The Sign of Four (1890) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

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• Sherlock Holmes: A consulting detective (the only consulting detective in the world at the time, according to him). He helps Scotland Yard to solve crime mysteries.
• Bruder Bartholomew: Add a description of this character.
• Mr. Thaddeus Sholto
• Dr. Watson
• Dr. John Watson: A retired army doctor who lives with Sherlock Holmes and helps him in his crime investigations.
• Miss Mary Morstan: First tells Sherlock and Watson about the case.
• Mr. Athelney Jones
• Captain Morstan
• Major Sholto
• Jonathan Small
• Mahomet Singh
• Mrs. Cecil Forrester
• Brother Bartholomew
• Mcmurdo
• Abdullah Khan
• Dost Akbar
• Thaddeus Sholto
• Bartholomew Sholto
• Det. Athelney Jones
• Mr. McMurdo
• Mrs. Bernstone
• Tobey: Dog on the scent of the criminals.
• Mordecai Smith
• Mrs. Smith
• Mrs. Forrester: Miss Morstan's employer
• Mrs. Hudson: Holmes' housekeepper
• Wiggins
• Toby
• Sahib
• Achmet

Quotes edit see section history

• “You have an extraordinary genius for minutiae.”

  John Watson, M.D.

• “Crime is commonplace, existence is commonplace, and no qualities save those which are commonplace have any function upon earth.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “I have a curious constitution. I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “Winwood Reade is good upon the subject," said Holmes. "He remarks that, while the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You can, for example, never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but percentages remain constant. So says the statistician.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “I abhor the dull routine of existence.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “I never guess. It is a shocking habit,—destructive to the logical faculty.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule.”

  Sherlock Holmes

• “If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination.”

• “the chief proof of man's real greatness lies in his perception of his own smallness.”

• “But love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things. I should never marry myself, lest I bias my judgment.”

  Sherlock Holmes

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• London: The story is set in late Victorian London of 1890's.
• England
• India
• Aurora
• Pondicherry Lodge
• Camberwell
• Upper Norwood

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by A Study in Scarlet, and followed by The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Arthur Conan Doyle (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Simon Goodenough

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Copyright Status: Public Domain
• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Add a note to help parents select a book for a child.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery › British Detectives
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers › Mystery › Sherlock Holmes
• Books › Literature & Fiction

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Wikisource: Read this book online at Wikisource, the free library.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four (1913) (IMDb): Silent Movie with Harry Benham as Sherlock Holmes
• The Sign of Four (1923) (IMDb): Silent Movie with Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes
• The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case (1932) (IMDb): With Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four (1968) (IMDb): Season 2, Episode 15 With Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four (1983) (IMDb): Animation
• The Sign of Four (1985) (IMDb): With Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes
• The Sign of Four (1987) (IMDb): With Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century: The Sign of Four (1999) (IMDb): Animation. Season 1, Episode 10
• The Sign of Four (2001) (IMDb): With Matt Frewer as Sherlock Holmes