Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Two Sherlock Holmes first editions, 1892 and 1894

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Two Sherlock Holmes first editions:

i) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. London: George Newnes, Limited: 1892. FIRST EDITION (with "violent" for "violet" on p. 317), large 8vo (235 x 160mm.), half-title, frontispiece and illustrations by Sidney Paget, ink ownership inscription to front free endpaper, original light blue cloth over bevelled boards, spine and upper cover blocked and lettered in gold and black, gilt edges, light brown floral endpapers, light spotting, boards slightly stained, extremities rubbed;

ii) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London: George Newnes, Limited: 1894. FIRST EDITION, large 8vo (235 x 160mm.), half-title, frontispiece and illustrations by Sidney Paget, ink ownership inscription to verso of front free endpaper, original blue cloth over bevelled boards, spine and upper cover blocked and lettered in gold and black, gilt edges, light brown floral endpapers, light spotting, worming visible at upper joint primarily affecting inner margin of front endpapers, front free endpaper becoming detached, extremities slightly rubbed

Doyle's celebrated stories, here in their first editions in book form, first appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1891. They rapidly gained in popularity and circulation of the magazine quickly doubled.

PROVENANCE:

Adventures: L.F. Valcke, ownership inscription to front free endpaper. Memoirs: R.G. Berry, ownership inscription to front free endpaper; Christie's South Kensington 30 November 2005, lot 173

LITERATURE:

Green and Gibson A10.a; A14.a