The Lost World Manuscript:
2020 Facsimile Published

By Randall Stock, December 27, 2020

The first-ever facsimile of a manuscript for a complete Conan Doyle novel reveals the author's early vision for a classic science-fiction adventure.

 

 

The Lost World Manuscript Facsimile

Manuscripts for famous stories have a special appeal for both scholars and fans.  They offer a more intimate connection to a much-loved tale, and often provide details not found in the published text.  The facsimile of The Lost World manuscript delivers on both fronts.

 

SP Books published this volume in a large format, with pages that are nearly 10x13 inches.  This allowed them to reproduce much of the manuscript at its full original size.  They slightly reduced the dimensions of the largest original sheets in order to fit in the book, but even these remain clearly readable.

 

The publisher chose to "graphically restore" the pages. This keeps the focus on the handwritten text and reduces the photocopy effect.  It eliminates the outlines or edges of the original sheets, removes the paper's rules (lines), and insures the handwriting looks clear and fresh.

 

Conan Doyle could and did write long passages with very few changes. That is true in The Lost World manuscript, although there are instances of paragraphs or even entire pages being stricken.  More notably, after writing at least the first three chapters, Conan Doyle decided to change the opening for the story and added a new first chapter.

 

He also made further changes to his text after getting the manuscript typed.  Thus, the facsimile reveals an earlier version of his narrative than what you read in the published story.  In the future, perhaps some scholar will document these changes.

 

Unlike facsimiles in the BSI Manuscript Series, this volume does not include a transcription or annotations.  However, that is understandable because those facsimiles are for short stories.  The manuscript of The Lost World is itself nearly 300 pages long.  Adding a transcription would turn an already-large book into something rather unwieldy.

 

The publisher did improve on the BSI facsimiles by including illustrations for the story.  These come from a rarely-seen translation of The Lost World in the monthly French magazine Je sais tout (1913-1914).  The 21 illustrations by French artist Géo Dupuis highlight the exotic settings and animals in the story, and definitely add to the experience of reading the manuscript.

 

A five-page foreword by noted Conan Doyle expert Jon Lellenberg discusses the people and publications that influenced the author when creating The Lost World.  It also provides some of Conan Doyle's own views about the tale.

 

The facsimile itself is bound in green cloth with gilt titles.  Each book is hand-numbered as part of an edition limited to 1,000 copies.  It comes in a very attractive green slipcase (shown above).

 

At $200, the facsimile is not inexpensive. The price and the replica handwritten content make it more of a collectible than a typical book to read.  Yet for dedicated fans of science fiction or Conan Doyle, the facsimile of the manuscript for The Lost World will provide a special connection to this classic tale of dinosaurs and adventure.

 

Facsimile Details:

336 pages - approx. 9.75 x 13.5 inches

Fedrigoni Avorio Paper

Endband and bookmark

1,000 numbered copies

Green cloth binding and slipcase with gilt titles

ISBN: 9791095457749

$200 with free shipping

Available from SP Books

 

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The Lost World Manuscript

Original autograph manuscript of Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World.  Signed at the end of the story as "A. Conan Doyle / Crowborough."  Not dated, but 1911.  Headed on its first page with "Chap I / 'There are Heroisms all round us'."  Conan Doyle also signed the manuscript at the beginning of chapters 12 and 13 of the published text.

 

This manuscript consists of approximately 300 pages with intermittent numbering.  Conan Doyle wrote in dark ink on lined sheets of varying sizes.  It is bound in green cloth at roughly 8 x 13 inches with gilt lettering on the spine as "THE LOST / WORLD / [rule] / ORIGINAL / MANUSCRIPT // A. CONAN DOYLE."  The cover is signed "Arthur Conan Doyle."

 

Shown below is part of the first page from the manuscript facsimile, with the start of the opening chapter for the story.

 

Top of first page of Ch. 1 of The Lost World manuscript from the facsimile

 

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Provenance of The Lost World Manuscript

The manuscript of The Lost World was offered at auction at Sotheby's in London on November 13, 1929.  While it was reported as sold, the Conan Doyle family owned it in 1955.

 

Sir Arthur's oldest son Denis Conan Doyle died that year, and his widow Nina Mdivani Conan Doyle sent the manuscript to auction at Parke-Bernet in New York on November 22, 1955.  Lew David Feldman of the House of El Dieff won the manuscript with a bid of $1,800.

 

The Berg Collection at the New York Public Library purchased the manuscript in 1955.  A pencil note of "12.4.55  L. D. Feldman" on the rear pastedown suggests the Berg acquired it from Feldman in December 1955.

 

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History of The Lost World

Most reports indicate that Conan Doyle wrote The Lost World in the autumn of 1911 and completed it on December 3, 1911.  Key influences include the adventure stories of Jules Verne and H. Rider Haggard, the naturalist Edwin Ray Lankester and his book Extinct Animals (1905), Roger Casement, Percy H. Fawcett (now immortalized in the book The Lost City of Z and its movie version), and possibly The Island in the Air with Frank Reade, Jr.

 

The manuscript's chapter headings and text show that Conan Doyle originally began the story with what eventually became Chapter 2 of the published story.  He then wrote at least two more chapters before deciding to change the beginning of his tale by adding a new first chapter.

 

The finished story appeared in the April–November 1912 issues of The Strand Magazine, and in the Sunday Magazine of the Philadelphia Press (and others) from March to July 1912.  Hodder and Stoughton published the first English edition on October 15, 1912.  The George H. Doran Company (as sub-agent for Hodder and Stoughton) produced the first American edition on the same date.

 

Conan Doyle prepared a series of faked photographs, with himself disguised as Professor Challenger, to help promote the story.  Those photographs appeared in both The Strand Magazine and in the first English book edition.

 

Fake photo of explorers, Conan Doyle as Professor Challenger (seated, center)

Conan Doyle went on to write five science fiction adventures featuring Professor Challenger, including:

 

A 1925 film adaptation of The Lost World featured groundbreaking stop motion special effects by Willis O'Brien, who went on to refine those effects for the 1933 classic King Kong.  In April 1925, The Lost World became the first in-flight movie shown to airline passengers.

 

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Acknowledgements and Page History

Facsimile photos courtesy of SP Books. My thanks to Jessica Nelson at SP Books.

 

This page is based on information provided by SP Books, my examination of the facsimile and the original manuscript, and other research including auction catalogues and sale reports.

 

The first version of this page appeared on December 27, 2020.

 

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Related Pages

Sale of The Land of Mist manuscript in July 2020

 

Sale of Chapter XIII of The Land of Mist in July 2019

 

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. 2.1ax-RN Original work
Copyright ©2020  Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.