The Medical Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson

  This Week This week we’ll have a look at asthma. Like our subject last week [diabetes], a common and important medical condition in the present day, and a far more serious disease in the Victorian era, when some quite entertaining treatments were used.   The Illustrator In our chapter below, we have a beautiful illustration of Sherlock Holmes in disguise, drawn by Alex Holt. Alex has written the following bio of himself:- Alex Holt is an artist specialising in original ink illustrations. He has a special interest in Comic Art, single image illustrations and covers. Alex is a student of the Edinburgh Atelier of Fine Art. He works in private commissions and commercial projects. More of his work can be found in Instagram @alexholtart.   Asthma Asthma + Sherlock There are just two references to asthma in the stories. We firstly return to “ The Sign Of Four ”. Watson and Athelney Jones, Scotland Yard detective, are waiting for Holmes in Baker Street, towards the conclusi

  This Week I’m just going to go with a sample disease chapter – and we’ll have the first chapter of the book. This is on diabetes, which just gets a single mention in the Sherlock Holmes’ stories. It is a fascinating disease – potentially extremely very serious in Victorian times, and still a hugely important medical condition today.   Diabetes Diabetes + Sherlock   We will start the book with a chapter on diabetes. This is one of the most important diseases in modern general practice, and like many of the diseases we will encounter, was a terrifying disease in Victorian times.  However, despite its importance in both eras, diabetes only makes an appearance in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories - “ The Boscombe Valley Mystery ”. This is one of the earliest short stories, appearing in Conan Doyle’s first collection, “ The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes .” The chief suspect in the murder of Charles McCarthy is his son James. Holmes proves James’s innocence, and demonstrates that the murd

  Background The primary part of this week’s blog page is going to be the introductory chapter of the book. This overlaps a bit with last week’s post, but explains in more detail why I decided to write the book, along with an explanation of how I approached the academic aspects of the project. Progress Report This week’s exciting news is that the book exists as a real thing. MX Publishing sent out the very first paperback copy, which arrived yesterday. Quite an emotional moment for a first-time author. This Week’s Illustration Alex Holt has drawn me 8 original illustrations for the book, as well as the cover drawing. The scene at the start of this post is from “The Resident Patient”. A young doctor, Percy Trevelyan, is set up in practice by a mysterious benefactor called Blessington. Trevelyan is an expert in an obscure medical condition – catalepsy. He is approached by a Russian count who suffers from the condition. During their first consultation, he suddenly has an attack.   “

  Making A Start Back in 2018 I started to think about writing a book combining several of my interests - Dr Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes; the history of medicine; general practice. I started slowly, but progress picked up with the COVID lock-down. “The Medical Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes And Dr John Watson” will be published on September 28th 2023, by MX Publishing.  I wanted to provide a blog in the run-up to publication – to allow potential buyers to get a preview of the book, and also with the goal of triggering interesting discussion about the themes of the book. The illustration above is for the cover of the book. It was drawn by an extremely talented young illustrator, Alex Holt, who has provided a series of drawings for the book.   The Book Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a General Practitioner before he became a writer. He uses his medical knowledge widely in the Sherlock Holmes stories. He bases the deductive skills of his hero detective on the diagnostic techniques a G