Sherlockian.Net: The Sign of the Four

Basic information

Abbreviation (J. F. Christ, 1947): SIGN
Word length (C. E. Lauterbach, 1960): 43,372
First published: Lippincott's Magazine, February 1890. First book edition: Spencer Blackett, 1890. First American edition: P. F. Collier, 1891 (a piracy).

A note about the title

"The Sign of the Four" in Lippincott's; The Sign of the Four in the early book editions. Modern editions vary: Doubleday uses the four-word title, Oxford the five-word title.

Text available on-line

[Drawing by Frederic Townsend for the 1903 edition]

hawkmail.monmouth.edu

history1800s.about.com

marietta.edu (Diogenes Club)

my.soyou.net

outhouse.demon.co.uk

pagebypagebooks.com

sherlock-holmes.hypermart.net

sherlockholmes_cases.tripod.com

Links of interest

Crime Scene, by Thomas R. Hanratty

Sherlock Holmes in India

The Red Fort at Agra

The Indian Mutiny

Holmes and Attention Deficit Disorder in SIGN

Oscar Wilde Overview

Britannica: Andaman Islands, Creosote, Prosthesis

Redmond's Delicate Question

First half: "Our quest does not appear to take us to very fashionable regions," says Sherlock Holmes. This tale is -- unlike many others in the Canon -- essentially about the middle class and the suburbs, rather than the older parts of London with which Sherlock Holmes is usually associated. What attitudes does it take?

Second half: "It is a romance!" cried Mrs. Forrester. "An injured lady, half a million in treasure, a black cannibal, and a wooden-legged ruffian." Is The Sign of the Four so well-loved by readers of Sherlock Holmes because of these exotic elements, or in spite of them?

"The View Halloa", by Rosemary Michaud

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