There was only one student in the room, who was bending over a distant table absorbed in his work. At the sound of our steps he glanced round and sprang to his feet with a cry of pleasure. "I've found it! I've found it" -- Dr. Watson regarding his first meeting with Holmes in STUD.

Sherlock Holmes, that great detective, was a complex, interesting character. He a lean Londoner who towered over his contemporaries not only physically (at over 6 feet - I estimate him to have been 6"2) but also with his mental agility. He had sharp and piercing gray eyes, a prominent, square (and clean shaven) chin, strong aquiline features, "sallow cheeks" (BERY), and "excellent" ears. He had lost his left canine. His hands were blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, mottled with plasters (band-aids), and discolored by strong acids (SIGN); but he had a delicate touch and was "strong in the fingers" (BERY). He had a light complexion (for in CARD he made sure he rode in the cab, "with his hat tilted over his nose to keep the sun from his face").

Yet, Holmes was known for his mood swings (he was prone to depression and the use of cocaine) and quiet, contemplative disposition. He periodically had temporary fits of ill-humour (RESI). Watson had other insights into Holmes personality. He said, "I was repelled by the egotism which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my friend's singular character" (COPP). This very trait is evidenced in NAVA when Holmes displays a bit of arrogance in the following exchange. Watson alludes to his medical practice and Holmes says: Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine--" said Holmes with some asperity. [Watson responds,] "I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a day or two, since it is the slackest time of year." "Excellent," said he, recovering his good-humour.

Holmes

Watson also notes that Holmes had a masterful nature that liked to dominated and surprise those around him. Is it shocking, then, that Holmes considered Watson his only friend? Watson notes, "sometimes I found myself regarding him as an isolated phenomenon, a brain without a heart, as deficient in human sympathy as he was preeminent in intelligence. His aversion to women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both typical of his unemotional character" (GREE). Certainly Watson was the perfect foil for Holmes: steady and dependable, even if Holmes was not. Holmes was also a man of rare humor; and when he did laugh, Watson said it always boded ill for someone. Holmes had great professional caution (as he refused to take "chances").

These same personal traits that might be viewed as flaws allowed him to rise to the top of his field. Watson states, "The discretion and high sense of professional honour which have always distinguished my friend are still at work in the choice of these memoirs, and no confidence will be abused" (VEIL). In 1887, (after presumably hundreds of cases), he stated that he had been been only three times by men and once by a woman (Irene Adler).

As for women, Holmes did not care for them - or any other physical interest. He was a thinking machine, cold and calculating. He did have one women that he admired, because of her own superior intellect. This was "the woman" (Irene Norton, née Adler or "Irene Adler Norton") in Sherlock Holmes' life; and she was only "the woman" from a principled and intellectual distance.

Holmes had a brother and likely grew up in the country (for more see family). In GLOR he reports that he spent 2 years at college and kept rooms in London during the long summer holiday, but in MUSG, he says "during my last years [at university]," so it is unclear exactly how long he spent in college. He might have spent 2 formal years there and another one or two studying his arts and sciences but without pursuing a degree. When he first arrived in London, he took rooms in Montague Street "round the corner from the British Museum" (MUSG).

He had knowledge of both French and Italian, which he likely encountered in school (although it is possible his mother's side of the family also spoke some French at home). Holmes had also studied botany (he was familiar with poisons but did not know simple gardening) and practical geology. He had a profound understanding of chemistry (he created a new blood test), had accurate anatomy knowledge, read sensational literature, had practical knowledge of British law. Holmes knew little of contemporary politics, literature, philosophy, or astronomy (SIGN); although his astronomy knowledge was better than he let on, for in MUSG he had a knowledge of the change in the obliquity of the ecliptic.

Although he had a love of personal cleanliness, "he was ... in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction" (MUSG). Nevertheless, he led a Spartan lifestyle and Watson would have us believe that Holmes cared little for the pleasures of life. Yet, with his attention to detail, fine dressing gowns, smoking, fine wines, excellent cuisine when eating out, and appreciation of performance music Holmes did indeed care for the pleasures of life. Watson meant, perhaps, that Holmes cared little for the comforts of the opposite sex, instead turning his emotions toward the art of his craft instead of toward other human beings.

Watson also can't seem to make up his mind whether Holmes rises early or late. In both SPEC and HOUN, Holmes is reported to rise late "as a rule." Yet, Watson also says Holmes usually went to bed before 10 PM, rose early, breakfasted, and was out for his morning walk before Watson even rose. However, because Holmes is known to have serious mood swings, it is likely the mood swings influenced his sleeping patterns. Surely if he was depressed and surly with nothing to stimulate his mind, he would sleep in. But with much to do and think about, he would rise early and talk his morning walk to clear his mind and prepare him for a long day.

In addition, Holmes played the violin, often to relax himself and focus his mind. But while the delicate touch of his fingers danced across the violin, they also born the marks of a boxer. He probably had scars on his knuckles from the exchange where he "barked his knuckles" on a man's front teeth (FINA) and his fight with Joseph Harrison ( NAVA),

Aside from his walks, Holmes "rarely took exercise for exercise's sake. Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen; but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save where there was some professional object to be served . . . . his diet was was usually of the sparest and his habits were simple to the verge of austerity. Save for the occasional use of cocaine he had no vices, and he only turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and papers uninteresting" (YELL). Yet, when Holmes had steam to burn, he was an excellent boxer, swordsman, and singlestick player.

Although Holmes was assumed dead in early May, 1891, he was in active practice for 23 years (17 with Watson) (VEIL).

Upon his retirement, Mr. Holmes went into beekeeping. He also probably looked into the chemical researches he had long wanted to look into upon his retirement (FINA).