"A book should serve as the axe for the frozen sea within us."
— Franz Kafka
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | First Editions
1859 - 1930
British writer, physician knighted for medical services during the South African War and creator of Sherlock Holmes, the best-known detective in literature and the embodiment of sharp reasoning. Doyle himself was not a good example of rational personality- he believed in fairies and was interested in occultism. When his son Kingsley died from wounds incurred in the Great War, Doyle dedicated himself to spiritualistic studies. An example of these is the rather bizarre and quite touchingly credulous The Coming of Fairies (1922), but he had already showed interest in occult fantasy prior to Holmes and his early novel, The Mystery of Cloomber (1888), concerns a retired general under assault by Indian magic. Doyle supported the existence of 'little people' and spent more than a million dollars on their cause (by 1920 Doyle was one of the most highly paid writers in the world). The so-called 'fairy photographs' caused an international sensation when The Strand published Doyle's favourable account of them in 1920. The photographs showed fairies dancing in the air, but a year later, The Star newspaper reported that the fairies were from a poster. Doyle became president of several important spiritualist organizations and in 1925 he opened the Psychic Bookshop in London. Among his friends was the legendary American magician and escape artist Harry Houdini (1874-1926). Doyle believed that Houdini possessed supernatural powers, which the magician himself denied. Another friend was D.D. Home, whom the author claimed could levitate. Doyle recorded his own psychic experiences in his final book The Edge of the Unknown (1930).See below our stock of Arthur Conan Doyle First Editions, fine bindings, sets, signed copies, and other collectible material.
Arthur Conan Doyle Collection at the Toronto Public Library
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sherlock Holmes Society of London
Results 26 - 49 (of 49)
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The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: Street and Smith, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 176 [12]. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine. Browning to endpapers, but surprisingly clean otherwise. A superior pirate edition. Rubbing and bumping to corners, toning to spine, and heavy..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The Mershon Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 189 [3]. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Internally clean and bright. Spine gently sunned, and rubbed to head and tail. A few marks to lower..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: William L. Allison Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Repairs to split endpapers. Quite heavily browned and brittle throughout. Moderate wear to cloth, with some white marks to..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The F.M. Lupton Publishing Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. Black ink gift inscription, and purple corporate compliments stamp to fly-leaf. Extremely heavily browned and brittle throughout. Light wear to cloth..... More
![The Sign of the Four. [A Scandal in Bohemia]. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/57415.jpg?v=1596468183)
The Sign of the Four. [A Scandal in Bohemia].
New York, NY: American Publishers Corporation, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.222. Publisher's mauve cloth with gilt titles to spine and blind decoration to boards. Ownership stamp to front pastedown. Hinges badly split, with rear fly-leaf lost and netting exposed. Heavily browned and..... More
![The Sign of the Four. [and] The Siege of Sunda Gunge. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/57697.jpg?v=1597338693)
The Sign of the Four. [and] The Siege of Sunda Gunge.
Chicago, MI: W.B. Conkey Company, No date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176; 3-30 [4]. Publisher's orange cloth with gilt titles to spine, black titles to upper, and black decoration to both spine and upper. Moderately toned, and quite brittle paper, with one or two..... More
![The Speckled Band [An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes]. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/55363.jpg?v=1614360962)
The Speckled Band [An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes].
London: Samuel French, 1912 [actually 1923]. [Crime drama] FIRST EDITION. Third of four issues [impressions]; textually the same, but with slight differences concerning wrapper styles and imprints. This issue with French's address on the upper cover showing as '25 West 45th Street' and word 'Publisher' [singular], p.126 lists twenty-three plays..... More
![A Study In Scarlet [and] A Case of Identity. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/57829.jpg?v=1599928503)
A Study In Scarlet [and] A Case of Identity.
Chicago, MI: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.230. Publisher's burgundy cloth with gilt titles to spine; top edge gilt. Extremely heavily browned and brittle. Hinges just starting. Black ink ownerships and stamps to endpapers. Wear and bumping to spine..... More
A Study In Scarlet, and A Case of Identity.
Chicago, IL: E.A. Weeks and Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.232. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Textblock browned. Cloth rubbed to extremities, especially to joints, corners and spine ends, some scuffs and marks. Very good... More
A Study In Scarlet.
Chicago, IL: E.A. Weeks and Company, no date [circa 1900s]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.232. With A Case of Identity printed at the rear. Publisher's green cloth blocked to resemble a half morocco binding with gilt titles to spine, top edge gilt. Cheap paper stock a...... More
A Study In Scarlet.
New York, NY: William L. Allison Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.175 [1]. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Bookplate of Herbert F. Mitchell to front pastedown. Heavily browned throughout. Spine toned and lightly rubbed, with a...... More
A Study In Scarlet.
Rahway, NJ: The Mershon Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.iv; 216 [4]. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Clean and bright internally, with just a hint of browning to endpapers. Some toning and water sprinkling to spine..... More
A Study In Scarlet.
New York, NY: Hurst and Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176. Publisher's cyan cloth with gilt titles to spine. Black ink ownership to fly-leaf. Rear hinge badly split, with fly-leaf detached; front fly-leaf nearly detached. Extremely heavily browned and brittle throughout. Quite..... More
![A Study In Scarlet. [My Friend the Murderer and The Man from Archangel]. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/57426.jpg?v=1595869375)
A Study In Scarlet. [My Friend the Murderer and The Man from Archangel].
New York, NY: George Munro's Sons, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.177 [1]; 20; 97-122 [2]. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt titles to spine. Binding detached and re-applied with glue quite roughly to spine, creating a tight back. Front fly-leaf detached, with some..... More
The Valley of Fear.
London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1915. [Sherlock Holmes] FIRST UK EDITION, ASSOCIATION COPY. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.306; [3]. With illustrated frontispiece. Publisher's red cloth, titled in gilt to spine and upper. Some spotting to edges and first and final leaves, cloth very lightly handled, more so to spine. A...... More
The Vital Message.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, no date [1919]. [Spiritualism] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.228. With four black and white photographic plates. Pages 1-2 are pasted to cover as endpapers (as issued; Green and Gbson, p.302, line 1). Bound in dark grey cloth lettered in gilt to the backstrip. Contents..... More
![A Scandal in Bohemia [and] The Passing of Conan Doyle [and] Best Seller [and] Big Money [and] My...](/pictures/thumb/58999.jpg?v=1612201523)
A Scandal in Bohemia [and] The Passing of Conan Doyle [and] Best Seller [and] Big Money [and] My Gentle Readers [and] The Parish Magazine [and] The End of Devil Hawker [and] The Last Resource [and] Clemenceau - the Man and the Tiger [and] The Truth about the Ex-Kaiser [and] The Creaking Door [in] The Strand Magazine. Volume 80.
London: George Newnes, July to December 1930. [Literary Magazine] THE PASSING OF CONAN DOYLE. Octavo (24 x 17cm), pp.viii; 700. With frequent black and white, and occasional dichromatic, illustrations. Publisher's cyan cloth with gilt titles to spines and black titles and decoration to uppers. All edges lightly tinted blue. A...... More
![The Adventure of the Abbey Grange [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, Number 14. Arthur Conan...](/pictures/thumb/58972.jpg?v=1612286882)
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, Number 14.
New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son, For January 1905. [Literary Magazine] FIRST APPEARANCE. Large magazine (38 x 27cm), pp.32. With frequent in-text illustrations by various artists, including some by Frederic Dorr Steele to the Doyle story. Publisher's dichromatic paper covers, featuring a Holmes illustration, also by Steele. Sewn, and..... More
![The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, Number 9. Arthur...](/pictures/thumb/58971.jpg?v=1612286882)
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, Number 9.
New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son, For December 1904. [Literary Magazine] FIRST APPEARANCE. Large magazine (38 x 27cm), pp.32. With frequent in-text illustrations by various artists, including some by Frederic Dorr Steele to the Doyle story. Publisher's dichromatic paper covers, featuring a Holmes illustration, also by Steele. Sewn, and..... More
![The Contest: A Story of the Emperor Nero [in] Pearson's Magazine. Number 30. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/58791.jpg?v=1612460404)
The Contest: A Story of the Emperor Nero [in] Pearson's Magazine. Number 30.
London: C. Arthur Pearson, March 1911. [Literary Magazine] FIRST UK APPEARANCE. Octavo (25 x 17cm), pp.xxxvi; 233-340 [10]. With frequent black and white illustrations. Publisher's colour-illustrated paper covers, stapled twice and priced at 6d. Toning and spotting to edges. Covers quite heavily worn and chipped, with heavy rubbing to joints..... More
![The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, number 5. Arthur Conan...](/pictures/thumb/58970.jpg?v=1612286882)
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez [in] Collier's Weekly. Volume XXXIV, number 5.
New York, NY: P.F. Collier & Son, For November 1904. [Literary Magazine] FIRST APPEARANCE. Large magazine (38 x 27cm), pp.32. With frequent in-text illustrations by various artists, including some by Frederic Dorr Steele to the Doyle story. Publisher's dichromatic paper covers, featuring a Holmes illustration, also by Steele. Sewn, and..... More
![The Disappearance of Lady Carfax [in] The American Magazine. Arthur Conan DOYLE, Sir](/pictures/thumb/58328.jpg?v=1609174447)
The Disappearance of Lady Carfax [in] The American Magazine.
New York, NY: The Phillips Publishing Company, December 1911. [Sherlock Holmes] TRUE FIRST APPEARANCE. Octavo magazine (26 x 18cm), pp.[36] 129-256 [37-100]. With illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele. Publisher's illustrated paper covers, priced at 15c. All edges untrimmed. Toning to first and final leaves. A large portion of a rear..... More
![Smith and the Pharaohs [and] The Fall of Lord Barrymore [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 44 and...](/pictures/thumb/59419.jpg?v=1622737876)
Smith and the Pharaohs [and] The Fall of Lord Barrymore [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 44 and 45, numbers 264 to 266.
London: George Newnes, December 1912 to February 1913. [Literary Magazine] First appearances. Three magazine issues in their original light blue paper covers, including colour illustration to the Christmas number. Octavo (25 x 17cm), pp.[168] 601-800 [169-188]; pp.[76] 120 [77-92]; pp.[76] 121-240 [77-92]. With frequent black and white illustrations, and some..... More
![The Murder at the Villa Rose [and] The Magic City [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 38, 39 and...](/pictures/thumb/58578.jpg?v=1611596103)
The Murder at the Villa Rose [and] The Magic City [in] The Strand Magazine. Volumes 38, 39 and 40; numbers 228 to 239.
London: George Newnes, December 1909 to November 1910. [Literary Magazine] FIRST APPEARANCES. Twelve octavo magazines (28 x 19 x 18cm), pp.[126] 647-848; [127-166]; pp.[74] 128; [75-90]; pp.[80] 129-256; [81-96]; pp.[82] 257-384; [83-110] pp.[82] 385-512 [83-106]; pp.[82] 513-640 [83-106]; pp.[82] 641-768; [83-102]; pp.[70] 128; [71-86]; pp.[56] 129-256; [57-72]; pp.[70] 257-364; [71-86];..... More
Results 26 - 49 (of 49)
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