and

"Lippincott's Monthly Magazine" in 1890, respectively. The character grew tremendously in popularity

with the beginning of the first series of short stories in "The Strand Magazine" in 1891;

further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared until 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1907, with a final case in 1914.

Conan Doyle, when asked if there was a real Sherlock Holmes, always maintained that Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell,

for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Sherlock Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large

conclusions from the smallest observations. Dr. Bell was also interested in crime and assisted the police in solving a few cases.

Holmes describes himself and his habits as "Bohemian." In his

personal habits, he is very disorganised, as Watson notes in

"The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual," leaving

everything from notes of past cases to remains of chemical experiments scattered around their rooms and

his tobacco inside a Persian slipper. Dr. Watson also states in "The

Adventure of the Speckled Band" that Holmes is generally late to rise.

In "A Study In Scarlet", however, Watson states that Holmes would undoubtedly have eaten breakfast

and left their apartment

His "biographer" Watson did not consider as a vice Holmes' habit of smoking cigars, cigarettes, and pipes, nor his

willingness to bend the truth and break the law (e.g., lie to the police, conceal evidence, burgle, and housebreak) when it suited his purposes. Holmes and Watson considered such

actions justified as done for noble purposes, such as preserving a woman's honour or a family's reputation (this

argument is discussed by Holmes and Watson in "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton").

"Holmes, do you think Her Majesty is now ready to see us?"

"Of course, My Dear Watson - but try not to tell the whole world."