5 volumes (Volumes II to VI). Numerous black and white illustrations. 9¼x6¼, period half morocco with raised bands (Volumes II and III somewhat darker), spine labels gilt, speckled edges.

Contains all 23 of the Sherlock Holmes stories which were later collected as "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (July 1891 - June 1892) and "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (December 1892 - December 1893), mostly the first appearances in print. Sherlock Holmes had already been introduced in "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of Four", but it was not until his appearance in the Strand that he became a phenomenon. It was the Strand that chose Sidney Paget to illustrate Holmes for the first time. Holmes first appeared with his deerstalker cap in the Boscombe Valley Mystery (October 1891).