"The Death Voyage" Manuscript:
Bonhams 2026 Sale

By Randall Stock, June 19, 2026

Bonhams offers the manuscript for Conan Doyle's World War I alternate history story "The Death Voyage" along with other Conan Doyle material.

The Death Voyage manuscript - first 5 lines

Topics

Manuscript Description

History & Provenance

Manuscript Photos

Other Conan Doyle Material

Catalog & Sale Info

"The Death Voyage" Manuscript Description

Lot 419: Manuscript of "The Death Voyage" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Headed on the first page as "The Death Voyage / (representing an alternative)," with a likely earlier title of "The Alternative" stricken below. Signed at end as "A Conan Doyle / Windlesham / Crowborough." Not dated, but probably 1929.

Conan Doyle wrote the story on 36 pages consisting of 28 full sheets and 8 half sheets, with full sheets measuring about 10.25 x 7.6 inches. The sheets come from at least two different types of paper. For at least four and probably six pages, Conan Doyle used the back of his own Crowborough stationery.

Page numbers appear in the upper corner of each leaf as follows: 1-24 24a 24b 24c 25-27 27a 27b 27c 27d 27e 28. About three-quarters of the pages include autograph corrections.

Note about typed copies at top of Death Voyage manuscript

A faint note of "3 Copies" in the upper left of MS1 (image enhanced) reflects a request for three typed copies. The sheets have small holes in the upper left corner where a pin or brass tack once held the pages together.

Zaehnsdorf bound the manuscript in vellum, and stamped it in gilt with "Bound by Zaehnsdorf. London. England." Gilt titles on the front cover read "THE DEATH VOYAGE / (REPRESENTING AN ALTERNATIVE) // ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE."

See below for photos of MS1, MS24a, and MS28.

Presale Estimate: US$30,000 - US$50,000

Online bidding opened on June 15 with a starting bid of US$22,000.

For more information about the auction itself, see the auction catalog section below.

Topics

History & Provenance

Conan Doyle finished his last Holmes tale at the end of 1926, but he continued to write some fiction in the final few years of his life. Most of that material involved science fiction or speculative fiction. His alternate history story "The Death Voyage" explores what might have happened at the end of World War I if Kaiser Wilhelm II had not abdicated.

Cover of October 1929 Strand Magazine featuring The Death Voyage

Although the manuscript is not dated, he probably wrote "The Death Voyage" in either April or May of 1929, shortly after returning from his lecture tour in Africa. That timing would also fit with the lead time for other stories in The Strand Magazine. For example, he signed the manuscript of "When the World Screamed" with "Nov 1/27" and the Strand published it five months later.

The construction and page numbering of the manuscript shows that Conan Doyle made significant revisions to the latter part of the story. Starting with MS24, he cut some pages short and inserted both full sheets and partial sheets at various points. He probably wrote the entire story on 28 sheets and then revised and expanded its ending.

Conan Doyle regularly sent his handwritten manuscripts to a typist starting in the early 1900s. The "3 Copies" at the top of MS1 indicates that he requested three typewritten copies of "The Death Voyage." He almost certainly sent one copy to the Strand and another to America for use by The Saturday Evening Post. While the archives of publisher John Murray hold a typescript for this tale, it might be a later copy made from the Strand's published text.

As was common with Conan Doyle's stories, it appears that he corrected proofs from the Strand but did not send these changes to America. In the first paragraph on MS1, he writes "would not the whole story of Imperial Rome have been avoided?" The text in the Saturday Evening Post matches the manuscript, but the Strand changed "avoided" to "different."

"The Death Voyage" appeared in the October 1929 Strand Magazine and in the Saturday Evening Post issue for September 28, 1929. With Conan Doyle's death in July 1930, the tale remained largely unknown until John Michael Gibson and Richard Lancelyn Green produced their volume of Conan Doyle's Uncollected Stories (1982).

While the manuscript's binding is not dated, the gilt stamp of "Bound by Zaehnsdorf. London. England." suggests this occurred by the mid-1950s. The firm typically used "Zaehnsdorf Ltd." after registering as a limited liability company in 1957. Lew David Feldman mentioned the binding in his descriptions of the manuscript in the early 1970s.

Provenance:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (died 1930); his widow Jean Leckie Conan Doyle (died 1940); their son Adrian Conan Doyle (died 1970); his widow Anna Conan Doyle; offered by her via Lew David Feldman in the early 1970s, including in his 1975: Fortieth Anniversary Catalogue; David Karpeles (died 2022).

Topics

"The Death Voyage" Manuscript Photos

Manuscript of The Death Voyage - first page

First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for The Death Voyage

Page 24a of The Death Voyage

Manuscript of The Death Voyage - page 24a

Page 24a of Conan Doyle manuscript for The Death Voyage
(written on the back of his stationery)

Page 28 of The Death Voyage

Manuscript of The Death Voyage - page 28

Page 28 of Conan Doyle manuscript for The Death Voyage

The manuscript description (above) has more information and a photo of the manuscript's cover. The Bonhams website listing for this lot includes a photo of MS2.

Topics

Other Conan Doyle Material

This auction includes two others lots with Conan Doyle material.

Lot 417: Small archive related to The Psychic Book Shop and Library

In 1925, Conan Doyle established a bookshop and museum dedicated to Spiritualism. This lot includes 16 manuscript and typescript pages related to his Psychic Book Shop, along with 2 associated pamphlets. The presale estimate is US$1,500 - US$2,500, and the starting bid is $1,100.

See the Bonhams website for information and bidding on Lot 417 (The Psychic Book Shop), including four photos.

Lot 418: Small archive related to Pheneas Speaks

A "spirit guide" named Pheneas supposedly communicated with the Conan Doyle family, largely through Sir Arthur's wife via her automatic writing during séances. Conan Doyle edited a book, Pheneas Speaks (1927), which contained many of the spirit's messages. This lot includes 26 typescript and manuscript pages relating to Pheneas and the book. The presale estimate is US$3,000 - US$5,000, and the starting bid is $2,200.

See the Bonhams website for information and bidding on Lot 418 (Pheneas Speaks), including three photos.

Topics

Bonhams Catalog & Sale Information

Bonhams provides an online listing and bidding page for Lot #419: Autograph Manuscript of Conan Doyle's "The Death Voyage". Their website includes photos of four pages from the manuscript.

See above for two other lots of Conan Doyle material in this auction.

Sale Information

Fine Books & Manuscripts (Sale Number 31882)

June 15 - June 24, 2026

Online Only starting June 15, 2026 at 12 PM EDT

Bonhams

111 W 57th Street, New York, 10019

The buyer's premium is 28% on the first $50,000 of the hammer price and 27% of the hammer price of amounts in excess of $50,000 up to and including $1,000,000.

Pre-sale Viewing in New York

Mon, 15 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Tue, 16 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Wed, 17 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Thu, 18 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Mon, 22 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Tue, 23 June 2026, 10:00 - 17:00 EDT

Wed, 24 June 2026, 10:00 - 12:00 EDT

Topics