First Edition, New York, 1914
The first book edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, published in New York in 1914, preceding the London edition of 1915.
DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN (1859–1930). The Valley of Fear. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1914. First edition. Original publisher’s cloth lettered in gilt.
The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel. The story begins with a cipher and a warning of imminent danger, followed by the apparent murder of John Douglas at the moated Birlstone Manor. Holmes soon detects behind the crime the influence of his great adversary, Professor Moriarty.
The novel’s second half moves to the Pennsylvania coalfields and the violent world of a secret society infiltrated by a Pinkerton detective, drawing upon the history of the Molly Maguires. The two narratives gradually converge, giving The Valley of Fear a structure unlike any of the other Holmes novels.
The book also represents one of Conan Doyle’s most substantial treatments of Professor Moriarty. Although Moriarty remains largely outside the immediate action, his criminal organization surrounds the story and ultimately determines its conclusion.
First published serially in the Strand Magazine beginning in 1914, The Valley of Fear appeared in book form first in the United States. George H. Doran issued the present New York edition in 1914; the British edition, published by Smith, Elder & Co., followed in 1915.
CONDITION
Original publisher’s cloth with minor wear and scuffing. A very good copy.
OFFERED SEPARATELY
Conan Doyle’s Memories and Adventures, first American edition, Boston, 1924 — his autobiography, containing his own account of Dr Joseph Bell and the origins of Sherlock Holmes.
