"Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it."
— P.J. O'Rourke
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
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.189 [5]. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine, and green and red decoration to spine and boards. Heavily browned throughout, and quite brittle. Bookplate or similar removed from front pastedown..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The Federal Book Company, no date [circa 1904]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.3-176. Publisher's grey cloth with gilt titles to spine, and green and blue decoration to spine and upper. Title page removed; first leaf of text present but loose. Black ink ownerships..... 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.
Chicago, MI: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Sextodecimo (16 x 11cm), pp.229 [1]. Publisher's green cloth with silver titles and decoration to spine and upper. Quite heavily browned throughout, with heavy chipping to lower corner of text-block. Hinges split; front fly-leaf lost. Personal..... 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. Heavily browned and brittle throughout. Front fly-leaf and title page both split along the guttering and..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: Optimus Printing Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Duodecimo (17 x 11cm), pp.176. Publisher's cream cloth with brown titles and decoration to spine and upper. Extremely heavily browned and brittle throughout. Front fly-leaf and title page, as well as a number of internal leaves..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The Mershon Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Duodecimo (17 x 12cm), pp.189 [3]. With a photographic frontispiece of the author. Publisher's tan cloth with red and green titles and decoration to spine and boards. Top edge gilt. Light toning throughout, with a few..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The Mershon Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Duodecimo (17 x 12cm), pp.189 [3]. With a photographic frontispiece of the author. Publisher's tan cloth with red and green titles and decoration to spine and boards. Top edge gilt. Black ink ownership to fly-leaf. Moderate..... 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.
New York, NY: Hurst & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[4] 176 [8]. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles to spine, and black decoration to spine and upper. Extremely heavily browned and brittle throughout. p.173/4 detached, with heavy chipping to margins. Remarkably..... More
The Sign of the Four.
New York, NY: The Federal Book Company, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.176. Publisher's grey cloth with gilt titles to spine, and green and blue decoration to spine and upper. Pencil ownership to front pastedown, and purple ownership stamp to fly-leaf. Extremely browned..... More
![The Sign of the Four. [A Night Among the Nihilists and Cyprian Overbeck Wells]. Arthur Conan...](/pictures/thumb/57413.jpg?v=1595869374)
The Sign of the Four. [A Night Among the Nihilists and Cyprian Overbeck Wells].
New York, NY: Street & Smith, no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[2] 176; 42 [6]. Publisher's burgundy cloth with gilt titles to spine and black titles to upper. bookplate to front pastedown, and a small red ownership stamp to fly-leaf. Some light offsetting..... 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 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
Spiritualism and Rationalism. With a Drastic Examination of Mr Joseph McCabe.
London: Hodder and Stoughton, no date [1920]. [Spiritualism] FIRST EDITION. Slim octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.32. Thick grey paper covers ruled and titled in black. Some spotting, two faint owner stamps to upper. A rare survival of a throwaway item; just one other example is available at the time of..... More
A Study In Scarlet and A Case of Identity.
Chicago, MI: Rand, McNally & Company, no date [circa 1901]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.232. Publisher's green cloth with gilt titles and blind decoration to spine and upper. Top edge gilt. Black ink gift inscription to front pastedown, dated 1901. fly-leaf roughly removed. Library borrowing slip..... 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.
Chicago, MI: Donohue, Henneberry & Co., no date [circa 1900]. [Sherlock Holmes] PIRATE EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.230. Publisher's maroon cloth with gilt titles to spine, and black decoration to spine and upper. Heavily browned throughout. Hinges starting, but still quite firm. Rubbing and a few minor damp marks..... 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