Editing Sherlock Holmes (section)

===Popularity===
[[File:The Strand Magazine (cover), vol. 65, no. 321, September 1917.jpg|thumb|upright|The popularity of Sherlock Holmes became widespread after his first appearance in ''[[The Strand Magazine]]'' in 1891. This September 1917 edition of the magazine, with the cover story, "Sherlock Holmes outwits a German spy", could be posted to troops free of charge.]]
The first two Sherlock Holmes stories, the novels ''[[A Study in Scarlet]]'' (1887) and ''[[The Sign of the Four]]'' (1890), were moderately well received, but Holmes first became very popular early in 1891 when the first six short stories featuring the character were published in ''[[The Strand Magazine]]''. Holmes became widely known in Britain and America.<ref name=":1"/> The character was so well known that in 1893 when Arthur Conan Doyle killed Holmes in the short story "[[The Final Problem]]", the strongly negative response from readers was unlike any previous public reaction to a fictional event. The ''Strand'' reportedly lost more than 20,000 subscribers as a result of Holmes's death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kathryn Caroline Smith |date=2 May 2008 |title=Forming and Protecting the Middle-Class Victorian Ideal: Holmes and Watson |url=https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncp/f/Forming%20and%20Protecting%20the%20Middle-Class%20Victorian%20Ideal.pdf |website=University of North Carolina at Greensboro |publication-place=[[University of North Carolina at Pembroke]]}}</ref> Public pressure eventually contributed to Conan Doyle writing another Holmes story in 1901 and resurrecting the character in a story published in 1903.<ref name=":3"/> In Japan, Sherlock Holmes (and [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] from ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'') became immensely popular in the country in the 1890s as it was opening up to the West, and they are cited as two British fictional Victorians who left an enormous creative and cultural legacy there.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nathan |first=Richard |date=18 December 2020 |title=Ultra-Influencers: The Two British Fictional Victorians that Changed Japan |url=https://www.redcircleauthors.com/news-and-views/ultra-influencers-the-two-british-fictional-victorians-that-changed-japan/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218082150/https://www.redcircleauthors.com/news-and-views/ultra-influencers-the-two-british-fictional-victorians-that-changed-japan/ |archive-date=18 December 2020 |access-date=21 January 2021 |website=[[Red Circle Authors]]}}</ref>

Many fans of Sherlock Holmes have written letters to Holmes's address, [[221B Baker Street]]. Though the address 221B Baker Street did not exist when the stories were first published, letters began arriving to the large [[Abbey National]] building which first encompassed that address almost as soon as it was built in 1932. Fans continue to send letters to Sherlock Holmes;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/bank-accounts/5394699/Santander-who-was-Abbeys-most-famous-customer.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/bank-accounts/5394699/Santander-who-was-Abbeys-most-famous-customer.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Santander: who was Abbey's most famous customer?|date=27 May 2009|website=The Telegraph|access-date=18 February 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> these letters are now delivered to the [[Sherlock Holmes Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-mystery-of-221b-baker-street-3608784/|title=The Mystery of 221B Baker Street|last=Stamp|first=Jimmy|date=18 July 2012|website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=18 February 2020|archive-date=23 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123204245/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-mystery-of-221b-baker-street-3608784/|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the people who have sent letters to 221B Baker Street believe Holmes is real.<ref name=":5"/> Members of the general public have also believed Holmes actually existed. In a 2008 survey of British teenagers, 58 per cent of respondents believed that Sherlock Holmes was a real individual.<ref name=":6"/> 

Some scholarly discussion of Holmes has occasionally been written (usually facetiously) from the perspective of Holmes and Dr. Watson having existed; an example of this are the five critical essays, "Studies in Sherlock Holmes", by the author and essayist [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] in her 1946 non-fiction collection, ''Unpopular Opinions'', including an article examining Watson's ''signature'' which was allegedly visible in some original ''Strand'' illustrations.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Sayers | first = Dorothy L. | title = Unpopular Opinions | location = London | year = 1946 |publisher = Victor Gollancz |page=134-190}}</ref>

The Sherlock Holmes stories continue to be widely read.<ref name=":1"/> Holmes's continuing popularity has led to many reimaginings of the character in adaptations.<ref name=":3"/> ''Guinness World Records'', which awarded Sherlock Holmes the title for "most portrayed literary human character in film & TV" in 2012, released a statement saying that the title "reflects his enduring appeal and demonstrates that his detective talents are as compelling today as they were 125 years ago".<ref name=":0"/>