Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan.

8vo (184 x 121mm.), first edition, frontispiece and 15 plates by Sidney Paget, original pictorial red cloth, upper cover with hound design stamped in gilt and black, preserved in matching red cloth chemise and quarter red morocco slipcase, slight offsetting to endpapers, a touch of foxing to fore-edge, otherwise a fine copy

Green and Gibson A26

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"Robinson and I are exploring the moor over our Sherlock Holmes book. I think it will work out splendidly... Holmes is at his very best, and it is a highly dramatic idea - which I owe to Robinson" (the author to his mother, 2 April 1901).

A beautiful, fresh copy of the first edition of the most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story, inspired by Bertram Fletcher Robinson (Daily Express correspondent during the Boer War), with whom Doyle struck up a friendship when travelling back on the same ship from Cape Town. On a golfing holiday in 1901 Robinson mentioned the legend of the Black Hound of Hergest associated with the Vaughan family of Hergest Court in Herefordshire. Doyle subsequently re-located his version of the story, with Sherlock Holmes as the main protagonist, to Dartmoor in Devon, Robinson's native county.