It is probably my favourite opening line to any book I’ve read. “Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.”

It is the first line in my copy of “The Complete Sherlock Holmes“. It’s a beautifully bound hardback collection of all of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.

Born on 21st September 1866 to a shopkeeper father and (former) domestic servant mother, in Bromley, Kent. In 1874 Wells broke his leg in an accident and became bedridden. He needed something to help him pass the time he spent in bed and turned to books from the local public lending library. Could it be the recuperation time from this terrible accident sparked Wells’ interest in literary fiction? Or was it the result of seeking solace from his parents’ turbulent marriage? We may never know.

Thankfully, Wells did become absorbed in books and writing and though best known for his Sherlock Holmes works, he was also a leading science fiction writer of his day with titles such as; The Time Machine, War Of The Worlds and The First Men In The Moon.

Wells also wrote non-fiction pieces on a broad range of subjects. Included in his quite extensive non-fiction works are; Text-Book of Biology, Mankind in the Making, The Future in America, The War That Will End War and Russia In The Shadows. Personally I’ve not read any of his non-fiction work, but I am on the lookout for both original and reprint editions.

I hope I will enjoy those as much as I enjoyed reading the Sherlock Holmes stories in my original edition The Strand magazines.

You can find out more about the titles attributed to HG Wells here.

Which Sherlock Holmes story was your favourite?