"Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
— Groucho Marx
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 - 50 (of 62)
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The Mystery of Cloomber.
New York, NY: H.M. Caldwell Company, no date [circa 1896]. [Strange Tales] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (17 x 11cm), pp.[4] 206. With two illustrated plates, a portrait frontispiece of the author, and decorative title page. Publisher's generous green quarter cloth with silver titles and decoration to spine and flower-patterned paper over..... More
Our Second American Adventure.
Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1924. [Psychic phenomena] FIRST U.S. EDITION, using British sheets. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.250. Publisher's dark green cloth lettered in gilt to backstrip, pale green dust-wrapper printed in red, priced at $3.00. A lovely fine copy of the book (gilt a little dulled) in..... More
The Parasite.
London: Constable, 1894. [Supernatural Fiction]. FIRST EDITION, bibliographer's copy. Small octavo (16 x 9cm), pp.125. Ribbed blue cloth with gilt titles to spine and upper, gilt dragon design to upper. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Minor toning to edges, cloth a little worn at extremities, bookplate 'Christopher Clark Geest', pencil..... More
The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
London: George Newnes. 1905. [Detective mysteries] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.[8]; 403; [1]; [4] publisher's advertisements. Publisher's blue cloth, simply titled in gilt to spine and upper. Illustrated with a frontispiece and fifteen further plates by Paget. Housed in a modern protective cloth wrapper. Internally nice and clean..... More
The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1905. [Detective fiction] First Colonial Edition. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[viii]; 403; [1], imprint; [8], advertisements. With a frontispiece illustration by Sidney Paget. Publisher's pictorial light blue-green cloth titled and decorated in gilt and black to the spine and front board, 'swan' patterned endpapers. Some..... More
Round the Red Lamp, Being Facts and Fancies of Medical Life.
London: Methuen & Co., no date [1904]. [Short Stories] SIXPENNY NOVEL. Octavo (23 x 16cm), pp.124. Publisher's blue and red illustrated paper covers. Toning throughout, with spotting to edges and preliminaries. Front cover heavily sunned, with just one small corner of the red intact. Heavily cocked, with rubbing to edges..... More
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Illustrated Novels. A Study in Scarlet; The Sign of Four; The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Valley of Fear.
London: The Chancellor Press, 1987. [Sherlock Holmes] FIRST THUS. Octavo (22 x 16cm), pp.[6] 496 [2]. With illustrations to 'The Study in Scarlet' from the 1891 edition by George Hutchinson; to 'The Sign of Four' from the 1903 Souvenir Edition by F.H. Townsend; and to 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'..... More
The Sign of the Four and A Scandal in Bohemia.
Chicago, MI: Rand, McNally & Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.235 [1]. Publisher's navy cloth with red titles and decoration to spine and upper. Some toning and marking to edges. Light wear to cloth; spine gently toned. An unusually nice pirate edition..... More
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.
Rahway, N.J.: The Mershon Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 189 [3]. Publisher's light orange cloth with black and green titles and decoration to spine and upper. Heavily browned and brittle throughout. Hinges split with netting showing. Spine sunned and toned, with..... More
The Sign of the Four.
Chicago, MI: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192 [2]. Publisher's brown cloth with gilt titles to spine, and blind decoration to spine and upper. Hinges split with repairs. Heavily browned and brittle throughout. Light wear to cloth, with a...... 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.
Chicago, MI: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Sextodecimo (16 x 11cm), pp.229 [5]. Publisher's green cloth with silver titles and decoration to spine and upper. Patterned endpapers. Bookseller's sales label to front pastedown. Lightly browned throughout. Slightly bowed and cocked, with some speckling..... 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=1576515246)
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/57823.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. Small octavo (15 x 11cm), pp.230. Publisher's green cloth with silver titles and decoration to spine and upper. Patterned endpapers. Extremely heavily browned and brittle. Hinges split; several preliminary gatherings loose. Light wear to cloth with..... 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. Heavily browned throughout. Spine toned, with some rubbing to head and tail. Very good. A Study In Scarlet..... 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
Results 26 - 50 (of 62)
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