Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143114336 ISBN 13: 9780143114338

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2008

Synopsis

A remarkable annotated collection of previously unpublished private correspondence from the creator of Sherlock Holmes

This extraordinary annotated collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?s private correspondence offers unique insight into one of the world?s most popular authors. Detailing Conan Doyle?s life from his beginnings as a country doctor to his struggle with the success of Sherlock Holmes and his ultimate calling as the foremost spokesman for Spiritualism, Conan Doyle?s letters expose his innermost thoughts on literature, world events, and matters of the heart. Under the stewardship of editors renowned for their expertise on both Conan Doyle?s life and the Sherlock Holmes stories, this remarkable volume reveals a man whose character and exploits rival that of his famous creation.

About this title

About the Author

Jon Lellenbergis the editor of The Quest for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and is the Conan Doyle estate?s U.S. representative. Daniel Stashower is the author of the Edgar Award?winning Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle. Charles Foley is the great-nephew of Arthur Conan Doyle and is the present executor of the Conan Doyle estate. He lives in Sussex, UK. All three are members of the Baker Street Irregulars, a club of Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts founded in 1934.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This fascinating collection of previously unpublished letters from the creator of Sherlock Holmes offers a revealing glimpse of a Renaissance man fated to be overshadowed by his most famous character. Beginning with correspondence from Doyle as an eight-year-old in 1867, the editors offer a warts-and-all picture of his life until 1920, 10 years before his death, covering the author's frank accounts of life at a boarding school, his struggles as a young doctor and aspiring writer, and his political advocacy. Those seeking insights into the creation of Holmes may be disappointed; while Doyle's ambivalence toward Holmes is well known, this collection reveals the extent to which he viewed his character principally as a source of income rather than a lasting legacy. The editors—Doyle experts Lellenberg and Stashower, and Doyle's great-nephew Foley—have nicely balanced the content: the letters reveal Doyle's stiff upper lip when he lost a son during the Great War, and his sense of humor, as in a hilarious report to his mother on the birth of his daughter Mary. This will be essential reading for all fans of Conan Doyle and his sleuth. (Andrew Lycett's biography of Conan Doyle, The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes, is due from the Free Press this fall.) Illus. (Nov. 1)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0143114336
• ISBN 13: 9780143114338
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 706
• Editor: Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, Charles Foley