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The Best of Sherlock Holmes |
Conan Doyle Manuscripts
Introduction
Manuscripts are
more than collector's items. They can reveal the process – creative and
editorial – that went into creating a work. They can also reveal something of
the author's personality. As such they are important resources when studying
an author and his writings.
A manuscript is a one-of-a-kind item and is often difficult to locate. The growing availability of web-based catalogs and online finding aids is helping, but many institutions have yet to convert their older catalog holdings into electronic entries. Even when they have, it can be time-consuming to wade through all the entries from meta-databases. Thus there is a need for specialized checklists such as the ones noted here for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
News:
Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters wins Edgar and Agatha awards
Newly-discovered copy of Beeton's is up for auction at Bonhams May 20
Recent Changes
Preliminary census of original Sherlock Holmes drawings by Sidney Paget (revised May 2008)
Conan Doyle's Other Manuscripts
Original Sherlock Holmes Story Manuscripts
Facsimiles of the Sherlock Holmes Story Manuscripts
Checklists of Other Rare Material
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Other Manuscripts
Checklist of Conan Doyle Manuscripts
This Checklist includes works other than the 60 Holmes stories. It includes descriptions and locations for many original Conan Doyle manuscripts. See below for information on Sherlock Holmes manuscripts.
Location cross-reference of Conan Doyle Manuscripts
This list groups the manuscript entries by location. It may be useful when you want to examine all the works at a single location. The list only includes story titles, but the full details for each manuscript are given in the Checklist main section.
A Census of The Conan Doyle Collection
This census lists the owners of lots from Christie's May 2004 sale of Conan Doyle material.
See also the new book with letters from the Conan Doyle Collection
June 2007 "Three Gables" Manuscript Sale
March 2006 Conan Doyle Manuscript Sale
Dame Jean Conan Doyle's estate offered three manuscripts for sale
November 2004 "Solitary Cyclist" and "Hound" Manuscript Sale
June 2004 "Sussex Vampire" Manuscript Sale
May 2004 Conan Doyle Collection Sale
Some of Conan Doyle's heirs sold an extensive collection of his letters, manuscripts, and personal effects.
November 2003 Conan Doyle Manuscript Sale
Six original Conan Doyle manuscripts were offered for sale by the estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle, the last surviving child of Sir Arthur.
"The Horror of the Heights" Manuscript
A superb facsimile with valuable annotations and a transcription was produced for a conference at the University of Minnesota. It's available from Calabash Press.
Original Sherlock Holmes Story Manuscripts
Peter Blau maintains a list of locations for the original Sherlock Holmes manuscripts on Sherlocktron.
June 2007 "Three Gables" Manuscript Sale
The sale at Sotheby's New York also included a copy of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887.
June 2006 "Illustrious Client" Manuscript Donation
Dame Jean Conan Doyle's estate delivered the manuscript to the National Library Scotland.
November 2004 "Solitary Cyclist" and "Hound" Manuscript Sale
The sale at Sotheby's New York also included a famous Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes and Moriarty.
June 2004 "Sussex Vampire" Manuscript Sale
The first Holmes manuscript sent to auction in five years was sold at Christie's New York.
See also Angels of Darkness on the Checklist of Conan Doyle Manuscripts for a Holmes-related manuscript.
Ronald B. De Waal's The Universal Sherlock Holmes (volume 1) contains some additional information on the Holmes story manuscripts in entries C2315 – C2374 on pp. 115-118. An electronic version of this work is maintained at the University of Minnesota and it can be purchased from the Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.
Facsimiles of the Sherlock Holmes Story Manuscripts
Many of the original Holmes story manuscripts are held in library special collections or by private collectors. Facsimiles of these manuscripts (including illustrations of individual pages) are somewhat more accessible. An up-to-date checklist of these facsimiles should help you to locate them.
The Checklist currently has more than 130 source entries for material from 28 Sherlock Holmes stories. Subsets of the Checklist appear on additional Web pages and are organized to support other uses of the data. Supplementary research information is also provided. You can read more about the Checklist in the Summer 2003 Baker Street Journal article "Perfect Reproductions: Some Notes on Canonical Manuscripts" by Randall Stock.
Checklist of Manuscript Facsimiles of the Sherlock Holmes Stories
This checklist includes a detailed description of the reproduced text as well as citations for the sources of the reproductions. It is sorted by story title to help you locate all the available manuscript reproductions for a specific Canonical tale.
Photos of Holmes Manuscripts on the Web
A few manuscript pictures are available on the Internet. Use this list to quickly find and view them online.
It's often useful to be able to locate all the facsimiles in a specific publication. This list is sorted by the title of the book or periodical containing reproductions. It only includes source citations, but these can be cross-referenced to the Checklist.
Bookseller and Auction Catalogues Supplement
Sometimes it helps to know which sources have already been checked even if they do not contain reproductions. This page contains extra information on catalogues, including those from the House of El Dieff, Christie's and Sotheby's.
If you have an extensive collection of Sherlockiana, especially bookseller or auction catalogues, please look at this list to see if you could help to augment the current checklist information.
A list of changes to the Checklist.
Other Websites with Facsimile Information
Facsimile Editions
The Baker Street Irregulars literary society is publishing their Manuscript Series of facsimile editions of manuscripts and other documents relating to Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These include Mandate for Murder ("The Red Circle"), The Napoleon Bust Business Again ("The Six Napoleons"), The Hound of the Baskervilles (Chapter XI), and the Holmes-related play Angels of Darkness. They are available from the Baker Street Journal website.
The complete facsimile of "Shoscombe Old Place" was published by the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne in a limited edition of 200 copies. It may still be available from the University library website.
The complete facsimiles of "The Dying Detective" and "The Lion's Mane" are still available from Calabash Press.
Murderland and The Valley of Fear
Murderland is an excursion book published for the 2004 Valley of Fear tour. It includes facsimiles of five pages of Conan Doyle's manuscript notes for the story and a fine essay about the manuscript's history by Peter Blau. The book is available near the bottom of the BSJ website sale page.
Baker Street Journal
The Baker Street Journal contains many manuscript reproductions. A CD-ROM with all issues from inception through 2000 is available from the Baker Street Journal website. See also Tips on using the BSJ CD, and use this List of Citations to quickly identify all the reproductions in the Baker Street Journal.
Sherlock Holmes Journal
The Sherlock Holmes Journal also contains many manuscript reproductions. The e-SHJ CD-ROM includes all issues from inception through Summer 2002 and is available at the Sherlock Holmes Society of London website and through the CD producer George Vanderburgh. See this site's Tips on using the e-SHJ CD and use this List of Citations to quickly identify all the reproductions in the Sherlock Holmes Journal.
Checklists of Other Rare Material
The first Sherlock Holmes publication: Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 with A Study in Scarlet
Famous Sherlockian art: Sidney Paget Original Sherlock Holmes Drawings and other artwork
Other Topics
This site contains other Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes information. See pages on the best Sherlock Holmes stories, the best untold tales of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlockian books for sale, and more.
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Vers. 1.71f Original work
Copyright © 2008 Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.