A Study in Scarlet - Publication

Publication

Conan Doyle wrote the novel at the age of 27 in less than three weeks. As a general practice doctor in Southsea, Portsmouth, he had already published short stories in several magazines of the day, such as the periodical London Society. The story was originally titled A Tangled Skein, and was eventually published by Ward Lock & Co. in Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887, after many rejections. The author received £25 in return for the full rights (although Conan Doyle had pressed for a royalty instead). It was illustrated by D. H. Friston. The novel was first published as a book on July 1888 by Ward, Lock & Co., and featured drawings by the author's father, Charles Doyle. A second edition appeared the following year and was illustrated by George Hutchinson; a year later in 1890, J. B. Lippincott & Co. released the first American version. Numerous further editions, translations and dramatisations have appeared since.

Reception

Reviewer Alex Baker noted that "By later standards of detective fiction, 'A Study in Scarlet' violates a cardinal rule: there is no way for intelligent readers to work out the solution for the mystery by themselves. The very first time that the reader hears of Jefferson Hope is when Holmes arrests him as the murderer. Nor is any previous hint given of Drebber and Stangerson's Mormon background. However, at the time when it was written, this rule did not yet exist, and detective fiction in general was taking its very first steps (to which this book greatly contributed)