[DOYLE, ARTHUR CONAN]. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London: George Newnes, 1894.
FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, FIRST PRINT; cloth-bound, hardcover, octavo (24 x 16 x 3.5 cm.), pp. [8], 279, [1] blank. English text, with ninety illustrations in the text (including frontispiece). Bound in publisher's original dark blue pictorial cloth gilt, all page edges gilt, patterned endpapers, half title. Condition: VERY GOOD. Binding tight, secure, and square. Slight bumping to spine ends. Covers very well-preserved. Interior with some light scattered foxing. Contemporary inscription to front endpaper dated Christmas 1893.
Notes: The first edition in book form of an iconic work authored by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, it is a collection of 12 stories originally appearing in The Strand Magazine from 1892-1893. Published on 13th December, 1893, in an edition of 10,000 copies, saw its first appearance in book form, printed with a 1894 date. Doyle intended to kill off Sherlock Holmes in the final story, 'The Final Problem'; but, reader demand prompted the author to produce a novel sequel, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', and the character's 'return' in the equally successful 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes'. This edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes provides an essential piece of literary history and a unique glimpse into the Victorian era, complete with Paget's classic illustrations throughout. [Green and Gibson A14a; Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone].
