I broke down and bought all three volumes in this series after reading what other Goodreads reviewers had to say about them. It is going to be awhile before I finish the three, because each story contains some of the most interesting and useful footnotes ever appended to a piece of literature, along with illustrations not just from The Strand magazine, but from other sources as well. They also showcase various locations around London where the story takes place, along with drawings of other characters.

As if that is not enough, John Le Carre wrote the introduction, which introduces to the reader to the idea that Holmes and Watson are referred in the notes throughout as real persons. Instead of coming across as a ridiculous fancy, this makes sense. Truly, Holmes and Watson were Conan Doyle's contemporaries in every sense of the word.

These books will be the joy of any Sherlockian bibliophile. They are thoughtfully laid out with care so that the massive amount of supporting information beautifully supplements the stories. It is possible to read the stories without being distracted by the footnotes, which are printed in a soft red in the left-hand column of each two column page, so that the eye moves sideways easily from the footnote number to the note itself. The typeface is pleasing, and the paper upon which the pages are printed is of very high quality and soothing to the touch. These are books which will be passed down and cherished for generations to come.

Probably deserves four stars, but Sherlock Holmes has a special place in my heart. The footnotes are mostly good, and the accompanying essays run the gamut from odd and somewhat interesting to pretty boring. The Baker Street Irregulars are a weird bunch (and happily so, I imagine). As much as I love Holmes and Watson, the stories are uneven and often absurd (and a bit dated). That said, the care and effort put into this version is astounding and worthy of five stars.

wonderful. and don't let the size and depth put you off. this, as well as the longer stories volume, are fun and exciting and interesting reads from front to back. I also keep these books by the side of my desk as i pick them up all the time.

This compilation is the best Shelock Holmes ever!! the "footnotes" both criticize, clarify and instruct.

Ett måste i varje hem.

Note: This review is for Volume I of The Annotated Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes, which contain stories from the first two collections: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, respectively.

I began reading the Sherlock Holmes stories early into my intern year in internal medicine; I'd felt that this was a major gap in my reading, and decided to be assiduous in making up the deficit. It was a brilliant choice; Sherlock Holmes has much to teach any budding doctor. In part, this is because Conan Doyle was himself a doctor and he based Holmes on one of his favorite professors in medical school, a man who could glance at a patient and ascertain not just their medical problems but also their emotional state, their line of work, their station in life. This is, I think, what makes Sherlock Holmes the master that he is; he's basically an attending physician who treats crimes instead of diseases. He also traffics in H&Ps, differential diagnoses, pre-test probabilities, the accumulation of carefully observed details into illness scripts, and above all the thing that makes a great doctor: ignoring the vortex of noise for the lone straggly shard of signal. Of course, it also helps that Conan Doyle is, within this narrow realm, a master of his own--he has this almost indefatigable talent for clear, efficient description, but also of capturing a faded and comforting vision of London, a well-organized city with any number of subcultures, hidden intrigues, secrets within secrets, ultimate meaning. Holmes is a captivating, compelling character, his monomaniacal curiosity about the world infectious; one of the charms of the mysteries is that he doesn't make you feel dumb, because Doyle carefully writes the stories in ways that are impossible for the reader to figure out--so you can just save your energy for astonishment at Holmes's brilliant deductions. I grew to love the familiar rhythms of these stories--the early rapport between Holmes and Watson, the introduction of the case, the single detail which intrigues Holmes without its significance being apparent to us, the initial set of interviews, the puzzling gambits, the ultimate reveal. Holmes never asks for our affection; in fact, he seems to scorn sentiment outright from anybody but Watson. And yet his ostensible death, over the Reichenbach falls in a tangle with Moriarty, managed to devastate me all the same. I think of these stories, within the Canon of 56 stories, as the true Canon; but I cannot wait to recharge and re-enter this world through the back half of the short stories.

"A Scandal in Bohemia", 8.5/10
“The Red-Headed League”, 9/10
“A Case of Identity”, 7/10
"The Five Orange Pips", 9/10
“The Man with the Twisted Lip”, 7/10
“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle”, 8.5/10
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, 9.5/10
“The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb”, 8.5/10
“The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor”, 8/10
“The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet”, 8.5/10
“The Adventure of the Copper Beeches”, 6/10
****************
“Silver Blaze”, 9.5/10
“The Stockbroker's Clerk”, 5/10
“The Gloria Scott”, 9.5/10
“The Reigate Squires”, 9.5/10
“The Crooked Man”, 7/10
“The Greek Interpreter”, 10/10
“The Naval Treaty”, 10/10
“The Final Problem”, 10/10

A few summers ago, I tortured myself by reading the Sherlock Holmes novels all in one swoop. Now I am going to make it up to myself, in dribs and drabs, by reading the stories.

Fantastic presentation of favourite stories. I was perhaps looking for a bit more depth to the annotations as there's too much explanation of things which are obvious to UK inhabitants. I was hoping for a bit of cross-referencing of stories, theories etc.

Still, I'll read this edition again and again. Now to save up for volume 3 - the novels.

I last read the Holmes books as a child. So after reading the first couple of novels on my DS I decided to purchase the Annotated versions. It took several months to get through as these two contain all 56 original short stories along with an untold number of annotations. The annotations definitely added to my knowledge of Holmes arcana as well as that of Victorian England. While not for everyone, anyone who has read and enjoyed the Holmes books will enjoy these.

This will be in the 'currently reading' section forever... I'm three pages into the first story and there have been something like 12 footnotes already!

I read pretty much all of the Sherlock Holmes short stories years ago when my children were little. I started out with the most famous, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" and could not get through it, found it difficult reading, dry, etc. At that point in my life, to keep my adult brain nourished; my goal was to pick a new author or genre of literature and read all that I could of that author or new genre during a year. Well, Holmes was what I had chosen to stretch myself and I was determined to finish what I barely had started. I began with a more simple short story; enjoyed it and continued reading all of the Holmes stories I could get a hold of. Then, I finished my Holmes experience (after months of getting to know and love these short stories) with "The Hound of the Baskervilles" loving and enjoying the story. I could see why it was considered Doyle's best.

Since then I have loved all of the ways the media has explored Sherlock. My favorite being the PBS version. I still catch it when they bring that series out of the vaults. I totally enjoyed the most recent movie with Rober Downy Jr. It was certainly ramped up for the younger audience; but I LOVED all the Sherlock elements that were woven into that experience.

My husband gave me the first two volumes of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes a few months ago. I marveled at the detailed dedication of Klinger's notes. I LOVED all of the additional information about the time and places that the stories took place as well as all the juicy gossip and theories about the origen and authenticiy of the characters and the author/s?!

I have enjoyed pulling these stories out over the last months and delving into one or several of the stories in between other reads. What a great friend Doyle, Watson and most of all Sherlock has become over the years.

I've been reading these slowly over almost eight years; feels so strange to close the book after the last case knowing it may never open again.