An inscribed copy of A Study in Scarlet, marking the debut of Sherlock Holmes, will go up for auction at Sotheby's in London this summer. Look at Doyle's beatiful, even script--you can almost feel the fountain pen moving over that glorious-looking blank paper. Deep black ink still looks fresh and dark, like it was just written this morning.
I like the idiosyncracies in Doyle's writing--the period after his signature, the small crossing line of the "t" in Arthur coming way after the letter. the "f" in first and "p" in published looking a bit odd and Spencerian. The date is January 9, and the year looks like "/14" or 1914. Someone will have a collector's item to ponder come the fall.
Neat item! I recently re-read A Study in Scarlet. Excellent book if a bit idiosyncratic.
ReplyDeleteAs a big Sherlock Holmes collector this would be a great item to add to a collection. Written by a great man about a great detective.
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