The (Great) Game Is Afoot! My Stab At The Sherlock Holmes Chronology

 The first true 'fandom'.  The source of the (secular use of the) term 'canon'.

The original Arthur Conan Doyle.  56 short stories, 4 novels.

Sherlock Holmes.

In my quest to go through and finish cataloging some of my longstanding interests in story worlds, there is one that has been on my mind for... oh, at least 30 or 40 years now.  The White Whale of fictional chronologies - assembling the Sherlock Holmes stories.   

Part of the issue is that Doyle was consistent only in being inconsistent.   And so, its fans took it upon themselves to play the "Great Game" - try to make sense of it all.  It's something that has puzzled better people than I, and after many failed attempts over the years, I finally sat down and worked one version out to my satisfaction.

Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone - I had to also make a gazetteer of Holmes' world - London, England, and places beyond.  Note the references to other cases, to European royalty, the British government, and even potential references to hidden Moriarty stories.  For now, let's just talk about the chronology.

First the ground rules:

General: For all these types of researches, especially chronologies:

You can't make them all fit.  There are going to be contradictions, and that's part of the fun trying to resolve them!  To quote Earth X:  "Reality can rarely be explained without contradictions".

Determine what is authoritative.  Usually there's comparative sources, but with Holmes it's rather easy - we're only interested in the 60 "Canonical" stories.  Note that some scholars consider a handful of the last stories to be noncanonical, but I am not taking that approach.

More importantly, this is supposed to be fun.  You can take your fun seriously, but it's still fun.  Otherwise, what's the point of doing it?

Axioms:  These are some of the ground rules in place.  They might seem obvious, but I have seen chronologies that violate even these rules sometimes!  Also, it's best to have a foundation.

1.     The first meeting of Holmes and Watson is A Study in Scarlet.  (Sorry, Young Sherlock Holmes)

2.   The Final Problem marks the start of the Great Hiatus, in 1891.

3.  All of the stories in the "Adventures" and "Memoirs" are all set prior to the Great Hiatus.

4.  The Adventure of the Empty House marks the return of Holmes in 1894; no adventures are during the Great Hiatus.

5.  His Last Bow is, chronologically, the last story.

6.  The "Gloria Scott", as the origin story of Holmes, is the first story.

7.  The Adventure of the Lion's Mane is the only other story set during Holmes' retirement, placing it before His Last Bow.

8.  The Musgrave Ritual is the only other pre-Watson story told, so this is between "Gloria Scott" and A Study in Scarlet.

Thusly, we have at least an initial order:

1 - "Gloria Scott"

2 - The Musgrave Ritual

3 - A Study in Scarlet

....

x - The Final Problem

x+1 - The Adventure of the Empty House

....

59 - The Adventure of the Lion's Mane

60 - His Last Bow

Now, on to the hypotheses: these are assumptions that I made for my attempt that survived the process.

Hypotheses:

1.  Minimum Watson Marriages - Trying to sort out dates have caused some chronologists to assign as many as four wives to Watson, but I am taking a conservative approach:  Watson being married once pre-Hiatus to Mary Morstan, who dies during the Great Hiatus; and a second time to an unnamed woman at the end of the partnership.

2.  Watson's Picks - Watson often does not tell Holmes' greatest adventures, even if he refers to them obliquely (exempting the three stories told by Holmes himself).  However, analyzing why Watson might be telling a particular story could give some insight into when the story is actually set.

3.  The Universe Next Door - This is probably my most controversial take.  It is usual practice to treat the Holmes stories as "real world" and much is made on trying to determine what fictional character or location corresponds to something real.  I am taking the approach that the stories is set in a world very close to ours, but not exactly.  For instance, instead of trying to unravel the "true"identity of the King of Bohemia - for in real life, while Bohemia was an actual kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the time of the stories the title was held by the Emperor, not a separate personage - I make the assumption that he is, indeed, the King of Bohemia, not an alias for another ruler.

From there, I used a number of sources to review results and hints to dates - standing on the shoulders of giants, as it were.  Notably, I used the annotated Baring-Gould and Leslie Klinger volumes, although I disagreed with some of the conclusions.

In future posts I will examine the possible complete story of Moriarty vs. Holmes - but here is my chronology list in full:

1876

Jul/Sep                   The “Gloria Scott”

1879

Start of Holmes’ career.

1880

Jul 23                      The Musgrave Ritual

1882

Mar 4-6                  A Study in Scarlet

Oct 5-6                   The Resident Patient

1883

Apr 4                      The Adventure of the Speckled Band

1885

Feb 27-28              The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

Sep 24-Sep 29      Silver Blaze

1886

Mar 13                   The Yellow Face

Sep 28-Oct 20       The Hound of the Baskervilles

1887

Jan 7                       The Valley of Fear

Apr 25-26              The Reigate Squires

Aug 26-28             The Cardboard Box

Sep 2                      The Adventure of the Noble Batchelor

Sep 7-10                The Sign of Four

Sep 29-30              The Five Orange Pips

1888

Mar 23-35             A Scandal in Bohemia

Apr 16-17              A Case of Identity

Jun 9                       The Stockbroker’s Clerk

Watson indicates only three cases in July (the other two are The Tired Captain and The Second Stain)

Jul 30                      The Naval Treaty

Aug 7-8                  The Crooked Man

Nov 24                   The Adventure of the Dying Detective

1889

Jun 7-8                   The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Jun 21-22              The Man With the Twisted Lip

Jul 24                      The Greek Interpreter

Aug 10                    The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb

Dec 27                   The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

1890

Watson indicates he only has records of three cases for this year.

Mar 1,15-16          The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

Oct 11                    The Red-Headed League

1891

Apr 24-May 4       The Final Problem

1894

Apr 3                      The Adventure of the Empty House

Oct 23-26              The Adventure of the Second Stain

Nov 29-30             The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez

1895

Mar 23-27             The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge

Apr 5-6                   The Adventure of the Three Students

Apr 20-27              The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist

Jul 3-4                    The Adventure of Black Peter

Aug 27-28             The Adventure of the Norwood Builder

Nov 21-22             The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans

1896

Oct 6                      The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger

Nov 19-21             The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire

Dec 8-10                The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter

1897

Jan 23                     The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Mar 16-17             The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot

1898

Jul 26-Aug 12        The Adventure of the Dancing Men

Aug 20-22             The Adventure of the Retired Colourman

1899

Feb 4-14                The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

Jun 7-9                   The Adventure of the Six Napoleons

1900

Oct 4-5                   The Problem of Thor Bridge

1901

May 16-18            The Adventure of the Priory School

1902

Jan 2-3                   The Adventure of the Red Circle

May 6-7                 The Adventure of Schoscombe Old Place

Jun 26-27              The Adventure of the Three Garridebs

Jul 1-18                  The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

Sep 3-15                The Adventure of the Illustrious Client

1903

Jan 7-12                 The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier

May 26-27             The Adventure of the Three Gables

Aug 28                   The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone

Sep 9-15                The Adventure of the Creeping Man

1907

Jul 23-30                The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane

1914

Aug 2                      His Last Bow