STRAND MAGAZINE - VOL I (January-June 1891) together with VOL II (July-December 1891). The first year of the magazine. Articles include: illustrated articles on Gladstone, Rider Haggard, Huxley, Henry Irving, Joachim, Lilly Langtree, Ruskin, Stanley, Tennyson; 'The Voice of Science' by Conan Doyle - this was the first story by Doyle to be published in the magazine. Volume II is legendary in the history of literature as it featured the first publication of 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' with 'A Scandal in Bohemia', 'The Red Headed League', 'A Case of Identity', 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', 'The Five Orange Pips', and 'The Man with the Twisted Lip'. Although Holmes had appeared earlier in 'A Study in Scarlet' published by Ward Lock as a separate novel and also Beeton's Christmas Album a few years earlier, 'A Scandal in Bohemia' was the first Sherlock Holmes Short Story to appear and introduced Irene Adler - 'The Woman' who was the legendary match for Holmes. The appearance of these stories in these editions of The Strand Magazine not only cemented the position of the character of Sherlock Holmes in the history of English literature, but also elevated Conan Doyle into a special position held only by a very few novelists. The volume also contains long illustrated articles on W S Gilbert, and the soprano opera star Albani, Andrew Lang, Thomas Hardy and Bismarck, as well as a first-hand account of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' by Private James Lamb - one of the 'Six Hundred'; plus a considerable number of other features. Bound in the distinctive blue cloth featuring an illustration to front cover showing the Newnes Offices in The Strand