| Home | Manuscripts | Top-10 Lists | e-World | Site Index |
|
The Best of Sherlock Holmes |
http://www.bestofsherlock.com/mss/spedegues-dropper-2018.htm
"The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" Manuscript:
Sotheby's 2018 Sale Information
By Randall Stock, July 10, 2018 (revised)
Sotheby's sold Conan Doyle's original manuscript for "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" on July 10, 2018. Described as one of the funniest cricket stories ever written, the tale is based on Sir Arthur's experience as a cricketer.
"Spedegue's Dropper" Manuscript Description
Lot 70: Manuscript of "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" by Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the original manuscript of "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" in ink on 25 ruled pages (rectos only) that are mostly 253 x 196mm. Pages 4 to 20 are numbered. It is entitled "The Story of Pedegue's Dropper" (lacking the initial "S") at the top of the first page, and is signed at the end of the last page as "A Conan Doyle / Crowborough.".
The manuscript is not bound. As is common for Conan Doyle manuscripts, the pages have pinholes in the upper left corner, including a small hole where a brass tack once held the pages together. Now with the collector's chemise and black morocco-backed slipcase.
This lot includes two associated autograph letters. In the first, Dame Jean Conan Doyle presents the manuscript to her solicitor in 1984. In the second letter, dated 4 June 1984, Richard Lancelyn Green thanks the recipient (probably the solicitor) for the opportunity to read the manuscript.
First published in The Strand Magazine for October 1928 with four illustrations by J. H. Thorpe, the tale was collected in The Maracot Deep and Other Stories (1929). Its first American appearance seems to have been in a 21 November 1928 special copyright edition by Doubleday, Doran & Company of The Maracot Deep and Other Stories.
The pre-sale estimate is £10,000 – £15,000 (approximately US$13,500 – US$20,300)
Sale Results
The manuscript sold for £12,500 (roughly US$16,500), which consisted of a £10,000 hammer price plus the buyer's premium.
Provenance
Dame Jean Conan Doyle, the youngest daughter of Sir Arthur, gave the manuscript to her solicitor in 1984 in appreciation for his efforts in protecting the copyright use of her father's works. Bloomsbury Auctions sold the manuscript in 2011 for an unidentified consignor. Sotheby's describes the current owner only as "an English Bibliophile" who started collecting more than fifty years ago. The firm began selling his collection in October 2010 and this is Sotheby's eighth sale from his library.
History & Origin of Spedegue's Dropper
Owen Dudley Edwards, in his 1983 The Quest for Sherlock Holmes, called this tale "one of the funniest, tensest, and most improbable cricket stories ever written." Sir Arthur was an avid cricketer, and based the story on an incident in which he was bowled with unusually high lobs by A. P. Lucas. Doyle recalled that event in an article for The Strand Magazine, excerpted below:
Some Recollections of Sport by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Strand Magazine, Volume 38 Number 225 (September 1909), pp. 270-281
I have only once felt smaller, and that was when I was bowled by A. P. Lucas, by the most singular ball that I have ever received. He propelled it like a quoit into the air to a height of at least thirty feet, and it fell straight and true on to the top of the bails. I have often wondered what a good batsman would have made of that ball. To play it one would have needed to turn the blade of the bat straight up, and could hardly fail to give a chance. I tried to cut it off my stumps, with the result that I knocked down my wicket and broke my bat, while the ball fell in the midst of this general chaos. I spent the rest of the day wondering gloomily what I ought to have done—and I am wondering yet.
Conan Doyle repeated this description in his autobiography Memories and Adventures (1924). The event clearly inspired Conan Doyle to write about lob bowling in "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper." Reports, such as the 1999 ESPN cricket web article that Doyle read about it in an 1880s book by A. G. Steel and the Hon. R. H. Lyttelton, are almost certainly mistaken as to the story's origins.
The above Arthur Twidle illustration of the incident appeared with the article in both the September 1909 London edition and the October 1909 New York edition of The Strand Magazine.
"Spedegue's Dropper" Manuscript Photo
First page of The Story of Spedegue's Dropper manuscript
For more details on the manuscript and additional photos, see the Sotheby's online catalogue section.
Sotheby's Catalogue & Sale Information
Sotheby's provides an online catalogue for this sale (number L18416) with descriptions and large photographs. The sale also includes rare material featuring Winnie the Pooh, the Wizard of Oz, Mickey Mouse, and Alice in a suppressed edition of Through the Looking-Glass.
You can also go directly to their listing for Lot 70: Conan Doyle's "The Story of Spedegue's Dropper" manuscript. It includes a large photo of the first page of the manuscript. The other Conan Doyle material in this sale is a first edition of The White Company (Lot 71).
Although Sotheby's offers printed catalogues for their auctions, a PDF for this sale is not yet available on their website. You may be able to purchase printed catalogues – call their London or New York office for details.
Sale Information
The Library of an English Bibliophile Part VIII
Sale Number: L18416
Tuesday July 10, 2018 at 2:00 PM BST in London
34-35 New Bond Street
London W1S 2RT UK
Phone: +44 20 7293 5000
The buyer's premium is 25% on the first £200,000, plus additional premium on amounts in excess of £200,000.
Pre-sale Viewing in London
Fri. 06 July: 09:00 AM - 04:30 PM BST
Sat. 07 July: 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM BST
Sun. 08 July: 12:00 PM - 05:00 PM BST
Mon. 09 July: 09:00 AM - 12:00 PM BST
Acknowledgements and Page History
My thanks to Peter Selley at Sotheby's for his help with my reporting on the manuscript and auction.
The first version of this report appeared June 20, 2018. More details about the manuscript were added on June 25. The actual price realized from the sale was added on July 10.
Related Pages
News Archive for Conan Doyle Manuscripts
Census of Sherlock Holmes Manuscripts
Other Conan Doyle 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.
Return to Manuscripts Home page and Introduction
Vers. 2.1cx-RN Original work
Copyright ©2018
Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.