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The True First Edition.CONAN DOYLE, Arthur. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Charles Raymond MacAuley New York, McClure, Phillips and Co. 1905. [32185]
FIRST EDITION, preceding the British Newnes edition. Octavo. With 13 illustrations throughout the text, including frontispiece with tissue guard. Elegantly hand bound in half black oasis morocco with five raised bands, gilt titles to spine, buckram sides, original pictorial cloth bound in at rear.
A fine copy in attractive recent leather binding.
A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £375
Green & Gibson
The True First Edition.CONAN DOYLE, Arthur. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Charles Raymond MacAuley New York, McClure, Phillips and Co. 1905. [35168]
FIRST EDITION, preceding the British Newnes edition. Octavo. With 13 illustrations throughout the text, including frontispiece with tissue guard. Elegantly hand bound in half black calf with five raised bands, gilt titles to spine, marbled sides, original pictorial cloth bound in at rear.
A fine copy in attractive recent leather binding.
A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £350
Green & Gibson
The True First Edition.CONAN DOYLE, Arthur. The Return Of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Charles Raymond MacAuley New York, McClure, Phillips and Co. 1905. [35169]
FIRST EDITION, preceding the British Newnes edition. Octavo. With 13 illustrations throughout the text, including frontispiece with tissue guard. Elegantly hand bound in half deep red calf, extra gilt, with five raised bands, marbled sides, original pictorial cloth bound in at rear.
A fine copy in attractive recent leather binding.
A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £375
Green & Gibson
[CONAN DOYLE, Arthur, MEADE, L.T.] contribute to...‘THE STRAND MAGAZINE’ . No.33, ORIGINAL ISSUE IN WRAPPERS. ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- The Greek Interpreter’. Illustrated by Sidney Paget. George Newnes Ltd., London, September 1893. [33880]
This issue contains the FIRST APPEARANCE of ‘The Greek Intepreter’ by A.C Doyle, later published as the ninth story in ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’, when issued in book-form. Also includes an episode from the mystery classic, Queen’s Quorum listed ‘Stories from the Diary of a Doctor’ written by popular crime novelist L.T.Meade in collaboration with Clifford Halifax. Original issue magazine format, approx. 9.5 x 6.5 inches with pictorial covers, illustrated throughout. Very good, with some toning to covers and wear to joints, chipped to spine with neat tear at head. Internally fine, with inserts present. Shows very well. Whilst the hardbound six-monthly volumes survive comparatively well, these fragile single issues were not intended to be kept for posterity and are scarce. ‘The Greek Interpreter’ case is notable for the introduction of Holmes hitherto unmentioned older brother Mycroft, a fascinating character who, rather like Professor Moriarty, is revealed with a similarly detailed descriptive build up, but is disappointingly under-used in the canon. £275
DeWaal. Green and Gibson. BMC No.261, p62-73 ‘Collecting The Strand’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [129, 425a], (1966). BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DE WAAL, Robert Burt. The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. A Classified and Annotated List of Materials Relating to their Lives and Adventures. Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1974. [30224]
First - and only - Edition. Publisher’s black cloth spine qith titles in gilt, brown cloth boards with gilt titles to upper. A clean, near fine copy of this scarce bibliography, contained in its original dog-tooth motif paper covered slipcase. £60
DIBDEN, Michael (1947-2007) The Last Sherlock Holmes Story. London, Jonathan Cape Ltd. 1978. [35601]
First Edition, 8vo. Publisher’s black cloth, lettered in gilt, top edge tinted blue. Pictorial dust jacket with very atmospheric, all over design by Tom Adams, price clipped. Slight bumping to spine and upper corners with a tiny lean, near fine. Trivial wear to dust jacket, fine. A lovely copy. £295
A story based on papers left by Dr.Watson concerning the ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders.
[DOYLE A.C.] ASIMOV, Isaac. [Sherlock Holmes] Asimov’s Sherlockian Limericks. Introduction by Isaac Asimov, Frontispiece by Gahan Wilson. The Mysterious Press, New York, 1978. [16415]
Small 8vo., 160 x 185mm. Fine in near fine dustwrapper (sunned to spine). FIRST EDITION, Inscribed by the Author. (Also issued in Signed Limited Edition) £125
DOYLE, Adrian Conan. [CARR, John Dickson] The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray. 1954. [31842]
FIRST EDITION 8vo. 313pp. Publisher’s bright red cloth with a hint of bumping to the base of the spine. Dustwrapper scintillating with hints of edgewear. Quite simply a lovely, fresh clean copy. New adventures of the Baker Street detective, written by his creator’s son and biographer Adrian Conan Doyle in partnership with acclaimed mystery wroter John Dickson Carr.
£150
Hubin. Crime Fiction IV 1749-2000.
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. London; John Murray, 1917. [33877]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo; pp. 305 + 6 ads. Bound in publisher’s red cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper. This copy shows a little soiling and use, some dulling to gilt on backstrip, internally clean and free from foxing, pastedown has neat contemporary name with discreet covering sticker applied later. A very good copy indeed. £395
‘His Last Bow’ marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures...
Green and Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle [A40.a]. DeWaal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson [584]. Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986). See also Haining (Crime Fiction), Cooper & Pike (Detective Fiction), Steinbrunner & Penzler (Mystery & Detection), Quayle (Det.Fiction), Haycraft (Murder for Pleasure) Queen's Quorum.
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. London; John Murray, 1917. [34205]
Detective short stories. FIRST EDITION in book form. 8vo; pp. 305 + 6 ads. Elegantly hand-bound in full black oasis with marbled endpapers, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with raised bands, publisher’s original cloth bound in at rear, t.e.g. Internally clean but for some marginal browning to signature 9. A near fine copy in attractive recent leather binding. ‘His Last Bow’ marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures... The title story covers Holmes war service, and ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’ finds Doyle moving into the espionage genre. £300
Green and Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle [A40.a]. DeWaal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson [584]. Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986). See also Haining (Crime Fiction), Cooper & Pike (Detective Fiction), Steinbrunner & Penzler (Mystery & Detection), Quayle (Det.Fiction), Haycraft (Murder for Pleasure) Queen's Quorum.
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [31908]
8vo., With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Pp. 403, +4 of adverts. Beautiful binding of recent full blue oasis with gilt titles to spine, gilt rule to boards, marbled end papers; top edge gilt, original cloth bound in. Internally clean and fresh. A superb copy. FIRST EDITION. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £750
Green & Gibson [A29a]
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [33876]
FIRST UK EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Internally clean and tight with a little edge toning- top edge possibly brushed clean. Cloth shows light handling only; a crisp, near fine and impressive copy. A Park Lane mystery- the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair- brings Sherlock Holmes back to life and the search for the second most dangerous man in London. The ‘Return’ is a collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series. £1,750
Green and Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle [A29.a]. DeWaal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson [625]. Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986). See also Haining (Crime Fiction), Cooper & Pike (Detective Fiction), Steinbrunner & Penzler (Mystery & Detection), Quayle (Det.Fiction), Haycraft (Murder for Pleasure) Queen's Quorum. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [35584]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Internally clean and tight. Cloth shows light handling only, a trifle creased to spine; a near fine copy in a tailor made leather-spined, felt-lined clamshell case. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £2,500
Green & Gibson [A29a]
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [35794]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Internally clean and tight. Cloth shows bumping to spine ends, light edgewear and rubbing. Gilt and cloth darkened to spine. Internally clean, minor spotting. Front inner hinge starting. A very good, strong copy. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £975
Green & Gibson [A29a]
The second Holmes novelDOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four. [A Sherlock Holmes Story] London, George Newnes Limited 1892 [34841]
SECOND EDITION. Publisher’s brown cloth with fine polychrome illustrations to upper and spine, titled in gilt, floral patterned endleaves. Minor wear to joints, neatly recased. Near fine. The second printing of the second Sherlock Holmes novel, now reasonably difficult to uncover... Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady forces the great detective into action... The second of four full-length Sherlock Holmes novels, originally appearing in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (Feb.1890). Doyle was reputedly commissioned to write the story following a dinner with the editor at London’s Langham Hotel. The function was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who would contribute his only novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ to the July 1890 issue. Doyle later discussed this ‘golden evening’ in his autobiography ‘Memories and Adventures’ (1924). £495
Green & Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle. De Waal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. See also Haining; The Classic Era of Crime Fiction (2002), Cooper & Pike; Detective Fiction (1994), DeWaal; The International Sherlock Holmes (1980), Steinbrunner & Penzler; Ency.of Mystery & Detection (1976). Eric Quayle; The Collectors Book of Detective Fiction (1972). Howard Haycraft; Murder for Pleasure (1972), Graham Greene & Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction (1966), Elley Queen; Queen's Quorum (1951).
The second Holmes novelDOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four. [A Sherlock Holmes Story] London, George Newnes Limited 1892 [35037]
SECOND EDITION. Publisher’s brown cloth with fine polychrome illustrations to upper and spine, titled in gilt, floral patterned endleaves. Minor wear to joints, neatly recased. Near fine. The second printing of the second Sherlock Holmes novel, now reasonably difficult to uncover... Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady forces the great detective into action... The second of four full-length Sherlock Holmes novels, originally appearing in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (Feb.1890). Doyle was reputedly commissioned to write the story following a dinner with the editor at London’s Langham Hotel. The function was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who would contribute his only novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ to the July 1890 issue. Doyle later discussed this ‘golden evening’ in his autobiography ‘Memories and Adventures’ (1924). £495
Green & Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle. De Waal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. See also Haining; The Classic Era of Crime Fiction (2002), Cooper & Pike; Detective Fiction (1994), DeWaal; The International Sherlock Holmes (1980), Steinbrunner & Penzler; Ency.of Mystery & Detection (1976). Eric Quayle; The Collectors Book of Detective Fiction (1972). Howard Haycraft; Murder for Pleasure (1972), Graham Greene & Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction (1966), Elley Queen; Queen's Quorum (1951).
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. Tales of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, n.d. (c.1930). [35436]
MOVIE TIE-IN Edition. 8vo. Publisher’s green cloth with titles in black to spine and upper. In orange dustjacket titled in black, photo of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes to upper. Binding bright and tight, age toning to pages. Dustwrapper a little dusty, rubbed to extremities, frayed and chipped to corners and spine ends. Shows extremely well. £85
DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Valley of Fear. [A Sherlock Holmes Story] With a frontispiece by Frank Wiles. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1915. [34591]
First Edition. 8vo. Superb mid-twentieth century bespoke binding of full mid-blue morocco with gilt titles, gilt centre tooling to compartments and raised bands to spine; gilt rule to boards; grey end papers with publisher’s original red cloth covers bound in at rear. The fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, very elegantly bound, housed in a protective blue cloth slipcase. £275
[DOYLE, Arthur Conan] GILLETTE, William. Sherlock Holmes. A Drama in Four Acts. London, Samuel French Ltd.. 1922 [34398]
First Edition [French’s Acting Edition, No.489]. Pp123 +1 (advert). Includes diagrams for stage direction. Publisher’s fragile paper covers printed in colour with the striking image of Gillette portraying Holmes, titled to spine and upper, priced 2s.6d. net. Some trivial handling, browned to extremities,spine a little rolled. A very good copy of a fascinating piece of theatrical Holmesiana.
Although credited to Doyle this play was actually written entirely by actor William Gillette; The bibliography places the book in the ‘Misattributions’ section, although it adds that Doyle was consulted via cable by Gillette, and that Sir Arthur had such confidence in Gillette he gave him free licence with his character. £275
Green and Gibson Appendix V.5.
[DOYLE, Arthur Conan] STARRETT, Vincent. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. London, George Allen and Unwin 1961 [31161]
The Revised and Enlarged Edition (the title was first published in the 30s)First UK edition thus. 8vo. 157pp + 1 (advert). Fine in publisher’s cloth, in a very near fine pictorial dust jacket, with a little edgewearto rear panel. A striking example of this acclaimed piece of Sherlockiana. £50
[DOYLE, Arthur Conan] STARRETT, Vincent. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. London, Ivor Nicholson and Watson 1934 [32652]
First Edition 8vo. 199pp. Elegantly hand-bound in half dark blue oasis morocco leather over cloth sides, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with raised bands, publisher’s original cloth bound in at rear. A little browning to first and last leaf else a clean, fine copy. £175
An interesting piece of Sherlockiana.
[DOYLE, Arthur Conan] STARRETT, Vincent. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. New York; MacMillan 1933 [32655]
First edition., October 1933. 8vo. 214pp. Fine in publisher’s gilt-decorated royal blue cloth, in a very good pictorial dust jacket, with a few chips to spine tips and a little water spotting.. A striking example of this acclaimed piece of Sherlockiana. £125
DOYLE, Sir Arthur (1859-1930) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Leipzig, Bernhard Tauchnitz. 1893. [35198]
8vo. 2 volumes in one. Bound in contemporary quarter brown morocco, lettered in gilt with marbled boards and endpapers, top edge tinted brown. Some wear, including scuffing to extremities, spotting to fore-edge, slight toning to endpapers otherwise clean, hinges starting. An attractive copy, very good. £295
The First Sherlock Holmes Collection, Continental Edition.
DOYLE, Sir Arthur Conan. His Last Bow. A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes. London, George Bell. 1917 [35399]
Short mysteries. First Colonial Edition. 8vo. Publisher’s light red cloth titled and decorated in gilt and blind to spine and front board. Lightly rubbed and bumped to extremities, strong and bright. In a clean, sharp dustwrapper depicting the man himself (clutching a chicken, but a chap’s private life is his own, what?), lightly sunned to front panel, with some edgewear, marginal chipping and two small pieces of loss to the spine ends, compensated for by the fact that it is fabulously scarce in any form of wrapper let alone one strong and bright enough to rush out and do battle with the enemies of the Empire in its own right. Internally clean with some light occasional spotting. Neat ownership to front flyleaf. A most impressive copy of a scarce item. ‘His Last Bow’ marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures... The title story covers the great detective’s war service, and ‘The Bruce-Partington Plans’ finds Doyle moving into the espionage genre. £25,000
Green & Gibson [A40]. HUBIN; Crime Fiction IV.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventure of The Dying Detective. A New Sherlock Holmes Story. P.F.Collier and Son, Inc. New York. 1913 [33293]
First Edition in book-form, also the first separate editon of this Holmes short story, reprinted from Collier’s Weekly, 22nd November 1913 and ‘Presented to you with Compliments of the Advertising Department, Chrismas 1913’. A Publisher's vellum backed grey boards with paper title label to spine, giglt titles stamped to upper, drab endpapers. A little darkening to spine otherwise fine. A scarce publication, not intended for general circulation or resale.; the story was not collected until some four year later in ‘His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes’ (1917). Housed in a protective cloth box with gilt titles to upper. £5,000
DeWaal. Green and Gibson Harold Locke.
‘It is quite a three-pipe problem’-The Red-Headed League DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. With illustrations by Sidney Paget. London, George Newnes Ltd, 1892 and 1894. [20450]
FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST ISSUE ‘Adventures’ as called for. Quartos. 2 Volumes, (I) half-title, title, pp. 317, (II) frontispiece, half -title, title, pp. 279. Bound in publisher’s decorative cloth, both with moderate general wear and soiling, contents shaken, some dulling to gilt, first volume neatly recased, neat bookplate. Some occasional spotting. A very good set. The classic Holmes collection. ‘Adventures’ features the misprint ‘Violent Hunter’ for ‘Violet Hunter’ p. 317 line 23 plus the Street sign on cover is blank. The text error continues through three further printings, but the second and later impressions are corrected to show the ‘Southampton Street’ sign on upper cover. Bibliographer notes first impressions bearing the titled Street sign cover are ‘made up’ copies. £2,250
DeWaal. Green and Gibson [A10a], [A14a]. BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [128],[129], (1966).
‘It is quite a three-pipe problem’-The Red-Headed League DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. With illustrations by Sidney Paget. London, George Newnes Ltd, 1892 and 1894. [24733]
FIRST EDITIONS, FIRST ISSUE of ‘Adventures’, as required. Quartos. 2 Volumes, (I) half-title, title, pp. 317, (II) frontispiece, half -title, title, pp. 279. Publisher’s decorative light and dark blue cloth, printed in black and gilt. Owner’s name, minor foxing else internally clean, both volumes rubbed, now recased, gilt worn to spines, light general soil to covers. Good-very good. ‘Adventures’ with the rarer yellow-brown peacock spray endpapers (as opposed to grey floral) The classic Holmes collection.
‘Adventures’ features the misprint ‘Violent Hunter’ for ‘Violet Hunter’ p. 317 line 23 plus the Street sign on cover is blank. The text error continues through three further printings, but the second and later impressions’ cloth are corrected to show the ‘Southampton Street’ sign on upper cover. Bibliographer notes first impressions bearing the titled Street sign cover are ‘made up’ copies. £1,450
DeWaal. Green and Gibson [A10a], [A14a]. BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [128], [129], (1966).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. [c.1900] [34375]
Mystery. Pirate Edition. Publisher’s hardback cloth binding. Very good. In this classic collection of Holmes’s short stories, the beloved detective uses his uncanny skills to rescue a king from blackmail, to capture an ingenious bank robber, and to save an innocent son accused of patricide.
£195
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. With illustrations by Sidney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd, 1892 and 1894. [34543]
FIRST EDITIONS. Detective fiction; short stories. 2 volumes., 4to., (I) half-title, title, pp. 317, (II) half-title, frontispiece, title, pp. 279. Fine early 20th century binding by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in pale blue half crushed morocco with gilt titles, gilt raised bands and gilt tooling to spines, pale blue cloth boards with gilt rule, top edges gilt, marbled end papers. Binding of ‘Adventures’ a little lighter with barely noticeable markings along upper joint, a few white specks to upper cloth. Both volumes with generally light and occasional foxing. Black and white illustrations throughout. Early issue of ‘Adventures’, with the misprint ‘Violent Hunter’ for ‘Violet Hunter’ p. 317 line 23. The classic Holmes collection in a very attractive binding. £1,750
DeWaal. Green and Gibson [A10a], [A14a]. BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [128], [129], (1966). See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction, Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986), Keating; Sherlock Holmes and his World (1979).
‘It is quite a three-pipe problem’-The Red-Headed League DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. INSCRIBED COPIES. With illustrations by Sidney Paget. Smith Elder, London 1908 [34241]
2 Volumes, stated ‘New Edition’; previously published by George Newnes, this is the first edition thus. Octavo, pp.341 +2 (ads.), pp.296. Both volumes bound in the original red buckram, titled in gilt to spine and upper. Some minor wear and rubbing, a little fraying to the head of spine of each volume, discreet owner name to flyleaf of ‘Adventures’, flyleaf of ‘Memoirs’ would appear to be neatly replaced. Both volumes with presentation inscription to title page; ‘Yours sincerely | Arthur Conan Doyle | June 5/12’. [Adventures]; ‘Yours tr[ul]y | Arthur Conan Doyle’.
A remarkable signed set- Inscribed copies of any of the Holmes books in first edition are extremely scarce, and those few that have surfaced in recent years have been rebound. Whilst not first impressions, this is an attractive uniform collected by ourselves- the first title was pooled from our own stock and the second title was purchased from Simon Finch, c.2003. Now housed in a gilt-titled leather-spined clamshell box. FIRST EDITIONS. The classic Holmes collection. £17,500
DeWaal. Green and Gibson [A10a], [A14a]. Harold Locke p.35. BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [128],[129], (1966).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes London, John Murray 1940 [29239]
A collection of short stories; an attractive 2 shilling reprint in jacket. Publisher’s hardbound cloth in stiking pictorial dustwrapper. Both binding and jacket show some trivial wear, spine mildly sunned, but essentially a clean, fine copy.
£55
Green & Gibson [A14d], Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York; Harper 1892 [34239]
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, First issue (with “if had” for “if I had” on page 65 line 4). Illustrated, octavo, pp.307 + 4 (ads). Publisher’s light blue cloth blocked in gilt and black. Neat bookplate to pastedown, slight toning to spine panel, frayed at ends. A very good to near fine copy, housed in a rather unusual scarlet coloure protective wooden box with leatherette chemise. £600
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur, Conan ( 1859-1930 ) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London, George Newnes Ltd. 1905. [35600]
8vo. Publisher’s blue/green cloth, extra gilt with gilt to top edge also, tiny bookseller’s sticker to front fixed endpaper, 2 pp adverts. to rear of text. iIlustrations by Sidney Paget, including frontspiece. Some scuffing to extremities, trivial spotting and toning to endpapers, spot to pp 98-99, otherwise very clean, small gathered tear to pp 55-56 fore-edge, not affecting text, very good. £125
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; The Sign of Four; The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London: George Newnes, Limited, 1901-1902. [28930]
Sixpenny Novels: 3 titles bound in 1, in contemporary half black cloth with gilt titles to spine; marbled boards; with the upper wrapper of the first title bound in. Illustration to each title page. Light rubbing to extremities; owner’s name and a couple of library numbers in ink to title pages; german newspaper cut-out pasted down to verso of f.f.e.p.; age toning to pages. A quaint and curious compilation of 3 Sixpenny books of Sherlock Holmes short stories. £250
DeWaal.
If you would like any more information or images regarding any book, please send us an email quoting the stock number, which is in the square brackets after the publishing date in each description.If you would like to purchase any book directly with your credit or debit card, please enter the stock number in the field below and click "Search" to be taken to our SECURE ORDER FORM.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan ( 1859-1930) The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes London, John Murray. 1938. [35577]
Murray’s 2/- Fiction, Small 8vo. Publisher’s light blue cloth, lettered in dark blue. White pictorial dust jacket with pink spine, depicting a rather menacing Mr. Holmes in action. Minimal bumping to extremities with some fading to spine, very slight bowing inwards to boards, minor spotting and toning to endpapers, trivial spotting to fore-edge, otherwise clean pages, a very good, attractive copy. Dust jacket lightly handled, a little faded to spine, tiny tear to lower spine, trivial spotting and toning to rear panel, also very good. £85
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Case-Book (Case Book) of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray, 1927, [28678]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 320. Bound in publisher’s red cloth titled in gilt to the spine and front board. Internally clean with no inscriptions, minor spotting to lower edge only, some ofset browing to free endpapers, cloth a little dusty with some dulling to spine. A very good copy, housed in an elegant leather-spined box.. The last of the original Sherlock Holmes books; a collection of 12 cases for the great detective. £575
De Waal [573], Green & Gibson [A46a]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Case-Book (Case Book) of Sherlock Holmes. A.L Burt, [30096]
Early American printing from Burt, in pictorial jacket; Octavo, publisher’s hardback cloth in dustwrapper. Both book and jacket are a little used, some small chips and tears. A very good, attractive copy. The last of the original Sherlock Holmes books; a collection of 12 cases for the great detective. £145
De Waal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction, Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986), Keating; Sherlock Holmes and his World (1979).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Case-Book (Case Book) of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray, 1927, [33253]
FIRST EDITION, COLONIAL ISSUE. 8vo., pp. 320 + pp.12 (adverts for Murray’s Imperial Library, dated 1/27). Publisher’s original grey cloth trimmed in blue (home-market was red cloth). Contents fine (flyleaf toned); backstrip sunned, cloth a little bumped and frayed to spine edns; very good. Becoming scarce. The last of the original Sherlock Holmes books; a collection of 12 cases for the great detective. £375
De Waal [573], Green & Gibson [A46a]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Leipzig, Bernard Tauchnitz, [no date] (1930s) [33360]
CONTINENTAL EDITION, Tauchnitz Vol. 4790, copyright edition. Small octavo, pp 296. Bound in the original printed paper cavers. Some marginal soiling to last few leaves, slight spine roll, else a clean, fine copy of a fragile book. Uncommon.
£85
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). contibutes to...‘THE STRAND MAGAZINE’. No.30, ORIGINAL ISSUE IN WRAPPERS. ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- The Reigate Squire (Squires)’ George Newnes Ltd., London, June 1893 [35556]
This issue contains the FIRST APPEARANCE of ‘The Adventure of The Reigate Squire’ by A.C Doyle, illustrated by Sidney Paget, later published as the sixth story in ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’. It is interesting to note that in the first book-form edition (1894), and later printings, the title changed to ‘Squires’. Original issue magazine format, approx. 9.5 x 6.5 inches with pictorial covers, illustrated throughout, with full six-monthly index and general title page (vol. V) included at rear. Very good; some edgwear, chips to covers and spine, showing well. Whilst the hardbound six-monthly volumes survive comparatively well, these fragile single issues were not intended to be kept for posterity and are scarce. Issued simultaneously in the USA in Harper’s Magazine; the American title has always been ‘The Reigate Puzzle’, the genus ‘Squire’ being largely unfamiliar. £250
DeWaal 228. Green & Gibson A14. BMC No.261, p62-73 ‘Collecting The Strand’. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction (1966). BMC No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’. See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction, Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986), Keating; Sherlock Holmes and his World (1979).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). contibutes to...‘THE STRAND MAGAZINE’ . No.431, ORIGINAL ISSUE IN WRAPPERS. ‘The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier- A New Sherlock Holmes story’. George Newnes Ltd., London, November 1926 [35553]
This issue contains the FIRST APPEARANCE of ‘The Adventure of The Blanched Soldier’ by A.Conan Doyle, illustrated by Howard Elcock later published in ‘The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes’. Original issue magazine format, approx. 9.5 x 6.5 inches with pictorial covers, illustrated throughout. A little creasing and edgwear to covers, one faint horizontal crease to upper, some chipping to spine tips. A clean example. Whilst the hardbound six-monthly volumes survive comparatively well, these fragile single issues were not intended to be kept for posterity and are scarce. ‘The Blanched Soldier’ is notable for being the first case recounted by the great detective himself; the earlieraccounts had been narrated by Dr. Watson.
£395
DeWaal 10, 573. Green & Gibson A46. BMC No.261, p62-73 ‘Collecting The Strand’. See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction, Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986), Keating; Sherlock Holmes and his World (1979).
The true First Printing of this famous Holmes’ mysteryDOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). Contributes [to COLLIER’S WEEKLY, Vol XLI, No.21]; A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes; The Singular Experience of Mr J.Scott Eccles (complete in two parts). Illustrated by Frederic Dorr Steele. ORIGINAL ISSUE IN WRAPPERS. New York, August 15, 1908 [29976]
FIRST APPEARANCE of this adventure, which was later collected in ‘His Last Bow’. A fine Sherlockian issue which also contains the articles Sherlock Holmes and his Creator’, ‘Ballad of Baker Street’ (a poem), ‘Sherlock Holmes Analyzes a Perfect Stranger (a cartoon), and Conan Doyle in South Africa (a photograph). Single newspaper issue in pictorial wraps, with striking full-colour cover by Steele, with numerous black and white illustrations within the text. This copy stapled rather than sewn (both methods employed in tandem). Internally clean, covers are bright, slight edgewear and toning, original gummed address label to upper wrapper, spine fold is strong. A fragile item in near fine condition. Published in August 1908 in a single issue, this precedes the English appearance of the story in The Strand Magazine, over two issues [September and October 1908], renamed ‘The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge’, concluded with title ‘The Tiger of San Pedro’. £395
Literature / Bibliography; Green and Gibson; A Bibliography of A.Conan Doyle [A29.iv]. DeWaal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson [516-7]. Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986). See also Haining (Crime Fiction), Cooper & Pike (Detective Fiction), Steinbrunner & Penzler (Mystery & Detection), Quayle (Det.Fiction), Haycraft (Murder for Pleasure) Queen's Quorum.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). Contributes [to HARPER’S WEEKLY, Vol XXXVII, No.1904]; ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- The Reigate Puzzle (Squire)’. ORIGINAL ISSUE IN WRAPPERS. New York, June 17 1893 [30290]
FIRST U.S. APPEARANCE of this adventure, illustrated by W.H.Hyde, which was later collected in ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’. Single newspaper issue in pictorial wraps. Internally clean, covers are bright but for some minor edgwear mostly to spine fold (as usual). Remains clean and bright for such a fragile item. Near fine.
Also issued simultaneously in the British ‘Strand Magazine’, but this Harper’s printing features alternative and exclusive illustrations (the UK printing carries the regular Sidney Paget drawings).
Written and published by Doyle as ‘The Adventure of the Reigate Squires’, although the American title has always been ‘The Reigate Puzzle’, the genus ‘Squire’ being largely unfamiliar. £125
DeWaal. Green & Gibson. BMC Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction (1966). See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction, Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986), Keating; Sherlock Holmes and his World (1979).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. Containing 8 S. Holmes short stories. London: John Murray, 1917. [22253]
First Edition. 8vo. Superb mid-twentieth century bespoke binding of full mid-blue morocco with gilt titles, gilt centre tooling to compartments and raised bands to spine; gilt rule to boards; grey end papers with publisher’s original red cloth covers bound in at rear. A very elegantly bound copy housed in a protective blue cloth slipcase. £275
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. London; John Murray, 1917. [22994]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo; pp. 305 + 6 ads. Bound in publisher’s red cloth, gilt titles to spine and upper. Moderate handling, some dustiness to edges, rear hinge starting, cloth generally pale, gilt dulled. Still presents well, and supplied with later protective cloth jacket . A very good copy. His Last Bow marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures... £295
Green & Gibson [A40a]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray, 1917. [34705]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 320. Elegantly bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe in recent half dark blue morocco, gilt titles and gilt titles to spine, marbled boards and e.p.s., all edges gilt, publisher’s original cloth bound in. Bookplate from Robert Marceau library. Contains 8 Sherlock Holmes tales. Fin.e
His Last Bow marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures..
£450
Green & Gibson [A40a]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). His Last Bow. Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes. London; John Murray, 1917. [35585]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo; pp. 305 + 6 ads. Bound in the publisher’s original red cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper. Light handling, cloth sunned at spine, otherwise sharp and clean. Foxing to prelims, neat ink ownership to front pastedown. Shows well. A very good, extremely attractive copy housed in a tailor made morocco spined, felt lined clamshell case. His Last Bow marked the end of Holmes’ career, though not the end of his adventures... £975
Green & Gibson [A40a]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray 1934. [35574]
Murray’s 2/- Fiction, small 8vo. Publisher’s blue cloth, lettered in gilt with extra gilt to spine, blind stamped tree design to front board with same design to title page. White pictorial dust jacket with orange spine, picturing the famous detective. Slight fading to spine with trivial scuffing to lower edge of same, minimal bowing to upper board. Minor spotting between pages 9-24 and 45-54, otherwise clean. A lovely copy, very good. Dust jacket very lightly handled, near fine. £85
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [Longmans’ Colonial Library] With illustrations by Sidney Paget. London, Longmans Green and Co. 1894. [27684]
First Colonial Issue, being the second English Edition (and first to be issued in octavo size, following the earlier quarto volume. This issue precedes the earliest English octavo edition, which was published under the title ‘The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’. Pp296 + 24 (catalogue). Elegantly hand-bound in recent half tan calf over cloth sides, spine gilt-lettered in six compartments with raised bands, original cloth covers bound in at rear. Occasional spotting, some thumbing. A very good copy of a particularly scarce issue.
Including ‘The Final Problem’, with ‘The Death of Sherlock Holmes’ plate; Professor Moriarty and Holmes plunge down the Richenbach Falls. Such was the public outcry, Doyle was forced to resurrect his hero.
£675
Green & Gibson [A14d], Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [20036]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Later quarter red cloth over marbled sides. Light age-tone to edges, cloth with mild sunning. A very good copy indeed. £675
A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’).
Green & Gibson [A29a] Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [24732]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Expertly recased. Owner’s name in pencil, corners rubbed, light general wear. A very good copy. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £750
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [25507]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With 16 full-page black and white illustrations throughout. Complete. Contents a little shaken, text block toned to edges, cloth shows handling and some soiling. Very good. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £750
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [26092]
FIRST EDITION, Colonial Issue. 8vo., pp. 403, 8 of adverts. With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s pale blue/green pictorial cloth, with patterned endpapers. General wear, backstrip sunned, some fading to extremities. A good-very good copy of a scarce issue. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £375
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [28139]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Pp. 403, +4 of adverts. Elegantly bound in recent full blue oasis with gilt titles and decoration to spine, gilt rule to boards, author’s signature tooled in gilt to upper, marbled end papers, top edge gilt, others trimmed, original cloth bound in at rear. Internally clean and fresh. A superb copy. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £795
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. London, George Newnes Ltd, [c.1908] [28348]
Slim quarto, pp.156, with advertisement leaves to front and rear. Publisher’s fragile paper covers printed in full colour with a striking image of Holmes playing the violin. Issued as a ‘Newnes Sixpenny Copyright novel’, and the first edition thus. Some minor handling, covers a little creased and worn, old ‘gummed paper’ repair to spine tips, pages toned. Shows well. A very good copy of a most attractive edition. A rare survival of this scarce printing. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’).
Four of the stories (‘The Empty House’, ‘The Dancing Men’, ‘The Priory School’ and ‘The Second Stain’), were listed by Doyle in 1927 as being among his favourite Holmes episodes.
£175
De Waal. See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. London, George Newnes Ltd, [c.1910] [29138]
Slim quarto, pp.156, with advertisement leaves to front and rear. Publisher’s fragile paper covers printed in full colour with a striking image of Holmes playing the violin. Issued as a ‘Newnes Sixpenny Copyright novel’, and the first edition thus. Some minor handling, covers a little creased, small loss to head and tail of spine, cheap paper toned as usual. A very good copy of a most attractive edition. An extremely rare survival of this scarce printing. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’).
Four of the stories (‘The Empty House’, ‘The Dancing Men’, ‘The Priory School’ and ‘The Second Stain’), were listed by Doyle in 1927 as being among his favourite Holmes episodes.
£180
De Waal. See also Cooper & Pike [p115-119], Eric Quayle; Detective Fiction.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [30145]
Detective fiction; short stories. FIRST EDITION, Colonial Issue, published on the same day as the home market version. 8vo., With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Bound in the original uniform cloth binding of Longmans’ Colonial Library. Pale colours a little darkened and aged, but still a very good, presentable copy of an elusive issue. Housed in a collector’s box. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’).
£975
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [34240]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts.With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Upper panel and spine are clean and bright, but the rear panel suffers from some unfortunate indentations and a little soiling. Very good nonetheless, housed in a collectors’ half leather box..
A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £975
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [34763]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., With full page black and white illustrations throughout. Pp. 403, +4 of adverts. Elegantly bound in recent full blue oasis with gilt titles and decoration to spine, gilt rule to boards, marbled end papers, all edges gilt (and trimmed thus). Internally clean and fresh. A fine copy. A collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series - ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ is a good example (which Doyle first called ‘The Adventure of the Worst Man in London’). £495
Green & Gibson [A29a]. Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930) The Return of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray. 1941. [35578]
Murray’s 2/- Fiction, Small 8vo. Publisher’s light blue cloth, lettered in dark blue, white pictorial dust jacket showing Mr. Holmes looking for clues, blue spine. Tiny bump to upper front corner, 2 foxing spots to fore-edge, top edge a little dusty, near fine. Dust jacket very lightly handled, also near fine. A lovely copy. £85
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sydney Paget. London: George Newnes Ltd., 1905. [35588]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo., pp. 403, 3 of adverts. Illustrations throughout. Publisher’s blue cloth, titled in gilt. Internally clean, cloth shows light handling, slight bumping to spine; a near fine copy, housed in a custom-made box. A Park Lane mystery- the murder of the Honourable Ronald Adair- brings Sherlock Holmes back to life and the search for the second most dangerous man in London. The ‘Return’ is a collection of thirteen Holmes stories, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series. £3,250
Green & Gibson [A29a].Book Collector No.271, ‘The Great Illustrators’.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Sign of Four. [A Sherlock Holmes novel] London, George Newnes, Ltd, n.d (1903) [35176]
Souvenir Edition; the first souvenir edition is dated 1902, but does not feature the eight plates included in this volume, which are dated 1903; this volume therefore the FIRST ILLUSTRATED SOUVENIR EDITION. Octavo, pp.285. An early copy of this Holmes classic in attractive original gilt-pictorial blue cloth, top edge gilt. Some rubbing to spine, flyleaves with some browning. Very good. Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady forces the great detective into action... £125
De Waal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. Book Collector; Top 200 Crime Novels (No.272).
“You said you wanted a spicy title. I shall give Sherlock Holmes of A Study In Scarlet something else to unravel.”DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Sign of Four. [A Sherlock Holmes Story] Spencer Blacket, London, 1890. [21759]
FIRST EDITION, Second Issue. 8vo, points as called for. A stunning copy with the Griffith Farran Standard Library imprint to the spine for Spencer Blackett. There is some slight darkening of the spine and bumping to the head of the spine. The second Holmes novel in beautiful, virtually unmarked publishers cloth. The corners however are sharp and the gilt titles bright and crisp. None of the slight signs of wear mar even fractionally what is quite simply a superb copy. Yellow fog is swirling through the streets of London and Sherlock Holmes himself is sitting in a cocaine-induced haze until the arrival of a distressed and beautiful young lady forces the great detective into action... The second of four full-length Sherlock Holmes novels, originally appearing in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine (Feb.1890). Doyle was reputedly commissioned to write the story following a dinner with the editor at London’s Langham Hotel. The function was also attended by Oscar Wilde, who would contribute his only novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ to the July 1890 issue. Doyle later discussed this ‘golden evening’ in his autobiography ‘Memories and Adventures’ (1924). £9,500
DeWaal. Green and Gibson [A7a] BMC No.272; Top 200 Crime Novels. Graham Greene and Dorothy Glover; Victorian Detective Fiction [130], (1966).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Speckled Band. [Sherlock Holmes] London, Samuel French. 1912 [33361]
First Edition. Third of four issues; textually the same, but with slight differences concerning wrapper styles and inprints. This issue with French’s address on upper cover showing as ‘25 West 45th Street’, and Small 8vo. 124pp.+ 2pp ads. Bound in publisher’s brown paper wraps, titled in black to spine and front panel, theatrical ads taking up the space on the inside panels and 7 other plays listed to rear (fourth issue lists five). Slight lean, nominal wear; a fine copy. The play was first performed at the Adelphi London on 4th June 1910 and then continued to tour after its transfer to the Globe Theatre on the 8th August. A fascinating piece of theatrical Holmesiana. £600
Green and Gibson A36a. Harold Locke p.22. Book Collector; Top 200 Crime Novels (No.272).
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur, Conan (1859-1930) Tales of Sherlock Holmes. 4 stories: A Study in Scarlet, A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red Headed League and The Sign of Four. New York, Grosset and Dunlap. c.1940’s [35486]
8vo. Publisher’s bright green cloth, lettered in dark green, in orange photographic dust jacket featuring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. Some wear, a little bumping and fading to extremities with small stain to lower rear board. Browned and rather fragile pages with some small tears and a number of losses to corners, not affecting text; 3 small stains to rear endpapers, fairly good. Dust jacket has some chips and tears, faded to spine, very good. £95
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). The Valley of Fear. A Sherlock Holmes Novel. Illustrated by Arthur I. Keller. New York: Geoge H. Doran Company, 1914. [34703]
First US Edition. Predates the first English edition, which was not illustrated. 8vo., pp. 320. Elegantly hand-bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in half dark blue morocco with traditional raised bands, gilt titles to spine, twin green title labels; marbled boards and e.p.s.; publisher’s original boards bound in at the rear. Bookplate to pastedown. A fine copy. A fine copy in attractive recent binding.
First US Edition. Predates the first English edition, which was not illustrated. The fourth and final full-length Sherlock Holmes novels, a retrospective or ‘flashback’ adventure set in Pennsylvania, 1888. ‘The Valley of Fear’ is also notable for the involvement of Holmes arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty. £395
Green and Gibson [A39c]
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). BIRO, Val. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London, John Murray 1963. [29982]
Original painting for the 1963 edition of ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ by the popular and prolific illustrator Val Biro. Image size appox. 9x12 inches, colour gouache on artboard, landscape format. Overall dimensions 10x 15 inches. Artists’ pencil notation to margin. Cover scene is a stunning design capturing the dark mystery of London at the end of the 19th century. Signed by the artist. Fine. £2,500
Stephen Balint ("Val") Biro was born in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a lawyer. He studied art at the Jaschnick School of Art, Budapest and in 1939 came to England to study at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. After the War he worked for a number of publishers and printers designing over twenty-nine dust-jackets for the publishing house of John Lehmann. During his long carreer as an artist, Val Biro's illustrations have appeared in over 400 books, on the covers of some 3000 others, in the pages of BBC Radio Times and other periodicals, and he is one of the best-known author/illustrators of children's books. His many dust wrapper designs include: several of the Hornblower novels, Daphne du Maurier’s ‘The Birds’, Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Sword of Honour’ trilogy, four Nevil Shute titles as well as work for Dennis Wheatley and the crime novels of John Dickson Carr. The Victoria and Albert Museum holds examples of his work.
Horne, Alan. The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators: 106-107.
DOYLE, [Sir] Arthur Conan (1859-1930). GILLETTE, William (1853-1937). SHERLOCK HOLMES Farewell Appearances of William Gillette 1929-30. New York, [29977]
Orignal commemorative booklet for the final tour of Gillette’s famous theatrical production of ‘Sherlock Holmes’. 18-pages, dimensions approx. 12 x 9 inches, illustrated with photographs throughout, covers printed in colour. With a foreword by Gillette, tributes to the actor, and an essay on the character. One small chip to lower wrapper else fine. William Hooker Gillette was an American actor, playwright and stage-manager; a major stage actor in the USA in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While he was not the first actor to portray Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, he was the first to truly embody the master sleuth and became best known for that role until his retirement in 1932. Through Gillette's portrayals of Holmes, the use of the deerstalker cap (first used in some ‘Strand’ magazine illustrations by Sidney Paget) and curved pipe, became synonymous with the character.Gillette was seen as the definitive Holmes of his day, appearing on stage as the character for over thirty years, starring in an excellent silent motion picture based on his play, and voicing the character twice on radio. In his lifetime, Gillette presented Sherlock Holmes approximately 1,300 times before US and English audiences, and was also shown widely, through appearances in many magazines, by way of photographs or illustrated caricatures, and was also well represented on the covers of theater programs.
In 1929, at the age of 76, Gillette started this farewell tour of Sherlock Holmes, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Scheduled for two seasons, it was eventually extended, by popular demand, into 1932. £245
Literature / Bibliography; DeWaal; The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson [5228]. Hardwicke; Complete Guide to Sherlock Holmes (1986).
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