Four Conan Doyle Manuscripts:
Christie's 2022 Sale

By Randall Stock, October 6, 2022 (revised)

Christie's sold four Conan Doyle manuscripts on October 6, 2022, including a pirate story, a ghost story, a true-life tale of Arctic whaling, and an article on Spiritualism.

 

 

The Library of Edward R. Leahy

Christie's New York is offering 214 lots of Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy on October 6, 2022. The sale includes ten lots of Conan Doyle material (lots 120-129) and features four Conan Doyle manuscripts. Leahy acquired the Conan Doyle manuscripts in the 1990s.

 

Conan Doyle material makes up only a small part of Leahy's collection. This sale includes important Tolkien material, special first editions of Frankenstein and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, many fine bindings, and much more.

 

Sale Results: All ten of the Conan Doyle lots sold. Most notably, a presentation copy of the Spencer Blackett first edition, first issue of The Sign of Four (1890) estimated at $20,000-$30,000 brought a price realized of $201,600 as lot 120 in the auction. For the hammer and price realized of each Conan Doyle manuscript, see their respective listings below.

 

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"Life on a Greenland Whaler" Manuscript Details

Lot 125: Complete Autograph Manuscript of "Life on a Greenland Whaler"

Conan Doyle tells the true-life story of his adventures as the ship's surgeon on an Arctic whaling ship in 1880.

 

Headed on the first page as "Life on a Greenland Whaler," and signed at end in the bottom left corner as "A Conan Doyle / Greyswood Beeches / Haslemere." Not dated, but 1896.

 

Conan Doyle wrote his original autograph manuscript on the rectos only of 12 sheets. Someone (possibly the binder) later separated these sheets in the middle, resulting in 24 pages of about 6 3/4 x 8 inches. Each leaf is tipped at its left edge onto a small quarto sheet. Stikeman bound the manuscript in full black morocco with gilt titles on the cover and spine. The bound volume includes a portrait of Conan Doyle, and the cover has been repaired. See below for a photo of a similar binding for The Governor of St Kitts.

 

First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "Life on a Greenland Whaler"

 

Bottom of last page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "Life on a Greenland Whaler"

 

First published in the January 1897 Strand Magazine, the article then appeared in the March 1897 issue of McClure's Magazine. Conan Doyle also used parts of the piece in his autobiography Memories and Adventures (1924).

 

History: Conan Doyle leased a house called Grayswood Beeches near the village of Grayswood in the summer of 1896. Dated letters show he used the house from at least July 1896 to January 1897, and that he incorrectly spelled the location as "Greyswood." Some secondary sources place him at the house in May. He was in Egypt from November 1895 until at least mid-April 1896. Conan Doyle thus completed his manuscript for "Life on a Greenland Whaler" in 1896, and given typical publication lead times, probably did so in August or September 1896.

 

For more about how Conan Doyle came to be a ship's surgeon, and how he used this experience in both articles and fiction, see my report about the manuscript of his diary from the Arctic voyage.

 

Provenance (as reported by Christie's in 2022): David G. Joyce (his sale, Anderson Galleries, 13 & 14 February 1923, lot 257); Anderson Galleries, 10 November 1932, lot 34; Philip M. Neufeld (his sale, Christie's New York, 25 April 1995, lot 135); Edward R. Leahy (offered via Christie's New York, 6 October 2022).

 

Pre-sale estimate: US$12,000 – US$18,000

 

Sale Results: The manuscript sold on 6 October 2022 with a hammer price of $17,000 and a price realized of US$21,420 including the 26% buyer's premium.

 

For more details, including a photo of page 5 of the manuscript, see the Christie's online entry for lot 125.

 

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"Tales of the High Seas: The Governor of St Kitts" Manuscript Details

Lot 126: Complete Autograph Manuscript of "Tales of the High Seas: The Governor of St Kitts"

This tale of Captain Sharkey was the first of a series of four pirate stories.

 

Headed on the first page as "Tales of the High Seas. / The Governor of St Kitts," and signed at end in the bottom left corner as "A Conan Doyle / Greyswood / Haslemere." Not dated, but 1896.

 

Conan Doyle wrote his original autograph manuscript on the rectos only of 12 sheets. Someone (possibly the binder) later separated these sheets in the middle, resulting in 23 pages of about 6 1/2 x 8 inches (with the last blank half-sheet discarded). Each leaf is tipped at its left edge onto a larger sheet of about 9 x 8 3/4 inches. Stikeman bound the manuscript in full black morocco with gilt titles on the cover and spine.

 

First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Governor of St Kitts"

 

Binding of Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Governor of St Kitts"

 

First published as "Tales of the High Seas: No. 1 – The Governor of St. Kitt's" in the January 1897 issue of Pearson's Magazine, it appeared in America as "The Governor of Saint Kitts" in the May 1897 issue of McClure's Magazine. The story was collected with two other Captain Sharkey tales in The Green Flag and Other Stories of War and Sport (1900) under the title "Captain Sharkey I. How the Governor of St. Kitt's came Home."

 

History: Conan Doyle leased a house called Grayswood Beeches near the village of Grayswood in the summer of 1896. Dated letters show he used the house from at least July 1896 to January 1897, and that he incorrectly spelled the location as "Greyswood." Some secondary sources place him at the house in May. He was in Egypt from November 1895 until at least mid-April 1896. Conan Doyle thus completed his manuscript for "The Governor of St Kitts" in 1896, and given typical publication lead times, probably did so in August or September 1896.

 

Provenance (as reported by Christie's in 2022): David G. Joyce (his sale, Anderson Galleries, 13 & 14 February 1923, lot 260); Christie's New York, 17 May 1996, lot 74; Edward R. Leahy (offered via Christie's New York, 6 October 2022).

 

Pre-sale estimate: US$12,000 – US$18,000

 

Sale Results: The manuscript sold on 6 October 2022 with a hammer price of $20,000 and a price realized of US$25,200 including the 26% buyer's premium.

 

For more details, including a photo of another page of the manuscript, see the Christie's online entry for lot 126.

 

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"The Vital Message" Manuscript Details

Lot 127: Complete Autograph Manuscript of "The Vital Message"

Conan Doyle describes his conversion to Spiritualism and his view of life after death.

 

Headed on the first page as "The Vital Message. / I" and signed at the end of its first section as "Arthur Conan Doyle / Crowborough / 16 November." No year, but 1918-1919.

 

The 67-page manuscript is written mostly on lined paper in black and violet ink. Most sheets are about 12 3/4 x 8 inches, but many are cut or torn in half or shorter as part of Conan Doyle's revision process. It is organized into five parts headed with Roman numerals (9 leaves, 10 leaves, 22 leaves, 12 leaves, 14 leaves). Each part is fastened with a brass tack in the top left corner. The manuscript is housed in a full morocco clamshell box.

 

First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Vital Message"

 

Cut-down sheets from Ch. 3 of "The Vital Message" manuscript

 

First published in five parts in 1919, it appeared in Hearst's (March, May, July, September, November) and in Nash's–Pall Mall Magazine (May, June, July, August, October). The book The Vital Message (1919) added four appendices not present in this manuscript.

 

Provenance (as reported by Christie's in 2022): Sotheby's New York, 10 December 1993, lot 319; Edward R. Leahy (offered via Christie's New York, 6 October 2022).

 

Pre-sale estimate: US$15,000 – US$25,000

 

Sale Results: The manuscript sold on 6 October 2022 with a hammer price of $22,000 and a price realized of US$27,720 including the 26% buyer's premium.

 

For more details, including a photo showing five pages from the manuscript, see the Christie's online entry for lot 127.

 

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"The Bully of Brocas Court" Manuscript Details

Lot 128: Complete Autograph Manuscript of "The Bully of Brocas Court"

One of Conan Doyle's best ghost stories combines the author's passions for both boxing and the supernatural.

 

Headed on the first page as "The Bully of Brocas Court. / A Legend of the Ring." Signed on the first page in the top left corner as "A Conan Doyle / Crowboro'" and at end as "A Conan Doyle / Windlesham / Crowborough." Not dated, but 1921.

 

Conan Doyle wrote in ink on 27 lined sheets of about 8 x 6 3/8 inches. The sheets are fastened with brass tack at the top left corner. Someone else numbered the pages in pencil in the upper right corner. The manuscript is housed in a quarter morocco clamshell case, and this lot includes a copy of the November 1921 Strand Magazine.

 

First page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Bully of Brocas Court"

 

Top of last page of Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Bully of Brocas Court"

 

First published in the November 1921 Strand Magazine, the story appeared in America in the December 1921 issue of Hearst's International. It was collected in the John Murray edition of Tales of the Ring and Camp (1922) and in the George H. Doran Company edition of The Croxley Master and Other Tales of the Ring and Camp (1925).

 

History: A note card from Conan Doyle at the Toronto Public Library shows that he was writing this story in the summer of 1921, and probably completed it in June or July 1921.

 

Provenance (as reported by Christie's in 2022): Sotheby's New York, 10 December 1993, lot 320; Edward R. Leahy (offered via Christie's New York, 6 October 2022).

 

Pre-sale estimate: US$15,000 – US$20,000

 

Sale Results: The manuscript sold on 6 October 2022 with a hammer price of $19,000 and a price realized of US$23,940 including the 26% buyer's premium.

 

For more details, including photos of another page from the manuscript and the cover of the November 1921 Strand Magazine, see the Christie's online entry for lot 128.

 

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Christie's Auction Catalogue & Sale Information

The Christie's website provides online information for their sale from the Library of Edward R. Leahy. Their sale page includes links to an Overview of the sale as well a "Viewing Room" that shows some highlights (but no Conan Doyle items).

 

For direct links to the Christie's online listing for each Conan Doyle lot, see the lot detail entries above.

 

Sale Information

Valuable and Important Books and Manuscripts from the Library of Edward R. Leahy #19289

Thursday, October 6, 2022

 

Auction times

06 Oct 12:00 PM (EDT) Lots 1-116

06 Oct 02:00 PM (EDT) Lots 117-214 (Conan Doyle lots)

 

Christie's New York

20 Rockefeller Center

New York, NY 10020

Phone: +1 212-636-2000

 

The buyer's premium is 26% on the first $1,000,000.

 

Pre-sale viewing:

1 Oct 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

2 Oct 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

3 Oct 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

4 Oct 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

5 Oct 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

 

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Acknowledgements and Page History

Manuscript photos courtesy of Christie's.

 

My thanks to Rhiannon Knol at Christie's.  Special thanks to Edward R. Leahy for providing details about his wonderful collection.

 

This page is based on information from the Christie's online catalogue as well as other research.

 

The first version of this report appeared on September 29, 2022. It was revised to include the sale results on October 6, 2022.

 

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Related Pages

Checklist of non-Sherlockian Conan Doyle Manuscripts

 

Census of Sherlock Holmes Manuscripts

 

Lists of each year's best Sherlock Holmes books & DVDs, the most famous Sherlock Holmes quotes, and more Top 10 Lists.

 

 

 

Return to Manuscripts Home page and Introduction

 

 

 

Vers. 2.1bx-RN Original work
Copyright ©2022  Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.