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{{Short description|Sherlock Holmes story}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}”How Watson Learned the Trick” is a Sherlock Holmes parody written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1924.BOOK, Haining, Peter, Peter Haining (author), The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Barnes & Noble, 1995, 21-22, 1-56619-198-X,archive.org/details/finaladventureso0000doyl_u8y7/page/21, It concerns Doctor Watson attempting to demonstrate to Holmes how he has learned the latter’s “superficial trick” of logical deduction by giving a summary of Holmes’ current state of mind and plans for the day ahead, only for Holmes to then reveal that every single one of Watson’s deductions is incorrect.Conan Doyle was one of several authors commissioned to provide books for the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House;WEB,news.bbc.co.uk/local/berkshire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_9102000/9102196.stm, The Queen’s Dolls’ House is explored by Lucinda Lambton, 19 October 2010, 2 February 2021, BBC News, Emma Midgely, WEB,www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-lost-sherlock-holmes-story-20150223-story.html, ‘Lost’ Sherlock Holmes tale probably isn’t Arthur Conan Doyle’s, expert says, 24 February 2015, 2 February 2021, Los Angeles Times, Carolyn Kellogg, others included J. M. Barrie, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling and W. Somerset Maugham. Conan Doyle was provided with a book approximately 1.5” x 1.25” (3.75 cm x 3.15 cm) into which he wrote the 503-word story of How Watson Learned the Trick by hand, taking up 34 pages.WEB,www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/gallery/2014/nov/16/sherlock-holmes-book-queen-marys-dolls-house, Tiny Sherlock Holmes book for Queen Mary’s dolls’ house – in pictures, 16 November 2014, 2 February 2021, The Guardian, WEB,www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-29066339, Mini Sherlock Holmes dolls’ house book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published, 2 October 2014, 2 February 2021, BBC.com, The original manuscript is still part of the Dolls’ House library.

Publication

The story was published in the souvenir book, The Book of the Queen’s Dolls’ House Library (1924), and in the New York Times on 24 August 1924. It appears in the Penguin collection The Uncollected Sherlock Holmes ({{ISBN|0-14-006432-X}}).A new version, a replica based on the miniature book created for Queen Mary’s Doll’s House by Conan Doyle, was published in October 2014 by Walker Books in collaboration with Royal Collections Trust ({{ISBN|978-1-4063-4597-1}}).

Adaptations

A scene very much in the manner of “How Watson Learned the Trick” is featured in the 1985 television adaptation of “The Adventure of the Resident Patient” in the Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett, with Watson attempting to apply Holmes’s methods to uncover his friend’s current state but largely failing, although Holmes does admit that “there is an element of truth in what you say”.The story was incorporated into an episode of the Imagination Theatre radio series The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The episode, also titled “How Watson Learned the Trick”, aired on 20 April 2008.WEB,www.old-time.com/otrlogs2/fash_sw.log.pdf, Old-Time Radio, The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log, Wright, Stewart, 30 April 2019, 21 March 2020, How Vido Learned the Trick by fantasy author Josh Reynolds, featuring sage-detective Zavant Konniger and his halfling manservant Vido, was published in the 2018 Warhammer Fantasy anthology Inferno! Volume 1.WEB,www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/novels/inferno!-volume-1-ebook.html, Inferno! Volume 1, 2018, Black Library, Games Workshop, 2022-02-03,

References

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External links

• How Watson Learned the Trick

{{HolmesNovels}}