Arthur Conan Doyle First Editions

• A Study in Scarlet — 1887 · Ward, Lock & Co.True first appearance is in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887, the first Sherlock Holmes story, in pictorial paper wrappers — exceedingly rare, with only about a dozen complete copies known. Authentication relies on the original engraved pictorial wrappers (a photographic facsimile shows fine dot patterning under magnification), the integral advertisements, and the two dramatic pieces bound in after the story.…. True first = Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887, one of the great rarities of detective fiction. First separate book edition = Ward, Lock 1888. The original engraved wrappers and integral advertisements are the key authentication points; many copies survive only as the disbound story without wrappers or ads. The 1888, 1889, and 1891 separate editions are later, and numerous facsimiles of the 1887 Beeton's exist (notably the 1980s reproductions), distinguishable by photographic dot patterning on the wrapper.
• Micah Clarke — 1889 · Longmans, Green & Co.Arthur Conan Doyle's third novel, Micah Clarke, was first published by Longmans, Green & Co. on 25 February 1889. The first-issue binding is dark blue cloth over bevelled boards, with gilt titles on the spine and upper cover and patterned 'swan and ship' endpapers, and a 16-page publisher's catalogue dated January 1889 bound in at the rear. A separate American issue exists as well, printed from the same English…. The English Longmans first edition holds priority. The New York-bound copies were run off from imported English sheets rather than an independent American typesetting, making them a binding variant of the English edition rather than a true separate American first edition; Harper & Brothers' authorized American edition followed later, issued first in wrappers in the Franklin Square Library in 1889 and then in…. Later 1889 reprints and the Longmans Silver Library edition, first issued in January 1890, are cheaper, later states that lack the January 1889 catalogue and other first-issue binding points.
• The Sign of Four — 1890 · Spencer BlackettFirst book edition, October 1890, after the February 1890 appearance in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine as 'The Sign of the Four'. Decisive first-state points: on the Contents leaf (p.[iii]) the figure reads '13' for '138' (incomplete numeral); on page 56, line 16, 'wished' is misprinted 'w shed'; the binding is stamped 'Spencer Blackett's Standard Library'; frontispiece after Charles Kerr; red cloth with black…. True first appearance = Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, February 1890 (titled 'The Sign of the Four'). First book edition = Spencer Blackett 1890 (titled 'The Sign of Four'), with the '13'-for-'138' Contents point and the 'w shed'-for-'wished' point on page 56. Later issues and reprints correct the '13'/'138' and 'w shed' errors.
• The White Company — 1891 · Smith, Elder & Co.First published in three volumes by Smith, Elder & Co. in November 1891, in an edition of 750 copies, after serialization in the Cornhill Magazine. The publisher's cloth is red to reddish-brown, with gilt titling on the spine and decorative borders stamped in blind on the spine and front panel, and botanical-pattern endpapers. Publisher's advertisements appear at the ends of volumes II and III in first-issue sets. Later single-volume trade and illustrated editions issued from the 1890s onward reset the text in one volume and are not the three-volume 1891 first edition.
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes — 1892 · George NewnesFirst UK edition, George Newnes 1892. First issue dated 1892 on title with the Newnes imprint and first-state advertisement leaves; recognized first-issue points include early mis-set details. Second issue is dated 1893. UK Newnes 1892 is the true first, preceding the US Harper 1892. The US first is a distinct collectible with its own points. Later Newnes reissues are dated 1893 onward and lack first-issue ad states. Verify by date and advertisement leaves.
• Round the Red Lamp — 1894 · Methuen & Co.First published by Methuen & Co. on 23 October 1894, a collection of medical stories partly commissioned by Jerome K. Jerome for The Idler magazine. The first edition is octavo, pp. [i]-viii, [1] 2-328, with a 32-page publisher's catalogue dated October 1894 bound in at the rear, in an edition of 6,000 copies. The binding is original red cloth with the spine panel stamped in gilt, edges untrimmed. The British Methuen edition of 23 October 1894 precedes the American D. Appleton & Co. edition of November 1894 by about a month and is the true first; the Appleton edition carries a slightly revised preface explaining the title's 'red lamp' to American readers.
• The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes — 1894 · George Newnes Ltd.George Newnes Ltd. first published this collection in December 1893, with the title page dated 1894; it collects eleven of the twelve Strand Magazine stories, omitting 'The Adventure of the Cardboard Box.' The first edition is illustrated throughout by Sidney Paget with ninety illustrations, including the frontispiece. It is bound in the publisher's dark blue cloth over bevelled boards, the front cover and spine…. The British Newnes first edition holds priority and omits 'The Adventure of the Cardboard Box.' The first American edition, published by Harper & Brothers in February 1894, initially included 'The Cardboard Box' but the story was quickly withdrawn from subsequent Harper printings, making early-state Harper copies that retain it a distinct, identifiable issue point. Later Newnes reprints use plainer bindings without the bevelled boards and full gilt-and-black blocking of the first issue; whether 'The Cardboard Box' is present is also a useful check against later, expanded reprintings that eventually restored the story.
• Rodney Stone — 1896 · Smith, Elder & Co.First published by Smith, Elder & Co. on 13 November 1896 in an edition of 20,000 copies, after serialization in the Strand Magazine (January-December 1896) with illustrations by Sidney Paget. The first edition collates [8] preliminary leaves and 366 pages of text, with eight tissue-guarded plates by Paget, including the frontispiece, and a rear gathering of publisher's advertisements whose extent is recorded…. The British Smith, Elder & Co. edition of 13 November 1896 precedes the D. Appleton & Co. American edition of 17 November 1896 by four days and is the true first; the Appleton edition carries more Paget illustrations than the eight in the British first.
• The Hound of the Baskervilles — 1902 · George NewnesTrue first is the George Newnes edition, London, 1902 (Green & Gibson A26), following serialization in The Strand Magazine (1901–02). Because the single textual point is easy to fake or misquote, corroborate several together: (1) the first-issue textual point 'you' for 'your' at page 13, line 3; (2) the first-issue binding — red cloth, elaborately blocked in gilt, with the black silhouette of the hound to the…. The UK Newnes edition (published 25 March 1902) precedes the first American edition — McClure, Phillips & Co. (published 15 April 1902) — by about three weeks; UK before US. Both are collected: the UK Newnes is the true first, the US McClure, Phillips is a separate American first. The Strand Magazine serial (Aug 1901–Apr 1902) predates book form but is a periodical, not a book edition. Later Newnes impressions, cheap reissues, and modern facsimiles carry different bindings and advertisement states and may or may not preserve the page-13 reading — so never rely on the 'you/your' misprint alone. Verify the first-issue red-cloth binding, the presence of all 16 Paget plates, and the rear advertisements together with the textual point.
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes — 1905 · McClure, Phillips & Co.True first: McClure, Phillips & Co., New York, published February 1905 (Green & Gibson A29c), in black ribbed cloth stamped in gold and red on the front panel with the spine lettered in yellow; frontispiece and twelve inserted plates by Charles Raymond Macauley (new plates for the book — not Frederic Dorr Steele's Collier's magazine images); 381 pp, thirteen stories. First English edition: George Newnes, London,…. A famous precedence trap: the US McClure, Phillips edition (February 1905) PRECEDES the UK Newnes edition (7 March 1905) by roughly a month — confirmed by the Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia dates and dealer catalogs citing Green & Gibson. At least one reputable catalog asserts the reverse (UK first); the dated records refute that. Both editions are collected: the McClure, Phillips as the true first, the Newnes…. None documented in the sources consulted.
• The Valley of Fear — 1915 · George H. DoranTrue first: George H. Doran Company, New York, published 27 February 1915 (copyright page dated 1914), in red cloth lettered in gilt, with seven full-page illustrations by Arthur I. Keller including the frontispiece; 320 pp. First English edition: Smith, Elder & Co., London, 3 June 1915 — first-issue copies carry 34 of Doyle's titles listed on the verso of the half-title and a 6-page publisher's list at the end,…. The US-first Holmes novel: the Doran New York edition (27 February 1915) precedes the Smith, Elder London edition (3 June 1915) by over three months. Both are collected — the Doran as the true first, the Smith, Elder as the first English edition; UK copies are often mislabeled as the true first. Smith, Elder copies lacking the 34-title half-title verso list and the terminal 6-page catalogue should be treated as possible later issues. The 1914 copyright date on the Doran edition leads some catalogs to misdate it 1914; publication was February 1915.
• His Last Bow — 1917 · John MurrayThe Murray issue (Green & Gibson A40a) is an octavo bound in publisher's bright red cloth, blocked and lettered in gilt on the upper board and spine, with 6 pages of publisher's advertisements at the end. The gilt spine lettering on this issue is notoriously prone to oxidising/darkening because of wartime-economy materials, so a copy with bright, unoxidised lettering is unusual rather than suspect. The subtitle…. Both editions are collected and the census claim that the UK precedes the US is NOT established. The first English edition is John Murray, London, 22 October 1917; the first American is George H. Doran Company, New York, October 1917. Auction and ABAA dealer cataloguing consistently describe the two as same-month/effectively simultaneous, and at least one ABAA house flags the Doran as possibly preceding the…. No book-club issue is documented for the 1917 printings. Later Murray reprints retain the red cloth but are identifiable by the later title-page date and the absence of the terminal advertisements; the long-running Murray reprint series and later collected-edition volumes are the common reprint traps.
• The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes — 1927 · John MurrayFirst edition: John Murray, London, published 16 June 1927 in a run of 15,150 copies, in publisher's red cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and front board (Green & Gibson A46a); the red cloth fades readily and bright copies are uncommon, and the dust jacket is notably scarce. A colonial issue appeared the same day (about 5,000 copies) in grey cloth with "Murray's Imperial Library" lettered on the front board —…. Correction to the census claim: the Murray (London) and Doran (New York) editions were published simultaneously — same day, June 1927 — per the Camden House canon reference and standard publication histories, so neither has clean precedence. Collectors conventionally treat the Murray London edition as the primary first; both are collected. This is the last Holmes collection. The same-day grey-cloth colonial issue ("Murray's Imperial Library") must not be confused with the home first. For the Doran edition, one ABAA dealer records a second-issue jacket carrying review blurbs on the rear panel (single-source; treat as a jacket-state indicator, not settled doctrine).

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