The Hound of the Baskervilles: A Manuscript Census

By Randall Stock, April 28, 2022

Most of the original autograph manuscript for The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been lost.  Only about a dozen pages from this classic tale of Gothic mystery and suspense remain in private hands.

 

NEWS: June 2022 Hound leaf auction

NEWS: Hound manuscript brings a record price

 

 

Manuscript History & Overview

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901, and the story first appeared in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902.  George Newnes published the first English book edition in March 1902.  McClure, Philips & Co. produced the first American edition in April 1902.

 

Conan Doyle's handwritten manuscript was broken up as part of a publicity campaign for the American publication of the book in 1902.  Estimated to comprise approximately 185 pages originally, most of the manuscript is almost certainly lost, with only 37 leaves reported to still exist and the majority of those held by institutions.  The only complete chapter known to exist resides at the New York Public Library.

 

This census identifies 37 manuscript pages.  Libraries hold 24 pages in their archives or special collections.  Private collectors have 9 pages.  The location of 4 recorded pages (H6,  H31,  H33, and H36) is unknown, including a leaf reported as stolen.  Please contact me if you have information on any leaf.

 

The last Hound manuscript leaf to sell at auction went for $423,000.  While the price of an original manuscript leaf from this Sherlock Holmes story is beyond the grasp of most Sherlockians, the Baker Street Irregulars did publish a nice facsimile of Chapter XI in 2001.  It's worth adding to your collection.

 

Photos of thirteen leaves (H1,  H2,  H5,  H8,  H10,  H28,  H29,  H30,  H31,  H32,  H33,  H36, and H37) are online as well as a photo of a 1902 promotion label.

 

For details about other Sherlock Holmes manuscripts, see below for more about Conan Doyle manuscripts.

 

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Hound of the Baskervilles Manuscript Leaves

All owners have been confirmed through direct contact and/or public documents unless noted.  Some private owners may prefer to remain anonymous.  I respect their requests and will not identify them.

 

Even if the owner remains anonymous, it's useful for researchers to know that the manuscript leaf still exists and is privately held.  Please contact me if you own or know someone who does own a leaf.  I'll keep your identity, and theirs, private upon request.

 

Leaves are listed in the story's narrative sequence and not in order by item number.  Census item numbers (e.g., "H7") are permanent references that simplify identification, and a cross-reference appears at the end of the main census to the narrative position of that item.  The actual page number of the leaf in the manuscript itself is not known in most cases.  A key to census terminology appears at the end of this list.  All pages are in the handwriting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle unless noted otherwise.

 

 

H1.  amount of walking with it 
(Chapter 1: Doubleday pp. 669-670)

 

Photos:

 

Text: McClure pp. 2-4

 

Exhibited:

 

Notes: Page two of the manuscript, with a pencil "2" in the upper left corner.  (Last updated: 4/1/22)

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H2.  To that extent 
(Chapter 1: Doubleday pp. 670-671)

 

Photos:

 

Text: McClure pp. 4-5

 

Exhibited:

 

Notes: Page three of the manuscript, with a pencil "3" in the upper left corner.  Includes the publisher promotional label attached at the bottom of the leaf.  See my facsimile checklist #119 for other photo citations.  (Last updated: 4/1/22)

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H3.  Chapter II. | The Curse of the Baskervilles 
(Chapter 2: Doubleday p. 673)

Text: McClure pp. 11-12

 

Notes: The opening page of Chapter 2.  The leaf is tipped into a copy of My First Book along with letters from other authors.  It's on the first page of Doyle's essay "Juvenalia" and is folded twice.  See their HOLLIS online catalog entry for more details, searching under "Hollis Number" for "003412140" and then look for the copy designated "HEW 10.5.10".  Part of the Harry Elkins Widener Collection at Harvard University.  (Last updated: 4/27/11)

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H4.  This from Hugo Baskerville 
(Chapter 2: Doubleday p. 676)

Text: McClure pp. 17-19

 

Notes: Probably page 13 of the original manuscript.  (Last updated: 11/8/21)

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H5.  May all our difficulties 
(Chapter 5: Doubleday p. 696)

Text: McClure pp. 68-69

 

Notes: One of two Hound leaves to carry the full name of "Sherlock Holmes."  Includes marginal notes by Conan Doyle as well as corrections and additions in the author's hand.   (Last updated: 11/8/21)

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H6.  said to be a young lady of attractions 
(Chapter 6: Doubleday p. 699)

Text: McClure pp. 76-77

 

Notes: If you know the location of this leaf, please contact me (I keep names/sources private upon request).  Last reported as sold at 1996 Sotheby's auction in New York of the Victor and Irene Murr Jacobs collection.  See my facsimile checklist #120 for photo citations.  (Last updated: 4/7/22)

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H7.  Chapter VII. | The Stapletons of Merripit House 
(Chapter 7: Doubleday p. 704)

Text: McClure pp. 89-90

 

Notes: The opening page of Chapter 7.  See my facsimile checklist #118 for photo citations.  (Last updated: 5/12/17)

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H8.  Chapter IX | [Second Report of Dr Watson] 
(Chapter 9: Doubleday pp. 716-717)

See the full-page photo of H8 at the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive"

 

Text: McClure pp. 121-122

 

Exhibited:

 

Notes: The opening page of Chapter 9.  Includes the publisher promotional label at the bottom.  This leaf was remounted and reframed in a black metal frame in 2001.  See their MNCAT online catalog entry for a few more details, searching for title "Hound of the Baskervilles manuscript leaves".  Donated in 1983, it is one of four leaves that are part of the Philip and Mary Kahler Hench Collection in the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota.  (Last updated: 5/4/19)

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H34.  may fall in with such a superstition 
(Chapter 10: Doubleday p. 727)

Text: McClure pp. 148-149

 

Notes: The publisher promotional label is on the back of this leaf.  In the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle miscellaneous file, part of the Manuscripts and Archives Division at The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.  It is not listed separately online but is accessed under Doyle in Box 33 of the Miscellaneous Personal Name Files D-Z.  (Last updated: 4/30/19)

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H9.  The man is a public danger 
(Chapter 10: Doubleday p. 728)

Text: McClure pp. 151-152

 

Notes: Previously in a presentation mat with the publisher promotional label and photographs of Conan Doyle and Joseph Bell to either side.  In 1992 the JCM found the mat was acidic, removed it, and treated the leaf for conservation.  (Last updated: 2/1/06)

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H10.  Very good, Barrymore. You can go 
(Chapter 10: Doubleday pp. 729-730)

Photos:

 

Text: McClure pp. 154-155

 

Exhibited: Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects (2022)

 

Notes: Includes the publisher promotional label (with label shown in the 2022 print catalogue but not online).  (Last updated: 4/1/22)

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H35.  becoming a morass 
(Chapter 10: Doubleday p. 730)

Text: McClure pp. 155-156

 

Notes: With a few chips and repairs affecting seven words.  Previously owned by an employee of Doubleday Page & Co., and still held by the family.  (Last updated: 11/8/21)

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H11.  Chapter XI | The Man on the Tor 
(Chapter 11: Doubleday pp. 732-733)

Text: McClure pp. 162-163

 

Notes: The opening page of Chapter 11.  Part of the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection at The New York Public Library.  Listed under "Manuscripts" in the Berg's finding aid.  See my facsimile checklist #115-117 for photo citations, including the complete chapter facsimile with cover shown at right or below.  (Last updated: 4/30/19)

 

H12 – H26.  [remaining 15 pages of Chapter 11] 
(Chapter 11: Doubleday pp. 733-739)

 

Text: McClure pp. 163-180

 

Notes: The Berg collection holds all of Chapter 11.  See entry H11 for other details.  (Last updated: 4/30/19)

 

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H27.  Chapter XII | Death on the Moor 
(Chapter 12: Doubleday p. 740)

Text: McClure pp. 181-182

 

Notes: The opening page of Chapter 12.  This leaf includes the scene depicted in the matching Sidney Paget original drawing.  (Last updated: 11/8/21)

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H28.  I thought as much 
(Chapter 12: Doubleday pp. 740-741)

See also this UT blog about their Conan Doyle holdings, including a small photo of H28.

 

Text: McClure pp. 182-183

 

Notes: This is the second manuscript page from Chapter 12.  Accompanied by the publisher promotional label.  No entry found in their online catalog (6/2/12), but see the Digital Collection link above for a cross-reference to their finding aid.  Part of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.  (Last updated: 7/24/18)

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H36.  than before. |  "Where is it?" Holmes whispered 
(Chapter 12: Doubleday pp. 743-744)

See a description and large photo of Hound manuscript leaf H36.

 

Text: McClure pp. 189-190

 

Notes: If you know the location of this leaf, please contact me (I keep names/sources private upon request).  This leaf names both Holmes and Watson four times within its text.  The next two leaves of the manuscript also exist and are listed below.  Unrecorded until 2012, it was sold at auction in December 2012.   (Last updated: 6/3/17)

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H29.  A low moan had fallen upon our ears 
(Chapter 12: Doubleday p. 744)

See the full-page photo of H29 at the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive"

 

Text: McClure pp. 190-192

 

Exhibited:

 

Notes: Previously framed together with the next manuscript page (H30) and a drawing of the scene by Frederic Dorr Steele.  This leaf was remounted and reframed separately in a black metal frame in 2001.  See their MNCAT online catalog entry for a few more details, searching for title "Hound of the Baskervilles manuscript leaves".  Donated in 1978, it is one of four leaves that are part of the Philip and Mary Kahler Hench Collection in the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota.  See my facsimile checklist #111 for photo citations.  (Last updated: 5/4/19)

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H30.  murdered, the one frightened to death 
(Chapter 12: Doubleday pp. 744-745)

See the full-page photo of H30 at the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive"

 

Text: McClure pp. 192-193

 

Exhibited:

 

Notes: Previously framed together with the preceding manuscript page (H29) and a drawing of the scene by Frederic Dorr Steele.  This leaf was remounted and reframed separately in a black metal frame in 2001.  See their MNCAT online catalog entry for a few more details, searching for title "Hound of the Baskervilles manuscript leaves".  Donated in 1978, it is one of four leaves that are part of the Philip and Mary Kahler Hench Collection in the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota.  See my facsimile checklist #112 for photo citations.  (Last updated: 5/4/19)

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H31.  Chapter XIII | Fixing the Nets 
(Chapter 13: Doubleday p. 747 )

See a description and large photo of Hound manuscript leaf H31.

 

Text: McClure pp. 199-200

 

Notes: If you know the location of this leaf, please contact me (I keep names/sources private upon request).  This is the opening page of Chapter 13 as it appears in the manuscript and in the Doubleday edition.  In The Strand Magazine, Chapter 12 was extended to include this entire page of text plus at least one more manuscript page.  It is one of only three privately-owned Hound leaves with a chapter heading.  Previously held in the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums, which were founded in 1983 by David Karpeles and Marsha Karpeles.  Sold at Heritage Auctions in 2021.  See my facsimile checklist #114 for other photo citations.  (Last updated: 11/6/21)

 

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H37.  hospitable people 
(Chapter 13: Doubleday p. 751)

See a description and large photo of Hound manuscript leaf H37.

 

Text: McClure pp. 208-209

 

Notes: Preparing a trap for Stapleton, Holmes gives Sir Henry instructions.  This leaf contains two strikethrough edits by Conan Doyle, and has a penciled "21" in the left margin.  The current owner received this leaf in 1996 as a gift from a person who purchased it at an estate sale in the New York City area.  Unrecorded until July 2018; offered at a 2022 Hound auction.  (Last updated: 4/1/22)

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H32.  flowed swiftly in upon them 
(Chapter 14: Doubleday p. 760)

See the full-page photo of H32 at the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive"

 

Text: McClure pp. 231-233

 

Exhibited: Footprints of the Hound (2001)

 

Notes: This leaf was remounted and reframed in a black metal frame in 2001.  See their MNCAT online catalog entry for a few more details, searching for title "Hound of the Baskervilles manuscript leaves". Donated in 1983, it is one of four leaves that are part of the Philip and Mary Kahler Hench Collection in the Sherlock Holmes Collections at the University of Minnesota.  (Last updated: 5/4/19)

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H33. to be of such intense interest to us 
(Chapter 15: Doubleday p. 762)

Text: McClure pp. 237-238

 

Notes: Last held in the David Light collection.  Help recover this leaf – see my Hound leaf reported stolen page for details including an FBI contact address.  (Last updated: 9/27/20)

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Cross-Reference Items

 

H34.  may fall in with such a superstition  (see entry H34 at Chapter 10: Doubleday p. 727 above)

 

H35.  becoming a morass  (see entry H35 at Chapter 10: Doubleday p. 730 above)

 

H36.  than before. |  "Where is it?" Holmes whispered  (see entry H36 at Chapter 12: Doubleday pp. 743-744 above)

 

H37.  hospitable people  (see entry H37 at Chapter 13: Doubleday p. 751 above)

 

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Associated Material

HA1.  Acknowledgement 
(Doubleday p. 668)

Text: McClure pp. [vii]

 

Notes: This letter provides the text of Conan Doyle's acknowledgement to Bertram Fletcher Robinson used in the first American edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  It was probably written and signed for Conan Doyle by his secretary Charles Terry.  Variants of this acknowledgement appeared in The Strand Magazine and in the first English edition.  Part of the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection at The New York Public Library.  Listed under "Outgoing correspondence" to Robinson in the Berg's finding aid.  See my facsimile checklist #113 for photo citations.  (Last updated: 4/30/19)

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HA2.  Promotional Label

Some leaves come with an identifying label that was probably provided as part of the 1902 publicity campaign for the American first edition.

 

See a photo of the Hound manuscript (H2) bottom and associated label from a 2012 exhibit.

See another label photo at the University of Minnesota Libraries "U Media Archive" (click to enlarge)

 

Notes: The label reads "Original Manuscript Sheet from | The Hound of the Baskervilles | By A. Conan Doyle | Published by McClure, Phillips & Co., New York."  Leaves were typically mounted for display, with the label appearing beneath the leaf  (Last updated: 4/30/19)

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HA3.  Play Typescript

The Hound of the Baskervilles: a drama in four acts

Attributed to Arthur Conan Doyle, dated Aug. [19]02.

 

Location: The Newberry Library

 

Notes: Apparently never completed, the typescript includes Acts 1, 2, and 3 only.  Part of the C. Frederick Kittle Collection of Doyleana at The Newberry Library.  See their online catalog for a detailed description of the typescript and an associated letter of Aug. 16, 1954 from Adrian Conan Doyle to Lew David Feldman.  See also a discussion of the typescript in "The Play's the Thing" by James Bliss Austin in Baker Street Miscellanea.  Shown at the Footprints of the Hound 2001 exhibition.  (Last updated: 4/26/11)

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Exhibitions of the Manuscript

Selected public exhibitions of leaves from the manuscript of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  Some other exhibitions are only noted above in their census entry. 

 

Sherlock Holmes in 221 Objects: From the Collection of Glen S. Miranker

12 January – 16 April 2022

An Exhibition at the Grolier Club of NYC

This amazing exhibition included three Hound leaves (H1, H2, and H10), four Holmes short-story manuscripts, five original Sidney Paget drawings, all seven Frederic Dorr Steele drawings for "Wisteria Lodge," rare first editions in dust jackets, and much more.  The excellent hardcover catalogue is both beautiful and informative.  My Exhibition Overview page also includes photos and links to an extensive online version of the Exhibition and related videos.

 

1 August – 15 December 2022

An Exhibition at the Lilly Library in Bloomington, Indiana

Plans are afoot to show the same material at Indiana University

 

The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes

10 October 2013 – March 2017

This traveling exhibition showed more than 100 items from the University of Minnesota, including H8 and H29, as well as drawings by Frederic Dorr Steele and an original Sidney Paget drawing of Holmes.  After March 2017 it included facsimiles of the Hound manuscript pages.

 

You Know My Methods: A Collector's Approach to the Sherlockian Canon

4 June – 10 September 2012

The exhibit included H1 and H2 from the manuscript, a Hound drawing by Sidney Paget, drawings by Frederic Dorr Steele and H. M Brock, a salesman's dummy and the true first edition of the American Hound, plus other rare material.

 

Ever Westward (Conan Doyle Sesquicentennial)

5 May – 8 August 2009

Harvard University, Houghton Library

The exhibit included H3 and the manuscript for "The Three Students."

 

Footprints of the Hound

20 October – 2 December 2001

The exhibit included H1, H2, H8, H29, H30, H32, and HA3.

 

New Acquisitions for the Hench Collection

December 1983 – January 1984 

University of Minnesota, Wilson Library

The display included H8 and two non-Holmes ACD manuscripts.

 

Arthur Conan Doyle [Mary Kahler and Philip S. Hench Collection]

18 July – 30 September 1979

University of Minnesota, Wilson Library

The exhibit included H29 and H30 framed together with a drawing by Frederic Dorr Steele.

 

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Key to Census Entries & Terms

"H" numbers: identify a specific leaf/item since the actual manuscript page number is not known; census entries appear above in the story's narrative sequence and not in order by the census H-number.

 

Bold entry title: Selected text from beginning of leaf, also to help identify it

 

Chapter: the chapter number (as it appears in Doubleday) where the leaf text appears

 

Doubleday: refers to the current, single-volume, 1122-page edition of The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, n.d.).  I used an edition with printing code "S52" on page 1122, which indicates a 1977 printing date.  This is one of the most widely available print-editions of the Holmes stories, and includes all the tales in a single volume.

 

Headed: any title(s) or similar material at the top of the page

 

Starts: the first line of text on that page, border to border

 

Ends: the last line of text on that page, border to border

 

Signed: any material following the last line of text, including dates, signatures, and locations.

 

Opening page: the first page of a chapter in the manuscript

 

Vertical bar "|" symbol: a line break

 

Photos: links or citations to selected images of the leaf

 

Text: the associated text as published in select online versions of this work

 

McClure: refers to The Hound of the Baskervilles (New York: McClure, Philips & Co., 1902), a second impression of the first American edition of the book, available on Google Books.

 

Abbreviated dates are given in the American form of month/day/year.

 

This census provides a record of the reported manuscript leaves. While it is based on extensive research, it does not provide any warranty or guarantee of any kind, whether express or implied, and does not offer any opinion or guarantee of authenticity, genuineness, authorship, or origin of any item.

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Sources and Acknowledgments

Austin, James Bliss.  "The Play's the Thing."  Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 24 (Winter 1980): 1-10.  Austin discusses the typescript of an unfinished play of The Hound of the Baskervilles (HA3).

 

Blau, Peter E. Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, various issues.  This invaluable Sherlockian newsletter is available online for 1985+ at <http://redcircledc.org/index.php?id=39>.

 

Frayling, Sir Christopher.  "The Writing of The Hound of the Baskervilles."  The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Spring 2008): 18-32.  Frayling covers the period from initial conception to first publication, and concludes Conan Doyle wrote the story in less than eight weeks.

 

Green, Richard Lancelyn, and John Michael Gibson. A Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle.  First revised edition.  New York: Hudson House, 2000.  The definitive Conan Doyle bibliography recounts the relevant publication history on pages 129-131 and 716.

 

The Hound of the Baskervilles: Chapter XI by Arthur Conan Doyle.  BSI Manuscript Series general editor Leslie S. Klinger.  New York: The Baker Street Irregulars in cooperation with the New York Public Library—Berg Collection, 2001.  Part of the Baker Street Irregulars Manuscript Series.  This volume includes a facsimile of Chapter 11 of the manuscript, a transcription of the material, and related essays.  Details at the Baker Street Irregulars website.

 

Stock, Randall.  "Conan Doyle Manuscripts: A Checklist of Facsimiles of the Sherlock Holmes Stories."  Privately published, 2007, <http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/rfmsalph.htm> (5/1/09).

 

Stock, Randall.  "A Sherlock Holmes Census: What's Really Out There."  Papers at an Exhibition, edited by Peter X. Accardo, John Bergquist, and Dan Posnansky, 175-200.  New York: The Baker Street Irregulars in cooperation with Houghton Library, 2009.  Paper delivered at Harvard University, 9 May 2009, for their Conan Doyle Sesquicentennial Conference.

 

The photo of the top part of leaf H8 is used with the permission of Timothy Johnson and the University of Minnesota. 

 

 

Staff members at many of the libraries provided invaluable assistance.  Special thanks go to Stephen Crook (Berg Collection), Motrja Fedorko (Jersey City Museum), Rachel Howarth (Harvard), Timothy Johnson (University of Minnesota), Jill Peterson and Tal Nadan (New York Public Library), and Arcadia Falcone (Ransom Center).

 

In addition, private collectors and Sherlockians graciously offered their expertise and knowledge.  I'm indebted to Peter E. Blau, David Karpeles, Andrew Malec, Glen Miranker, Christopher Roden, Stuart Rose, Constantine Rossakis, Steven Rothman, Doug Wrigglesworth, and others who preferred to remain anonymous.  Thanks also to Chris Coover at Christie's.

 

While this checklist could never have been made without everyone's help, I am solely responsible for any errors or omissions.  If I omitted your name, please be assured it was inadvertent and let me know so I can correct it.

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More about Conan Doyle Manuscripts

See the Conan Doyle Manuscript News Archive section for news pages including several for the Hound manuscript.

 

This website has information on many other Conan Doyle manuscripts, including both non-Holmes material and a Sherlock Holmes Manuscript Census.

 

The site also has details on other Conan Doyle rarities, including a census of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 with the first Sherlock Holmes story, a census of Sidney Paget original drawings, and a census of the rare first edition of "The Unique Hamlet", a Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Vincent Starrett.

 

While not rare, there are also lists of each year's best Sherlock Holmes books & DVDs, the best Holmes stories, and the most famous Sherlock Holmes quotes.

 

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Return to Manuscripts Home page and Introduction

 

Please send me e-mail if you have additions, corrections or suggestions for this census.

 

 

 

 

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