Stocking the brain attic is 'Elementary'

 

“A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he can get it if he wants it.” –Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Born in Scotland on this date in 1859, Doyle is the creator of Sherlock Holmes, one of the iconic figures in literary history.     Noted for his to-the-point comments while solving mysteries, Holmes once pointed out that, “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.”  

 

Originally a physician (I always thought that he resembled what I imagined Dr. Watson to look like), Doyle wrote his first Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, in 1887.  It was the first of just four novels about Holmes and Dr. Watson, but he “filled out” the Holmes library of tales with over 50 short stories featuring the famous detective.  

 

The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction, tales that spawned many dozens (if not more) uses of Holmes by other writers, dozens of movies and television programs and the bringing of Deerstalker hats and Meerschaum pipes into vogue.   A prolific writer, Doyle also wrote poetry and many fantasy and science fiction stories, plays and historical novels.  

 

“Once you eliminate the impossible,” Doyle wrote in a saying that is now part of the lexicon, “whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.