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The Best of Sherlock Holmes |
By Randall Stock, July 19, 2006 (revised 3/12/23)
The late Dame Jean Conan Doyle, the last surviving child of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, bequeathed her father's original manuscript for the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" to the National Library of Scotland. An executor of her estate, Charles Foley, presented the holograph manuscript to the Library on 30 June 2006. It's one of the last Holmes manuscripts owned by the Conan Doyle family.
Collier's Weekly first published this story in November 1924. A British version appeared three months later in The Strand Magazine. It was included in the final collection of Holmes short stories, The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, in 1927.
The National Library of Scotland also holds the original Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe" and around 60 Conan Doyle letters.
The 38-page autograph manuscript is written in black ink on lined paper. It's signed at end as "Sir A Conan Doyle" and dated as "Windlesham / Crowborough / July 1924." Text appears on one side only and pages are numbered in pencil as 1-23, 23a, 24-29, 29a, and 30-36. Most pages are 255mm x 200mm. It's bound in ivory-colored buckram with gilt titles and with one free endpaper at the beginning and end. While it is a typical Conan Doyle manuscript in that there are no major plot or narrative revisions, there are more than 100 changes to the text and an alternate title ("The Adventure of the Blue Saucer") also appears at the beginning of the manuscript.
See this "Illustrious Client" manuscript photo from a 2014 exhibition.
For more details about the manuscript, see the following articles and the News section below:
BSI Manuscript Series volume (to be available in January 2024)
Illuminating "The Illustrious Client": Its History and Manuscript by Randall Stock
This chapter analyzes the manuscript, discusses Conan Doyle's writing process, and provides the manuscript's history from 1924 to 2022. The book also includes a color reproduction of the entire manuscript and a detailed comparison with published versions of the text.
The Baker Street Journal, Vol. 57, No. 3 (Autumn 2007), pp. 44-51.
An Illustrious Manuscript by Randall Stock
Compares the manuscript with the published text and the manuscript for "The Three Garridebs," and discusses Conan Doyle's writing process.
Discover NLS, issue 3, winter 2006, pp. 14-17.
Forensic evidence from the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Owen Dudley Edwards
Details and commentary on "The Illustrious Client" manuscript, with photos.
http://www.nls.uk/about/discover-nls/issues/discover-nls_03.pdf (PDF: 17 pages; 1.4 MB)
http://www.nls.uk/media/22293/discover-nls_03.pdf (PDF: 17 pages; 1.4 MB)
AMARC newsletter, Issue No. 47: October 2006, pp. 2-3.
"The adventure of the illustrious client" by Murray Simpson
The Head of Manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland writes about getting the manuscript.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.kidd20/amarc/Newsletter47.pdf (PDF: 188K)
http://www.amarc.org.uk/Newsletter47.pdf (PDF: 188K)
Library website: http://www.nls.uk/
Library press release: http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2006/06/sherlock-holmes-manuscript-comes-to-the-national-library
The following reports were available online.
National Library of Scotland media release, 24 November 2015
Treat for Sherlock Holmes fans at National Library
Holmes manuscript and another Conan Doyle manuscript displayed 27 November 2015.
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2015/11/conan-doyle
Related article with photos in The Scotsman
The Best of Sherlock Holmes, 17 October 2014
The Museum of London Sherlock Holmes Exhibition by Randall Stock
Includes photos of this manuscript and several others at this 2014-2015 exhibition.
http://www.bestofsherlock.com/ref/museum-london-2014.htm
The Guardian, 27 September 2014
Mystery of Arthur Conan Doyle's missing draft solved at last by Vanessa Thorpe
Mentions loan of manuscript for upcoming exhibition.
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/28/sherlock-holmes-story-museum-of-london-conan-doyle
National Library of Scotland media release, 20 November 2009
Treasures on display this winter
Holmes manuscript is one of ten items on display 9 November 2009 to 8 January 2010.
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2009/11/treasures-on-display-this-winter
National Library of Scotland media release, 23 October 2007
Crime Scene Edinburgh: 20 Years of Rankin and Rebus
A Sherlock Holmes manuscript is part of an exhibit from 24 October 2007 to 13 January 2008.
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2007-10-22-rebus.html
http://www.nls.uk/news/archive/2007/10/rankin-and-rebus-20-years-on
The Evening News (Edinburgh), 22 October 2007
Murder in the library at Rebus exhibition by Brian Ferguson
Another mention of the manuscript to appear in the exhibit.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1684822007
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1684822007
http://www.scotsman.com/news/murder-in-the-library-at-rebus-exhibition-1-1345440
Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, March 2007 page # 1
[Further to the report on the manuscript...] by Peter E. Blau
http://www.redcircledc.org/index.php?id=39
Discover NLS, issue 3, winter 2006, pp. 14-17.
Forensic evidence from the Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Owen Dudley Edwards
Details and commentary on "The Illustrious Client" manuscript, with photos.
http://www.nls.uk/about/discover-nls/issues/discover-nls_03.pdf (PDF: 17 pages; 1.4 MB)
http://www.nls.uk/media/22293/discover-nls_03.pdf (PDF: 17 pages; 1.4 MB)
AMARC newsletter, Issue No. 47: October 2006, pp. 2-3.
"The adventure of the illustrious client" by Murray Simpson
The Head of Manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland writes about getting the manuscript.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/peter.kidd20/amarc/Newsletter47.pdf (PDF: 188K)
http://www.amarc.org.uk/Newsletter47.pdf (PDF: 188K)
Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, July 2006 page # 3
[The manuscript of "The Illustrious Client" was owned...] by Peter E. Blau
http://www.redcircledc.org/index.php?id=39
The District Messenger, no. 263, 22 July 2006, p. 1
[Big things have happened within the past few weeks...] by Roger Johnson
http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/pdf/DM264.pdf
National Library of Scotland media release, 29 June 2006
Sherlock Holmes manuscript comes to the National Library
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2006_06_30.html
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2006/06/sherlock-holmes-manuscript-comes-to-the-national-library
National Library of Scotland website news page, 29 June 2006
Sherlock Holmes' manuscript donated by Conan Doyle estate
http://www.nls.uk/news/index.html
http://www.nls.uk/news/archive/2006/06/sherlock-holmes-manuscript-donated-by-conan-doyle-estate
BBC News, 29 June 2006
Library to get rare Holmes story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/5131336.stm
NEWS CLIPS
Radio Telefís Éireann RTE Guide, 3 July 2006
Rare Sherlock Holmes story donated to library
http://www.rte.ie/arts/2006/0703/conandoylea.html
Daily Record, 1 July 2006
Sherlock Home
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news/tm_objectid=17317338%26method=full%26siteid=66633-name_page.html
The National Library of Scotland also holds the original Conan Doyle manuscript for "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe." Conan Doyle wrote the story in the late 1870s and sent it to Blackwood's Magazine in Edinburgh. Blackwood's never published the story and kept the 24-page handwritten manuscript in its files. These files went to the National Library of Scotland in 1942, but it was not until December 2000 that the story was published.
The story finally appeared in a special edition of 500 copies from Ash-Tree Press. The book is now out of print, but it was a 72-page hardcover with ISBN: 155310014X. It includes a reproduction of the first page of the manuscript.
National Library of Scotland media release, 24 November 2015
Treat for Sherlock Holmes fans at National Library
Holmes manuscript and another Conan Doyle manuscript displayed 27 November 2015.
http://www.nls.uk/news/press/2015/11/conan-doyle
Quarto, Newsletter of the National Library of Scotland, Summer 2001, Number 10
The Mystery of MS.4791
http://www.nls.uk/news/quarto/issues/quarto10.pdf [note: PDF file]
http://www.nls.uk/media/22757/quarto10.pdf [note: PDF file]
BBC News, 30 March 2001
Book that 'inspired' Sherlock published
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/1251085.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1251085.stm
Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press, November 2000 page #2
[Arthur Conan Doyle wrote...] by Peter E. Blau
http://www.redcircledc.org/index.php?id=39
Publisher's Website (Ash-Tree Press)
http://www.ash-tree.bc.ca/acdspubs.htm
My thanks to Dr. Murray Simpson and Derek Oliver from the National Library of Scotland for their assistance with my research on "The Illustrious Client" manuscript.
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Randall Stock. All Rights Reserved.