In which work by Doyle does Holmes say "Elementary, my dear Watson"?

Answer 1

"Elementary, my dear Watson!"

(Phrase Origins)



does not occur as such in any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock
Holmes stories, although Holmes does exclaim "Elementary" in "The
Crooked Man", and says "It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I
assure you" in "The Cardboard Box". The first recorded
juxtaposition is in the 1929 film _The Return of Sherlock Holmes_
(the first Holmes film with sound).

The original stories never mention an Inverness cape, a
deerstalker hat, or a meerschaum pipe, either. Those props are due
to illustrators and to actors.

The WWW Sherlockian home page is at: http://www.sherlockian.net/.

Answer 2

The line doesn't appear in any of Doyles books, it didn't come out until later in Sherlock Holmes' films.

Although Holmes does exclaim "Elementary" in "The
Crooked Man", and says "It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I
assure you" in "The Cardboard Box". The first recorded
juxtaposition is in the 1929 film _The Return of Sherlock Holmes_