The sign of the four

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Cover of the first edition of the magazine (1890)
Cover of the first English edition

The Sign of Four is Arthur Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel . It first appeared in the February 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine under the title The Sign of the Four and was published as a book by Spencer Blackett under the title The Sign of Four that same year .

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Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are hired by Miss Mary Morstan to help find their missing father. He was an officer in India and disappeared ten years ago when he returned to England .

An anonymous letter brings the three on the trail of Thaddeus Sholto. From him they learn that his father was friends with the man he was looking for and that he served in the same company with him in India . He also tells of the death of the two men, of a treasure they brought with them from India and how he and his brother discovered the treasure.

Shortly afterwards, the brother is murdered under mysterious circumstances and the treasure is stolen. Thaddeus Sholto is suspected of the act and arrested. Since Sherlock Holmes believes in his innocence, he takes on the case.

After several setbacks, Holmes tracked down the real culprit due to his excellent observation and combination talent. They can catch him after an exciting chase on the Thames . When the perpetrator is questioned, he confesses his actions and tells the background story of the murders and the treasure.

In addition to the crime story, the Holmes assistant and narrator of the novel, Dr. Watson, on his romance with client Miss Mary Morstan, whom he marries after the case is over.

Expenses (selection)

In addition to the complete editions of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the novel was also published as a single title.

  • The sign of the four (translation: Leslie Giger), Haffmans Zurich 1988, ISBN 3-251-20101-8 .
  • Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes - The Novels - A Study in Scarlet Red - The Sign of Four - The Dog of the Baskervilles - The Valley of Horror (translation by Margarete Jacobi, HO Herzog), Anaconda-Verlag 2013, ISBN 978-3-7306- 0030-6 .
  • Arthur Conan Doyle: The Sign of Four: Illustrated Edition (translation: Hannelore Eisenhofer), 2014, ISBN 978-3-86820-198-7 .
  • Arthur Conan Doyle: Daszeichen der Vier (Translation: Henning Ahrens), Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-596-03566-3 .

media

Film adaptations

The novel has been implemented several times as a cinema and television film .

year title country Director Holmes Watson
1913 Sherlock Holmes Solves the Sign of the Four United States Lloyd Lonergan Harry Benham Charles Gunn
1923 The Sign of Four UK Maurice Elvey Eille Norwood Hubert Willis
1932 The Sign of Four UK Graham Cutts Arthur Wontner Ian Hunter
1968 The Sign of the Four UK William Sterling / BBC Peter Cushing Nigel Stock
1974 The Sign of Four (In the series: The Great Detectives ) F / FRG Jean-Pierre Decourt Rolf Becker Roger Lumont
1983 Under the sign of the four UK Desmond Davis Ian Richardson David Healy
1983 Sherlock Holmes and the Sign of Four (animated) OUT Ian Mackenzie, Alex Nicholas Peter O'Toole (voice) Earle Cross
1983 The Treasure of Agra ( Socrowishcha Agry ) SU Igor Maslennikov Vasily Liwanow Vitaly Solomin
1987 The sign 4 UK Peter Hammond Jeremy Brett Edward Hardwicke
2001 The Sign of Four CDN Rodney Gibbons Matt Frewer Kenneth Welsh
2014 In the sign of the three UK Colm McCarthy Benedict Cumberbatch Martin Freeman

Radio plays

  • 1991: The Sign of Four - Production: SWF ; Editing and direction: Hans Gerd Krogmann ; with Walter Renneisen (Sherlock Holmes), Peter Fitz (Dr. Watson) and others
    • Part 1: The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge (59:40 minutes)
    • Part 2: The Strange Story of Jonathan Small (59:35 minutes)

Published as CD edition: Der Audio Verlag : September 2017 (in the Sherlock Holmes collection : The Monographs )

Audio book

Web links

Wikisource: The Sign of the Four  - Sources and full texts