序言
我担心福尔摩斯先生也会变得象那些时髦的男高音歌手一样，在人老艺衰之后，还要频频地向宽厚的观众举行告别演出。是该收场了，不管是真人还是虚构的，福尔摩斯不可不退场。有人认为最好是能够有那么一个专门为虚构的人物而设的奇异的阴间——一个奇妙的、不可能存在的地方，在那里，菲尔丁的仍然可以向理查逊的美貌女郎求爱，司各特的英雄们仍然可以耀武扬威，狄更斯的欢乐的伦敦佬仍然在插科打诨，萨克雷的市侩们则照旧胡作非为。说不定就在这样一个神殿的某一偏僻的角落里，福尔摩斯和他的华生医生也许暂时可以找到一席之地，而把他们原先占据的舞台出让给某一个更精明的侦探和某一个更缺心眼儿的伙伴。
福尔摩斯的事业已经有不少个年头儿了，这样说可能是夸张了一些。要是一些老先生们跑来对我说，他们儿童时代的读物就是福尔摩斯侦探案的话，那是不会得到我的恭维的。谁也不乐意把关乎个人年纪的事情这样地叫人任意编排。冷酷的事实是，福尔摩斯是在《血字的研究》和《四签名》里初露头角的，那是一八八七年和一八年之间出版的两本小书。此后问世的一系列短篇故事，头一篇叫做《波希米亚丑闻》，一一年发表在《海滨杂志》上。书出之后，似乎颇受欢迎，索求日增。于是自那以后，三十九年来断断续续所写的故事，迄今已不下于五十六七，编集为《冒险史》、《回忆录》、《归来记》和《最后致意》。其中近几年出版的最后这十二篇，现在收编为《新探案》。福尔摩斯开始他的探案生涯是在维多利亚朝晚期的中叶，中经短促的爱德华时期。即使在那个狂风暴雨的多事之秋，他也不曾中断他自己的事业。因此之故，要是我们说，当初阅读这些小说的青年现在又看到他们的成年子女在同一杂志上阅读同一侦探的故事，也不为过。于此也就可见不列颠公众的耐心与忠实之一斑了。
在写完《回忆录》之后我下定决心结束福尔摩斯的生命，因为我感到不能使我的文学生涯完全纳入一条单轨。这位面颊苍白严峻、四肢懒散的人物，把我的想象力占去了不应有的比例。于是我就这么结果了他。幸亏没有验尸官来检验他的尸体，所以，在事隔颇久以后，我还能不太费力地响应读者的要求，把我当初的鲁莽行为一推了事。对于重修旧业我倒并不后悔，因为在实际上我并没有发现写这些轻松故事妨碍了我钻研历史、诗歌、历史小说、心理学以及戏剧等等多样的文学形式，并在这些钻研之中认识到我的才力之有限。要是福尔摩斯压根儿就没存在过的话，我也未必能有更大的成就，只不过他的存在可能有点妨碍人家看到我其它严肃的文学著作而已。
所以，读者们，还是让福尔摩斯与诸位告别吧！我对诸君以往给我的信任无限感激，在此谨希望我赠给的消遣良法可以报答诸君，因为小说幻境乃是避世消愁的唯一途径。
阿瑟·柯南·道尔谨启
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes is the final collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Originally published in 1927, it contains stories published between 1921 and 1927.
Title of collection
The first British edition and the first American edition of the collection were both published in June 1927. However, they had slightly different titles. The title of the British collection was The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (hyphenated "Case-Book"), whereas the title of the American collection was The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes ("Case Book" as two words).
Further confusing the issue of the title, some later publishers would publish the collection under the title The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes ("Casebook" as a single word).
Contents
The original chronological order in which the twelve stories in The Case-Book were published is as follows:
* "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" (told in third-person)
* "The Problem of Thor Bridge"
* "The Adventure of the Creeping Man"
* "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"
* "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs"
* "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"
* "The Adventure of the Three Gables"
* "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (narrated by Holmes)
* "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (narrated by Holmes)
* "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman"
* "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger"
* "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place"
However, many newer editions of the The Case-Book favour the following ordering:
* "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client"
* "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier"
* "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone"
* "The Adventure of the Three Gables"
* "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"
* "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs"
* "The Problem of Thor Bridge"
* "The Adventure of the Creeping Man"
* "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane"
* "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger"
* "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place"
* "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman"
Because of the two orderings, "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" has often been incorrectly identified as the last Sherlock Holmes story written by Arthur Conan Doyle to be published, when the last such story to be published is in fact "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place".
Commentary
The Case-Book is notable for containing three stories not narrated by Dr. Watson, as most Sherlock Holmes stories are. "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" is narrated in the third person, since it was adapted from a stage play in which Watson hardly appeared. "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" and "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" are both narrated by Holmes himself, the latter being set after his retirement.
Although some of the stories are comparable with Doyle's earlier work, this collection is often considered a lesser entry in the Sherlock Holmes canon. David Stuart Davies has commented that "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" "veers towards risible science fiction"; in the 1974 novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, author Nicholas Meyer's Watson claims that this entry, as well as three others from the Case-Book ("The Mazarin Stone", "The Three Gables" and "The Lion's Mane"), are forged "drivel".
Accordingly, many Holmesian aficionados and scholars consider the stories contained in The Case-Book to be among the least impressive in the Holmes canon, claiming that they were written at a time when Doyle was preoccupied with Spiritualism and séances, and less interested in continuing to produce Sherlock Holmes stories, which he regarded as a distraction. (By the time The Case-Book was published, 40 years had passed since publication of the first Holmes adventure, although sales remained very strong.)
However, this view is challenged by the experimental nature of the collection, which suggests that Doyle, rather than cranking out stories by formula, was keeping his interest in Holmes alive by exploring unconventional storytelling methods, such as having Holmes narrate the stories. Additionally, The Case-Book features some of the most unusual villains in the Holmesian canon, including children and animals. The collection is also notable for its recurring depictions of mutilation and disfigurement (as in "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client," "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier," "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane," and "The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger") and mental derangement ("The Problem of Thor Bridge," "The Adventure of the Creeping Man," "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire"), indicating the effect that the first World War had upon Doyle. As a result, The Case-Book stands as one of the darkest Holmesian collections.
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