What one man invents another can discover.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes, though of recent invention, is one of the most popular characters in English literature. After Hamlet, some would say, he is the most famous of them all. He has been called a version of the epic hero, a sort of Socrates, Sir Galahad, Hamlet, and even Superman. Sherlockphiliacs, and they are legion, have written about every facet of his life—his schooling, his medical education, his studies of chemistry, his literary taste, his love of music, his athletic skills, his religious beliefs, his philosophy, and his attitude toward women. They have traced his every step; in fact or fancy they have revisited every place that he went. 221B Baker Street has become a shrine, all the objects in it relics, Holmes himself a cult figure.