The literature of deduction existed before him, especially with Edgar Poe, but this highly innovative series anticipates in many ways the detective novels and the comic books. The stories are not strictly sequential, but a chronology of the fictitious career of Holmes can be established for which the Sherlockian aficionados collect the informations scattered throughout the series, as the Tintinophiles will later do.
Holmes is the first superhero, intellectually overpowering but not foolproof, especially in terms of morals. Dr. Watson is an efficient companion who helps focusing the attention onto the genius of the master.
On April 11 in New York, Bonhams sells several autograph manuscripts by Conan Doyle including two complete stories.
The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, published in 1893, is a complicated story in which the solution is inspired to Holmes by a common sense observation made by Watson. The document is made of 34 pages torn from a notebook. Two reverse pages were scribbled by a child. It is estimated $ 380K, lot 12.
On the opposite, The Problem of Thor's Bridge, written in 1922, belongs to the later career of Doyle and Holmes. This short story in which the detective does not believe in the seemingly obvious guilt of a young woman has a strong social dimension.
This story had a Continuation. Both parts remained grouped to a total of 48 pages. This working document includes erasures revealing other names originally considered by the author for characters and places. The whole is estimated $ 250K, lot 17.
Thor's Bridge : SOLD for $ 270K including premium.
Greek Interpreter : unsold
Early, signed #SherlockHolmes manuscript by #ArthurConanDoyle - Fine Literature now online https://t.co/iElR2Z6tOO pic.twitter.com/QUoCqJfrbb— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) March 23, 2016
John Sutherland unlocks the mystery of the enduring appeal of #SherlockHolmes: https://t.co/LcJcaBPks3 pic.twitter.com/eWZGR0yqh1— BONHAMS (@bonhams1793) March 21, 2016