New biography details Joseph Bell, the Edinburgh surgeon behind Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle created one of the most enduring fictional detectives in history, but the character of Sherlock Holmes was modeled on a real person. That person was Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the University of Edinburgh who taught Doyle when the author was a medical student. A new book, Sleuth-Hound: The Case of the Real Sherlock Holmes by medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris, examines Bell’s life and work.

Fitzharris is known for her work in medical history and science communication. She published The Butchering Art in 2017, which focused on Joseph Lister. Her 2022 book, The Facemaker, detailed the work of Harold Gillies, a surgeon who repaired the faces of World War I veterans. In 2020, she hosted a documentary series on the Smithsonian Channel that investigated famous deaths. Last year, she and her husband, caricaturist Adrian Teal, released an illustrated children’s book titled Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops, and Failures that Sparked Medical Marvels.

Bell was famous for his ability to deduce a patient’s background and health status from visual cues alone. He could identify a person’s occupation and personal habits just by looking at them. One specific example involved a patient walking to the infirmary. Bell identified the type of clay on the patient’s boots to determine the specific route the individual had taken. Doyle later adapted this incident for his novel The Sign of the Four.

Beyond his clinic, Bell acted as a medical detective. He collaborated with a local police surgeon on several high-profile murder cases during his career. His methods relied on close observation and logical inference, traits that defined the fictional detective created by his former student.

In an interview with Ars Technica, Fitzharris explained her motivation for writing the book. She noted that while Bell was known in academic circles, few large-scale commercial biographies existed. A 1982 book by Ely Liebow covered the topic, but it was primarily known to fans of Sherlock Holmes. Fitzharris wanted to apply a specific medical history perspective to the narrative.

The book places Bell in the context of 19th-century Edinburgh, a city associated with body snatchers and the discovery of ether. It details how Bell’s unique approach to diagnosis influenced Doyle’s writing. The publication offers a look at the real-world foundation of a fictional character that has persisted for over a century.