A Study In Sherlock Part II Realizes $217,000 Sale Featured Books, Manuscripts, Ephemera, Props, And Association Items Related To Celebrated British Author Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

April 4, 2024

Potter & Potter Auctions is pleased to the results of this 336-lot event held on Feb. 15. Prices noted include the companys 20-percent buyers premium. The top lot in this sale was Arthur Conan Doyles autographed manuscript of the novel Uncle Bernac, trading hands at $42,500. This complete manuscript as published in the original serialization appeared with the provisional title Boulogne. A Memory of the Empire. It was written in Egypt, London, and elsewhere in the summer of 1896. It was housed in a folding cloth chemise and slipcase and presented in a custom folding box detailed with brass plaque and latches. This remarkable document was sold with the complete three-part American serialization of Uncle Bernac as it appeared in The Cosmopolitan in January through March 1897 and a copy of the first English edition of Uncle Bernac. Doyles The Lost World with its nearly impossible to find original dust jacket realized $12,000. It was published in London by Hodder and Stoughton in 1912. This first English trade edition featured the iconic image of Arthur Conan Doyle disguised as Professor Challenger on its dust jacket. A pair of photo albums featuring Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes or in various stage roles sold for a whopping $6,600. This lot included a photo album of 80 color behind-the-scenes photos of Brett as Holmes and Edward Hardwicke (1932-2011) as Watson, and an album of 22 color photos of Brett on stage in various plays, or posing with other people, including Lillian Gish and Lauren Bacall. These albums came from the estate of Jeremy Brett. A first-edition, first-issue of the large paper copy of Doyles The Lost World made $4,560. It was published in London, New York and Toronto by Hodder and Stoughton in 1912. This oversized book featured 13 mounted plates, including a portrait frontispiece, and two maps. According to Green and Gibson, Although 1,000 copies were prepared, only 190 were bound. The remainder were transferred to the second issue. It was all but elementary here on auction day, we saw strong bidding on many unusual and elusive items from the Arthur Conan Doyle cannon, and looking forward to, perhaps, yet another installment in this series of auctions in 2025, sais Gabe Fajuri, president at Potter & Potter Auctions. For further information, visit www.potterandpotterauctions.com.

 

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