NMLP P-002396 · True-first precedence · minted 2026-07-04

A Study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle · Ward, Lock & Co. (in Beeton's Christmas Annual) · 1887

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.

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New Mexico Literacy Project — True-first precedence NMLP P-002396 for "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/id/point/p-002396, CC BY 4.0, dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21184548).