HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.‘I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world…’In London, 1888, the razor-sharp detective skills of Sherlock Holmes are to be put to the test. Mary Morstan reports two seemingly unconnected and inexplicable events: the disappearance of her father, a British Indian Army Captain, and the arrival of pearls by post from an unknown sender. Driven on by its complexity, Holmes and Watson slowly begin to unravel an intricate web of exotic treasure, secret pacts and mysterious deaths.One of only four novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Watson, ‘The Sign of the Four’ will delight those who have been captivated by Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories.
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Артур Конан Дойл. The Sign of the Four
THE SIGN OF THE FOUR. Arthur Conan Doyle
Copyright
History of Collins
Life & Times. About the Author
The Influence of Science
Sherlock Holmes
A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of the Four
CHAPTER 1. The Science of Deduction
CHAPTER 2. The Statement of the Case
CHAPTER 3. In Quest of a Solution
CHAPTER 4. The Story of the Bald-Headed Man
CHAPTER 5. The Tragedy of Pondicherry Lodge
CHAPTER 6. Sherlock Holmes Gives a Demonstration
CHAPTER 7. The Episode of the Barrel
CHAPTER 8. The Baker Street Irregulars
CHAPTER 9. A Break in the Chain
CHAPTER 10. The End of the Islander
CHAPTER 11. The Great Agra Treasure
CHAPTER 12. The Strange Story of Jonathan Small
CLASSIC LITERATURE: WORDS AND PHRASESadapted from the Collins English Dictionary
About the Publisher
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In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William published in 1824, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.
Soon after, William published the first Collins novel, Ready Reckoner; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.
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“It is simplicity itself,” he remarked, chuckling at my surprise,—“so absurdly simple that an explanation is superfluous; and yet it may serve to define the limits of observation and of deduction. Observation tells me that you have a little reddish mould adhering to your instep. Just opposite the Seymour Street Office they have taken up the pavement and thrown up some earth which lies in such a way that it is difficult to avoid treading in it in entering. The earth is of this peculiar reddish tint which is found, as far as I know, nowhere else in the neighborhood. So much is observation. The rest is deduction.”
