The Sign of the Four

In August 1889, Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde were both invited to dinner by Joseph M. Stoddart, the managing editor of Lippincott’s Magazine, a successful American literary magazine that was setting up a U.K. edition. Stoddart asked both authors to contribute a novelette to the new publication, and Conan Doyle worked quickly to produce this Sherlock Holmes mystery, whereas Wilde took longer but eventually produced The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Possibly influenced by the experience of meeting Wilde, Conan Doyle introduced new wrinkles to the character of Holmes not present in A Study in Scarlet, including his drug use and increased knowledge of literature. The novel also introduces Watson and the readers to Mary Morstan, who will become Watson’s wife. The novel bore the title The Sign of the Four when originally published in the magazine, but when it was released in book form, the title was changed to The Sign of Four.