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The Valley of Fear Manuscript:
Stuart & Mimi Rose Collection at Folger Shakespeare Library
By Randall Stock, July 8, 2024
The manuscript for the Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear is on display in 2024 at the Folger Shakespeare Library, along with 51 other exceptional rarities from the Stuart and Mimi Rose Collection.
Overview of the Exhibition
An Egyptian Book of the Dead, an Apollo 11 flight plan, a copy of Winnie-the-Pooh inscribed by the author to his son, and the original manuscript of The Valley of Fear are just a few of the treasures on display at the Folger Shakespeare Library.
If you are in the area of Washington, D.C. from June 21, 2024 to January 5, 2025, be sure to visit the free exhibition from the Stuart and Mimi Rose Collection.
You will find more details and photos of the manuscript for The Valley of Fear below, along with a few other works in the exhibition.
For those who cannot visit in person, the Folger Shakespeare Library also provides an online virtual exhibition as well as a printed catalogue.
The Valley of Fear Manuscript Description & Photo
Exhibition Item 4C: Manuscript of The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Conan Doyle's original autograph manuscript is headed on the first page as "The Valley of Fear. / Part 1 / The Manorhouse of Birlstone / Chap. I. The Warning." Not signed or dated, but 1913-1914.
The manuscript consists of 177 leaves measuring 12.9 x 7.8 inches, with some leaves cut-down. It contains the full text of the story except for the last few sentences of the final chapter and the short Epilogue.
Conan Doyle wrote in black ink on the rectos only of each sheet. He made some additions to the story by inserting cut-down sheets. The manuscript also includes many other smaller additions, deletions, and corrections.
A later signed inscription is mounted to a sheet and joined to the first page of the manuscript. The inscription appears on the title page from a 1915 British edition of the novel, and reads:
With all kind remembrance from Arthur Conan Doyle who hopes you have pleasant memories of Groombridge House which is the old house herein described. June 22/21.
The bookplates of William Randolph Hearst and James Bliss Austin reflect their prior ownership of the manuscript.
First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for The Valley of Fear
For more about the manuscript and the signed inscription, see the History & Provenance section below.
Conan Doyle wrote 4 Sherlock Holmes novels and 56 short stories. About two-thirds of the Holmes manuscripts still exist, although some of these include only fragments. Libraries and museums hold approximately half of the extant manuscripts. See the Census of Sherlock Holmes manuscripts.
The manuscript for the first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, no longer exists, and most of manuscript for The Hound of the Baskervilles is lost. Sotheby's sold the manuscript of The Sign of Four in 2024.
History & Provenance
Conan Doyle began writing The Valley of Fear in December 1913 or early January 1914. He completed at least three chapters by January 17, and had written about half of the story by February 6. Although the manuscript is not dated, most reports indicate that he finished it in April 1914.
The American part of the tale is based on actual events as recounted in The Molly Maguires and the Detectives by Allan J. Pinkerton (New York: G. W. Carleton and Company, 1877). Conan Doyle probably learned about the Molly Maguires during a visit to his home by real-life American detective William J. Burns in April 1913.
To build interest in the upcoming story, the July 1914 Strand Magazine announced that a new Sherlock Holmes serial would begin in September. Their August issue carried a full-page advertisement that included the opening illustration for the tale along with a facsimile of part of the first page of the manuscript.
The serialized story appeared monthly in The Strand Magazine from September 1914 through May 1915. In America, a number of newspapers published the story in weekly installments of their Sunday Magazine supplement from September 20 through November 22, 1914.
The George H. Doran Company published the first American book edition of The Valley of Fear on February 27, 1915. A British book version did not appear until the Strand completed the serialized story, with Smith Elder & Company publishing the first English edition on June 3, 1915.
Conan Doyle sent the manuscript to auction in America in 1923. Bound in cloth for Conan Doyle, that volume probably already lacked the last few sentences of the final chapter and the short Epilogue. William Randolph Hearst bought the manuscript.
Hearst sold much of his collection in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lew David Feldman (The House of El Dieff) eventually acquired the manuscript and disbound it, selling individual chapters to a number of collectors in the 1950s. Some of these collectors then bound their chapters.
Feldman later regretted his action and re-assembled the full manuscript for James Bliss Austin circa 1960. At that point, it consisted of a mix of bound and loose chapters. Austin died in 1988 and bequeathed the manuscript to Lehigh University, his alma mater. Lehigh sold it through Sotheby's in June 1990.
Shortly after that auction, the bindings were removed from the bound chapters, and a signed title page was added to the manuscript's first page.
That title page comes from a second impression of the 1915 Smith Elder first edition of The Valley of Fear. Conan Doyle signed and inscribed that copy in 1921, identifying "Groombridge House" as the inspiration for Birlstone Manor in his novel.
Conan Doyle inscription on title page for The Valley of Fear
Someone later tore out the title page and two other leaves from this book, and BSI member James Keddie, Jr. purchased these leaves from a dealer. Keddie sold them to James Montgomery, another BSI, in 1954. Montgomery wrote about the leaves, and reproduced the entire title page and inscription, in Montgomery's Christmas Annual for 1955.
The top portion of the inscribed title page is now mounted on a new sheet. That sheet is joined to the first page of the manuscript (see photo of the joined sheets in the Description section above).
Some Story & Manuscript Changes
Third-person Narration
Conan Doyle started writing the story in the third person rather than having Watson narrate the tale. However, after finishing the first chapter, he decided instead to use his traditional approach with Watson as the narrator, and revised his manuscript accordingly. For example, he changed the first lines of the manuscript from "said Dr. Watson" to "said I," and "Dr. Watson was the most long suffering of mortals" to "I believe that I am one of the most long suffering of mortals."
Top of first page of Conan Doyle manuscript for The Valley of Fear
The Title of Part I.
The manuscript gives the title of Part I. as "The Manorhouse of Birlstone," but the first serial and book editions used "The Tragedy of Birlstone."
"I admit"
Conan Doyle revised the opening of the manuscript to read "I admit that I was annoyed," but the first American serial and book editions altered this to "I'll admit that I was annoyed." The first British serial and book editions used "I admit" as shown on the manuscript.
German and Swedish
Conan Doyle originally wrote that Ettie Shafter, the future wife of Birdy Edwards, was of German extraction. After Germany and Britain went to war in August 1914, Conan Doyle agreed with his editor at the Strand to change "German" to "Swedish" throughout the story. Both the Strand and the British first edition used "Swedish," while the newspapers and first edition in America kept the original "German."
Americanizing Text
Half of the story takes place in the United States, and Conan Doyle's American editors made numerous minor changes to add authenticity to American dialog and references. These changes were not incorporated into text of the Strand or the British first edition.
Other Exhibition Items
In addition to The Valley of Fear manuscript, the exhibition includes a wide range of high points from literature, science and religion. Many of the items include notes or special inscriptions by the author.
The following examples provide a sense of the breadth and rarity of the works in this exhibition.
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (1954 & 1955)
Page proofs with corrections in Tolkien's hand.
Exhibition Item #10B
Galileo Galilei, Dialogo (1638)
Inscribed by Galileo to Giovanni Battista Baliani.
Galileo's famous defense of the Copernican view of the solar system was the most notorious banned book of the 17th century.
Exhibition Item #11A
A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
Inscribed by Milne to his son, who was the inspiration for Christopher Robin.
Exhibition Item #12D
Apollo 11 flight plan (1969)
With notations by Armstrong and Aldrin.
The astronauts used this section of the flight plan in space on their Moon mission.
Exhibition Item #3E
Exhibition Details & Links
Imprints in Time:
From the Collection of Stuart and Mimi Rose
An exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003
June 21, 2024 – January 5, 2025
Free Admission (timed-entry pass recommended)
The works in this exhibition span more than 2,000 years and include exceptional rarities from literature, history, science, religion, and philosophy.
While you can view the display cases sequentially, a spiral layout and curatorial recommendations encourage personalized exploration that lets you follow your own interests.
Online Virtual Exhibition by the Folger
Printed Catalogue
Two associated publications are available from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Their full-color exhibition guide pamphlet is about 8.5 x 5.5 inches with 109 pages.
The exhibition catalogue is also illustrated with full-color photos, but it includes more information and is a hardcover that is roughly twice the size of the pamphlet. It is available for purchase both online and at their onsite Folger Shop. See below for more details.
Imprints in Time
Inaugural Exhibition of the Stuart and Mimi Rose Rare Book and Manuscript Hall of the Folger Shakespeare Library
Foreword by Dr. Michael Witmore
Preface by Greg Prickman, Eric Weinmann Librarian and Director of Collections and Exhibitions
271 full color illustrated pages
10.6 × 8.2 inches hardcover
Published June 2024
Order it via the online Folger shop
Acknowledgements and Page History
Exhibition photos are courtesy of the Folger Shakespeare Library, with photography by Gary William Ogle.
My thanks to Colleen Kennedy at the Folger Shakespeare Library and to Peter E. Blau for their assistance. Special thanks to Stuart Rose for sharing details about his collection.
This page includes information from the Folger Shakespeare Library, auction catalogues, and a wide range of primary and secondary sources related to Conan Doyle.
The first version of this page appeared on July 8, 2024.
Also at the Folger: The Unique Hamlet copy WMH40
Census of Sherlock Holmes Manuscripts
Census of the Manuscript of The Hound of the Baskervilles
Other Sherlockian rarities like Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 and Sidney Paget drawings.
Lists of each year's best Sherlock Holmes books & DVDs, the most famous Sherlock Holmes quotes, and more Top 10 Lists.
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Copyright ©2024
Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.