--------- is one of the great characters of literature - who can resist the aloof arrogance and limitless self-satisfaction which stems from that intellectual superiority with which he squishes all the dodgy baronets and rum foreign coves that turn up in the mysteries presented to him by the clients who never fail, when recounting their tangled tales, to speak in perfect paragraphs full of precisely recollected speech in a style exactly like a Conan Doyle story? is by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It was first published on 14 October 1892, though the individual stories had been serialised in between June 1891 and July 1892. The stories are not in chronological order, and the only characters common to all twelve are Holmes and Dr. Watson. Sir Arthur set many of the patterns which can still be observed in the modern genre novel. It takes an actual genius to create such a vivid and convincing fictional genius and Doyle does it in a masterful way. 1. has been adapted numerous times for both films and plays, and the character has been played by over 70 different actors in more than 200 films. A number of film and television series have borne the title "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", but some of these are either original stories, combinations of a number of Doyle's stories, or in one case, an adaptation of 2. Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story, was published by Ward Lock & Co. The novel was well received, but Doyle was paid little for it, and despite a sequel novel, The Sign of the Four, also being published by Ward Lock, he shifted his focus to short stories.