A handwritten page from the original manuscript of Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles was auctioned for $423,000. Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, in the United States, sold the 20cm by 33cm page to a private buyer.
The page title is “Chapter XIII, Fixing the Nets” and claims to be in good shape. It features Holmes and Dr. Watson debating whether or not to arrest a suspect after a murder on the moor. Where Doyle altered the manuscript, he crossed out a line.
The fictitious detective died eight years ago. But Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recreated the character of Sherlock Holmes in the 1902 novel.
The page of Sherlock Holmes novel is one of 185 pages from The Hound of the Baskervilles’ original manuscript. They gave it to book dealers as part of the book’s elaborate advertising effort.
Because Doyle wrote on acidic paper, the majority of the pages dissolved over time. Today, only 37 pages are existing.
Page of Sherlock Holmes novel: ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’
“After killing off his popular character Sherlock Holmes in 1894, Doyle brought him back eight years later in The Hound of the Baskervilles, a book that has proved to be one of the more popular of the series,” a Heritage spokesperson was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
The spokesperson said, “To promote the book and the return of Holmes, the American publisher, McClure, Phillips & Company (New York) asked Doyle for the original manuscript and mounted an elaborate publicity campaign for the book by breaking up the pages and offering them one by one to dealers who purchased copies.”
They added, “Unfortunately, due to the fact that this particular manuscript was written on highly acidic paper; and the individual pages were mounted with equally acidic backing material; most of the pages used in the promotion have not survived either their framing or their display conditions. Only a very small percentage exists today, and few are in as good condition as this particular leaf.”
Joe Maddalena, executive vice president at Heritage, said, “This is one of just 37 known to exist. But most are in libraries and private collections, which only increases this leaf’s significance.”