Sherlock Holmes's world is a realm of signs. Humans are carriers of their visible and decipherable history, and the things they use manifest the same. Pieces of clothing, watches and many other things used daily bear witness to their owners, whose habits leave traces upon them. Yet the only one who can decipher them is the detective. All other figures in this world are either blind or illiterate. The new language of signs must be learned, as must the ability to perceive them, which is more than just seeing. In the realm of signs, for those who understand how to read them there is no present, since everything carries a history with it and upon it. Nothing can escape history, render it invisible or simply make it disappear. It relentlessly and ineluctably leaves behind its visible traces. Above all this historical index simultaneously grants artifacts, daily items and people their essential character. They are creatures of history and signs. The figure of Sherlock Holmes is, however, not just a reader of traces but also someone who teaches their meaning. Amid the jungle of the big city, the thicket of signs and flux of phenomena, he manages to find an explanation for things and gets others to likewise agree on their meaning. No matter how unfathomable and seemingly indecipherable the maze of modernity may seem, Sherlock Holmes reduces it to its essence. He as detective embodies and promises order within the modern world, where classic methods of explanation no longer apply and already the perceptual abilities of the individual are overwhelmed. The disorientation of the reader remains, but Sherlock Holmes always helps them find their bearings within this world and dazzles them with his secular magic. His realm is entirely of this world. “The Book of Life” is the title of an article published by Sherlock Holmes which lies open before him. Sherlock Holmes has no need to seek hidden meanings, all he needs is the surface nature of a thing, which provides him the links to the history it carries. Everything alive leaves behind traces, which like signs can be deciphered.