The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5 / MacKay)
Sotheby's 2024 Auction

By Randall Stock, June 26, 2024 (revised)

Sotheby's offered the most valuable Sherlock Holmes book not written by Conan Doyle, and sold another rare Sherlockian volume also by Vincent Starrett.

Imprint (for the friends of Vincent Starrett) on The Unique Hamlet copy VS5

Topics

Unique Hamlet Description

Unique Hamlet History

Unique Hamlet Photos

Private Life Description

Catalog & Sale Info

The Library of Rodney P. Swantko

Rodney Swantko (1940–2022) lived in the Chicago area and was a specialist in oral and maxillofacial surgery. He built a spectacular but little-known collection of rare books and manuscripts.

Swantko's collection of Sherlockiana makes up what is truly "a small but select library." It includes the most valuable Conan Doyle manuscript ever sold at auction, the most valuable Sherlock Holmes drawing, and the most valuable copy of a Holmes story not written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Manuscript of The Sign of Four
Sidney Paget Drawing "The Death of Sherlock Holmes"
The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5) by Vincent Starrett
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (large paper edition) by Vincent Starrett
The Hound of the Baskervilles (first edition)

The Swantko material at Sotheby's consists of 47 lots that are expected to bring more than $4 million at auction. Besides the Sherlockian items, the sale includes:

Original cover art for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Edgar Allan Poe's first book Tamerlane (one of only twelve known copies)
Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) first edition signed and inscribed two days before the official publication date
L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) first edition, first issue inscribed to a close family friend

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The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5 / MacKay) Book Description

Lot 12: First Edition of The Unique Hamlet by Vincent Starrett (copy VS5)

The Unique Hamlet: A Hitherto Unchronicled Adventure of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Chicago: privately printed, 1920. Octavo (7.6 x 5.4 inches), untrimmed, original brown boards with paper label to spine.

One of only 10 copies published with the imprint "for the friends of Vincent Starrett," it was signed and inscribed by the author to W. MacDonald MacKay in December 1920. It also carries the bookplate of W. MacDonald MacKay.

The inscription appears on the front free endpaper and reads "Dear MacKay--Warmest greetings at Christmas! Vincent Starrett, Dec. 1920."

Starrett's inscription to MacKay on copy VS5 of The Unique Hamlet

See below for other photos of the book.

The first edition consists of two imprints, and the Starrett imprint is much rarer. See the Census of The Unique Hamlet first edition.

This copy holds the record as the most valuable Sherlock Holmes pastiche ever sold at auction. It brought $38,240 at Christie's NY in 2002.

Presale Estimate: US$30,000 - $40,000

Sotheby's opened online bidding on June 6, 2024. For more auction details and a link to the bidding page, see the catalog section below.

Sale Results

Bidding on this copy of The Unique Hamlet did not reach the undisclosed reserve and the book went unsold. The highest bid reported during the auction was $17,000, but this probably reflects the auction house bidding up to the reserve.

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History of The Unique Hamlet

Vincent Starrett and Chicago rare book dealer Walter M. Hill collaborated on a number of books. In December 1920, Hill published The Unique Hamlet as a 40-page Christmas book.

The 1920 first edition of The Unique Hamlet consists of two nearly identical small volumes, with only minor differences in binding and the title page. Most copies show "FOR THE FRIENDS OF WALTER M. HILL" on the title page, while a few give the imprint as "FOR THE FRIENDS OF VINCENT STARRETT."

Reports for the first edition of The Unique Hamlet place the number of copies between 110 and 260. They intended to produce half of them with the Starrett imprint, but a mistake meant they only published 10 bound copies "for the friends of Vincent Starrett."

For more about the book, see the Census of The Unique Hamlet first edition and read "Absolutely Unique: A History and Census of Starrett's Hamlet" by Randall Stock in The Baker Street Journal 2020 Christmas Annual.

Ellery Queen praised the story as "one of the finest pure pastiches of Sherlock Holmes ever written." He included it in his Queen's Quorum as one of the 106 most important books published in the detective-crime-mystery short story field.

Provenance of The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5)

W. MacDonald MacKay (inscription and bookplate); Richard M. Lackritz (sold via Christie's New York, 17 April 2002, lot 265); Rodney P. Swantko (died 2022, offered from his library via Sotheby's New York, 26 June 2024, lot 12).

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The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5) Book Photos

The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5) cover and spine

Cover of The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5)

Title page of The Unique Hamlet (copy VS5)

The book description (above) has more information and a photo of Starrett's inscription on this copy.

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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Book Description

Lot 13: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes by Vincent Starrett (large paper)

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Macmillan Company, 1933. Octavo (8 x 5.3 inches), untrimmed, partially unopened, in quarter green calf gilt over patterned boards by The Lakeside Press, Chicago.

This copy includes three manuscript corrections by the author to pp. 41 and 51, and a signed full-page inscription from Starrett to Lloyd Springer that describes the origin of his "large paper" copies. It is one of three such copies. See photos below.

Also in the same lot: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960. Octavo, pictorial cloth, dust jacket. Starrett signed and inscribed this copy of the revised and enlarged edition from 1960 with "Lloyd S. Springer / Canonical greeting from / his friend / Vincent Starrett."

History:

The Macmillan Company published the first American edition of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes in October 1933. Starrett asked the publisher for three sets of unbound sheets from that first edition, which were finally bound in February 1959.

Presale Estimate: US$1,500 - 2,000

Sotheby's opened online bidding on June 6, 2024. The bid as of June 10 stood at $900. For more auction details and a link to the bidding page, see the catalog section below.

Sale Results

This lot sold for $1,320, which consisted of a $1,100 hammer price plus the buyer's premium, on June 26, 2024.

Topics

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Book Photos

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes large paper copy cover and spine

Cover of the large paper Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Vincent Starrett inscription on the Springer copy of the large paper The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Starrett inscription on the Springer copy of the large paper Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Text of the inscription:

Before The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was officially published in October 1933, I was inspired to ask the publisher for three sets of the unbound sheets, untrimmed and uncut, intending to have them appropriately bound for three favored Sherlockians of my acquaintance. Nothing, alas, came of this commendable gesture, and the sheets remained in my possession for a quarter of a century, gathering a little dust (I fear) on my shelves. Now, at long last, through the generosity of a friend, I have been enabled to fulfill my original intention. This, then, is one of three (only) large paper copies of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, especially bound for the author (aet. 72) in February 1959.

This first copy is signed in friendship for Lloyd Springer, for whom the game is always afoot.

Vincent Starrett

Note: "aet." is an abbreviation for the Latin word "aetatis," meaning "of or at the age of."

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Sotheby's Catalog & Sale Information

See Sotheby's online catalog and bidding page for Lot 12: First Edition of The Unique Hamlet by Vincent Starrett (copy VS5).

Sotheby's also has a page for Lot 13: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes by Vincent Starrett. It also includes photos of the title page and photos of the 1960 edition.

For more about other items in this auction, see the following from the "Best of Sherlock" website:

The Sotheby's website for the Library of Dr. Rodney P Swantko also includes a text backgrounder about the sale under "Auction Details" and a web-based presentation with photos from their catalog under the "Overview" tab that has a section on Sherlockiana.