Customer Reviews

The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels (A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
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This one volume box edition compliments last year's two volume collection of the 56 short stories published by Arthur Conan Doyle. In nearly a thousand pages, the third volume contains the four Sherlock Holmes novels. There are many solid editions of these novels, but if the reader is looking for explanations of the background and history of the Victorian age in which these stories are set, then this edition is for you.

This large oversize book contains annotations that are placed alongside the text for easy reference plus many of the original illustations by Sidney Paget and period photos. Mr. Klinger's working assumption is that these stories and novels concerning Sherlock Holmes are historically true. This leads to some hysterical explanations of the many contradictory statements present throughtout these three volumes (Mr. Doyle evidently never went back to earlier writings to make them consistent).

If the reader should procure all three volumes together on Amazon, they are half of the $200 list price. These prices are a steal for nearly 3,000 pages of a beautiful edition of this quality (think of the Library of America publications) which will last a lifetime. All three books are more comprehensive than the two volume set by William Baring-Gould (1968) and less bulky than the nine volume edition from Oxford University Press. Mr. Klinger's annotations are clear, concise and well-informed by his considerable research of the world of Sherlock Holmes. This is an edition that the reader will return to again and again on a cold winter's night.

With this 3rd volume brings end to a project started in 2004 when the 1st & 2nd volumes of Holmes short stories reached both book stores and reading public.

All volumes are boxed with slip cases, and I have never had a better set of books on my shelves. As with the first two volumes, the text is printed on the left-hand side of the page in black, with the annotations in red printed on the right-hand side. A plentitude of pictures/illustrations to the time of Holmes, gives the reader an historical feel of this era. In addition, the pen & ink of Sidney Paget we have come associate with Holmes and Watson are here also.


As with the forerunner two, this volume is one most Sherlock Holmes fans will want on their library shelves. I started reading volume 3 the day it arrived. For those of us who have read the Holmes stories for years these annotated copies, such as these three, are not only a necessity but they are books from which most readers can still learn much. For most of us no matter how much we know of Holmes there always seems to be more we can learn. And if you enjoy Holmes, these are the best books to come on the market in the last 40 years, bar none.

Be sure to check out the first two volumes also. You may need all three if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan. However, you may want to take note that these 3 volumes are oversized and have some weight to them.

I highly recommend all three.

Semper Fi.

This third volume of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes makes an excellent companion to the first two volumes already published. It contains all four of the Holmes novels, each one with a splendid introductory essay and appendices as well as numerous fascinating annotations.

What I find most charming about these three volumes is the annotator's full blown acceptance of the major tenet of Sherlockian studies: Holmes and Watson were real people who actually solved the crimes and mysteries documented by Conan Doyle, who in the Sherlockian world was merely a collaborator and editor. This leads to fascinating speculations on the nature and location(s) of Watson's war wounds; the actual addresses of some of the crime scenes; and the true nature of such varied topics as Mormonism and the English Corn Laws. Thus an enthusiast for Holmes will not only learn a great deal about his favorite detective, he will also pick up a lot of information about life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Not only does this third volume complete the annotation of all of Doyle's writings on Holmes, it also makes an elegant addition to your bookshelves: when placed alongside the first two volumes, the jackets combine to make a nice silhouette of Holmes in his deerstalker!

I first read the Sherlock Holmes stories in high school. Then in grad school (1967) came the two volume 'The Annotated Sherlock Holmes' by William S. Baring-Gould (sadly available now only used). Down through the years I guess I've re-read it every decade or so. Now Mr. Klinger has come out with 'The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes.' I didn't think that it was possible to improve on the Baring-Gould book, but Mr. Klinger has done so.

Besides Baring-Gould, there have been several other writers who have produced books on Holmes. Mr. Klinger seems to have researched them all and summarized their views, particularily where differences exist. For instance, the date that 'The Sign of the Four' took place is fairly important to Sherlockians. Mr. Klinger gives the dates calculated by sixteen different books.

Also added in this edition is a large number of drawings and photographs. Some of these come from the Strand Magazine and date back to the publication of the original story in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Some photographs come from the various movies including my favorites with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Others come from book covers, movie posters.

Conclusion: Great Book. If you've done the Sherlock stories without an annotated version, you're in for a real treat. If you have an earlier annotated version, you need this one to complete the set.

I've been reading Sherlock Holmes since I was a kid and these annotated volumes have become my favorite. For readers without much of a sense of Victorian England they can open up an entire world. The writings of Doyle - and especially the Holmes stories - are steeped in the language and culture of Victorian London and much of the nuance of his writings can slip away from the modern reader more accustomed to a chop-chop-get-to-the-point kind of modern writing. The annotated books bring out these nuances and help the reader imagine a fuller, and therefore more enjoyable, picture of the story. Then there are simple definition differences - words that have changed general meaning or that aren't in use at all anymore: words like samovar, hansom, or pince-nez can easily throw readers not used to Victorian writing. A real help for some of the best short stories ever written.

Last year's perfect holiday gift for the mystery readers were the Holmes 56 short stories with illustrations and notes that provided incredible insight into the author and the great detective. Leslie Klinger, who pulled off the miracle of Christmas 2004, does it again for 2005. This time the Holmes scholar provides illustrations (some came with the original novels) and astute footnotes and more to the four Holmes novels (SEE A STUDY IN SCARLET, THE SIGN OF FOUR, THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and THE VALLEY OF FEAR). As with the shorts, besides having the novels (this reviewer read the last one for the first time recently) the tome contains anecdotes and definitions to Victorian era terms and lively Holmesian debates and treatise on related subjects. The third stand alone homage to Mr. Doyle is the holiday present of this year and not just for the Baker Street Irregulars.

Harriet Klausner

While most people have read at least one Sherlock Holmes stories others have not only read them all but have studied every detail of them. The author, Leslie Klinger, is one of the latter group. He is one of the foremost experts on the 'Canon' as devotees call the Holmes stories, and a member of The Baker Street Irregulars, the oldest and most exclusive club of Holmes scholars.

Klinger follows the accepted practice of the Irregulars in that he treats the stories as factual, rather than fictional accounts. This volume covers the four full length novels: "A Study in Scarlet"; "The Sign of Four"; "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and "The Valley of Fear" completing his study of the Canon that had begun with his two volume treatment of all the shorter works. As with the earlier works the book is printed in two columns, one containing the text of the story and the other containing the notes from that section. The book is illustrated with engravings that accompanied the stories in the magazines that first published them. The notes that Klinger has included with the text cover a wide range of subjects from explanation of outdated slang expressions to speculations by the author and other experts on people and locations the stories were actually based upon to in depth explanations of details. In addition both in the notes and in appendices Klinger offers his own and others theories as to the dating of the events in the stories.

This is a beautiful book, one that any fan of Holmes and Watson will surely enjoy. Someone who is reading the stories for the first time might find themselves suffering from information overload but anyone familiar with at least some of the stories will delight in finally discovering what some of those odd references meant. Also it is interesting to see that at times Watson or perhaps his 'agent' Arthur Conan Doyle, made some errors in their accouts leaving the impression that the 'Master' (Holmes) made some errors.

The Sherlock Holmes stories are the ultimate in reading pleasure. These three annotated volumes are the ultimate in Sherlock Holmes editions. Les Klinger has selected the best illustrations, the best commentaries, and packaged them in a beautiful three volume boxed set. If you only own one set of the "canon", this is the one to own. The Sherlock Holmes stories have stimulated decades and volumes of inspired discussion, argument, and just plain fun. Klinger has managed to distill a century of this wit and wisdom into one compendium. A newcomer can use these tomes as a wonderful introduction to the life and times of the greatest consulting detective. The old irregular can turn to these books to be reminded why Sherlock Holmes is still as popular as ever. As soon as you open any of these books, the game will again be afoot.

Having been brought up on the edge of Dartmoor,in Devonshire, SW England,where the Hounds of the Baskervilles story was located I found the annotations to that novel to be very interesting and, more importantly, factual even to the minor details that were mentioned.
I have no doubts whatsoever that the facts connected to the other three novels are just as accurate.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any Sherlockian.

This volume completes this edition of The Annotated Sherlock Holmes. What a beautiful set of books to ponder they are!

Myself, as with many of you, have "grown up" or "lived" with the great sleuth for many years, and it is, of course, for us, wonderful to open this beautiful volume, containing the four complete novels, lovingly annotated in the margins with tons of observations, thoughts, etc., on the great man and his times, and also, of course, on his great nemesis, Moriatry. It's just wonderful to sit comfortably and re-read, ponder, and think about this great character, his creator, and perhaps just smile upon doing so.

This great set of four of the greatest detective stories, along with the two volume companion with the 56 short stories, truly does belong on the shelves of anyone who likes both great writing, and also great detective stories, especially about the "Great" Holmes, whom you'll read over and over and over, enjoying them just as much the 12th time as the first!

Do yourself a Great Favor, and add this wonderful volume to your library...You Won't Be Sorry! ~operabruin