The Adventure of the Norwood Builder: A Lawyerly Annotated Edition

ABSTRACT:

We hope that the annotations provided here will educate and entertain you, and draw you further into the world of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John H. Watson, Inspector Lestrade, et al. These notes are, however, only the beginning, only a sampling, of what there is to know about “The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.”

For anyone interested in fully appreciating this story — its characters, plot, context, and so on — two books are essential resources. First, there is The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes (2005), by Leslie S. Klinger. Volume II of that work includes “Norwood Builder,” and Klinger’s notes there are flagged here with citations to “LSK, 2 New Ann. p. _, note _.” Second, there is The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library, also by Klinger. The volume in that series covering The Return of Sherlock Holmes (2003) includes “Norwood Builder,” and Klinger’s notes which are flagged here with citations to “LSK, Ref.: RETUR, p. _, note _.” If you want to know what his notes say (and you should), you will need to get his books (which you should).

The text of the “Norwood Builder” presented here is from the McClure, Phillips & Co. edition of The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905), which has its quirks, as does every version.