DOYLE, ARTHUR CONAN, Sir "The Sign of the Four, or the Problem of the Sholtos." in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, volume 45, number 266. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, February, 1890. First American edition. Original tan wrappers with "Lippincott's" in red, with the 25 cent price listed (the London issue of the Magazine bore a price of a shilling). 9 3/8 x 6 1/4 inches (23.5 x 16 cm); 24 pp. ads, frontispiece, title-leaf for The Sign..., pp. 147-308, viii, ads pp. 25-52. The publisher's ads ("Lippincott's Monthly Bulletin") are pp. 9-16, and are for February 1890. With the Wits is incorporated on pp. i-viii. One-inch clean tear to fore-margin of front wrapper, other light soiling and minor fraying, trace of wear to the foot of the spine, overall in a very good state of preservation, unrestored; internally a remarkably fresh copy. This, Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, was commissioned by Joseph M. Stoddart, the managing editor of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, who wished to produce an English version of the magazine. The arrangements were made during a celebrated meeting with Doyle at the Langham Hotel in London in August of 1899, which was also attended by Oscar Wilde (who contributed The Picture of Dorian Gray to a subsequent issue). The Sign of the Four (later The Sign of Four) appears on pp. 147-223 of the magazine, with a frontispiece and a separate title. It remains unclear whether this or the London printing of the magazine are the true first edition, as publication was essentially simultaneous; it is perhaps noteworthy that the London issue lacked the separate title page. In the original wrappers of issue, the book is of exceptional scarcity; the vast majority of copies were rebound, and the last complete and unsophisticated copy in wrappers that we can trace at auction was that in the Lackritz sale at Christie's, which had light chipping and splitting to spine ends and edges. A copy of the Philadelphia issue offered in 2009 lacked the crucial upper wrapper. De Waal 270; Green and Gibson A7i. C
DOYLE, ARTHUR CONAN, Sir "The Sign of the Four, or the Problem of the Sholtos." in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, volume 45, number 266. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, February, 1890. First American edition. Original tan wrappers with "Lippincott's" in red, with the 25 cent price listed (the London issue of the Magazine bore a price of a shilling). 9 3/8 x 6 1/4 inches (23.5 x 16 cm); 24 pp. ads, frontispiece, title-leaf for The Sign..., pp. 147-308, viii, ads pp. 25-52. The publisher's ads ("Lippincott's Monthly Bulletin") are pp. 9-16, and are for February 1890. With the Wits is incorporated on pp. i-viii. One-inch clean tear to fore-margin of front wrapper, other light soiling and minor fraying, trace of wear to the foot of the spine, overall in a very good state of preservation, unrestored; internally a remarkably fresh copy. This, Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, was commissioned by Joseph M. Stoddart, the managing editor of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, who wished to produce an English version of the magazine. The arrangements were made during a celebrated meeting with Doyle at the Langham Hotel in London in August of 1899, which was also attended by Oscar Wilde (who contributed The Picture of Dorian Gray to a subsequent issue). The Sign of the Four (later The Sign of Four) appears on pp. 147-223 of the magazine, with a frontispiece and a separate title. It remains unclear whether this or the London printing of the magazine are the true first edition, as publication was essentially simultaneous; it is perhaps noteworthy that the London issue lacked the separate title page. In the original wrappers of issue, the book is of exceptional scarcity; the vast majority of copies were rebound, and the last complete and unsophisticated copy in wrappers that we can trace at auction was that in the Lackritz sale at Christie's, which had light chipping and splitting to spine ends and edges. A copy of the Philadelphia issue offered in 2009 lacked the crucial upper wrapper. De Waal 270; Green and Gibson A7i. C
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
