1892 SHERLOCK HOLMES 1st AMERICAN 2nd STATE ORIGINAL CLOTH 16 PLATES DOYLE For Sale

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1892

First American Edition, Second State

Original Publisher’s Pale Blue Pictorial Cloth

Complete with All 12 Stories and All 16 Illustrated Plates

A notably attractive copy of the first American edition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes short-story collection, published by Harper & Brothers in 1892, the same year as the first London edition.

This landmark volume gathers the twelve stories that established Sherlock Holmes as one of the most famous characters in literature, beginning with “A Scandal in Bohemia” and concluding with “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.”

The book remains in its distinctive original publisher’s pale blue pictorial cloth, decorated on the front cover with the elaborate dark-blue Gordius Nodus emblem, gilt lettering, and a black lantern device on the spine.

The binding presents especially well for an early copy in this vulnerable pale-colored cloth. The front-cover design remains strong and clearly defined, the gilt lettering is bright and legible, and the volume retains considerable shelf presence.

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Title: Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Publisher: Harper & Brothers

Place: New York

Date: 1892

Edition: First American edition, second state

Pagination: 307 numbered pages

Contents: All twelve Sherlock Holmes stories

Illustrations: Frontispiece and fifteen additional full-page plates; sixteen plates total

Binding: Original pale blue pictorial publisher’s cloth

Cover Design: Dark-blue Gordius Nodus emblem with gilt lettering

Spine: Gilt lettering and black hand-and-lantern device

State Points: Page 65 reads “Now, if he had borrowed” and retains the misplaced exclamation point in “to think of! and I”

Completeness: Complete

Condition: Very Good overall; two plates detached but present; ownership writing on front endpapers

The first American edition was issued by Harper & Brothers in New York in 1892.

Unlike the English edition, which is titled The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the American title page reads simply:

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This copy is the issue commonly identified as the second state of the first American edition, based upon the readings on page 65:

• The earlier defective wording has been corrected to “Now, if he had borrowed”
• The misplaced exclamation point remains in “to think of! and I”

The copyright page states:

Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Brothers.
All rights reserved.

These readings are noted for precise bibliographical identification.

Sherlock Holmes had previously appeared in the novels A Study in Scarlet and The Sign of Four, but it was the series of short stories published in The Strand Magazine beginning in 1891 that transformed Holmes into an international literary phenomenon.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was the first book collection of those stories.

The volume introduced or firmly established many of the best-known characters, cases, and elements of the Holmes canon, including:

• Irene Adler
• The King of Bohemia
• The Red-Headed League
• The Five Orange Pips
• The Blue Carbuncle
• The Speckled Band
• The Beryl Coronet
• The Copper Beeches

The collection remains one of the foundational works of detective fiction and one of the most influential short-story collections of the nineteenth century.

The volume contains all twelve stories:

1. A Scandal in Bohemia
2. The Red-Headed League
3. A Case of Identity
4. The Boscombe Valley Mystery
5. The Five Orange Pips
6. The Man with the Twisted Lip
7. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
8. The Adventure of the Speckled Band
9. The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
10. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
11. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
12. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

The volume is complete with its full complement of sixteen full-page illustrated plates, comprising the frontispiece and fifteen additional plates distributed throughout the text.

The illustrations listed in the volume are:

• “The Gentleman in the Pew Handed It Up to Her”
• “A Man Entered”
• “The Door Was Shut and Locked”
• “All Afternoon He Sat in the Stalls”
• “Sherlock Holmes Welcomed Her”
• “Glancing About Him Like a Rat in a Trap”
• “They Found the Body”
• “The Maid Showed Us the Boots”
• “Holmes, I Cried, You Are Too Late”
• “At the Foot of the Stairs She Met This Lascar Scoundrel”
• “Have Mercy! He Shrieked”
• “Good-Bye, and Be Brave”
• “Not a Word to a Soul”
• “I Will Wish You All a Very Good Night”
• “I Clapped a Pistol to His Head”
• “I Am So Delighted That You Have Come”

Two of the plates are cleanly detached from the binding but remain present. No illustrated plate is missing.

Bound in the original pale blue publisher’s cloth.

The front cover is decorated with a large dark-blue ornamental emblem containing the Latin phrase:

GORDIUS NODUS

Below the design, the cover is lettered in gilt:

ADVENTURES
OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES
A. CONAN DOYLE

The spine is lettered in gilt and decorated with a black illustration of a hand holding a lantern. HARPER appears at the foot.

This pictorial binding is one of the most distinctive early American Sherlock Holmes designs and is immediately recognizable to collectors.

The pale blue cloth is particularly susceptible to fading, browning, and surface discoloration. The survival of the strong front-cover design and clearly legible gilt materially enhances the appeal of this copy.

A very attractive and unusually well-preserved copy overall, with the specific faults carefully noted below.

The original pale blue cloth remains firm and visually impressive, with mild age-related toning, rubbing, and scattered surface discoloration.

The spine is noticeably more faded and browned than the covers, as commonly encountered with this edition.

There is light wear and minor fraying at:

• The head and foot of the spine
• The corners
• The board edges

The elaborate dark-blue front-cover design remains strong, crisp, and clearly defined.

The gilt lettering on the front cover remains bright and attractive. The spine gilt is somewhat dulled by age and fading but remains legible.

Both boards are firmly attached.

The binding remains sound, though some opening between sections is visible when the book is viewed from the fore-edge.

The paper is generally clean and well preserved, with light uniform age toning and occasional minor spots or handling marks.

The text remains dark, clear, and highly readable.

The front endpapers contain several early ownership and bookseller-type markings, including:

• An ink ownership inscription dated March 10, 1928
• An earlier name crossed through
• Additional pencil writing
• Blue pencil or crayon numerals

There are small red check marks beside the first two entries on the contents page.

Two illustrated plates are cleanly detached but remain present. They have not been taped or crudely repaired and could be reattached by a qualified paper or book conservator.

One illustrated plate shows a fine closed marginal tear or crease, visible in the photographs.

No dust jacket is present.

The volume is complete with:

• All twelve Sherlock Holmes stories
• All 307 numbered pages
• All sixteen illustrated plates
• Original publisher’s pictorial cloth
• Second-state page 65 readings

Please examine all photographs carefully. They form an important part of the description and provide the best account of the binding, plates, endpapers, and condition.

This volume will appeal to collectors of:

• Arthur Conan Doyle
• Sherlock Holmes
• Detective fiction
• First American editions
• Nineteenth-century literary classics
• Victorian mystery fiction
• Original pictorial cloth
• Illustrated books
• Harper & Brothers publications
• Early Sherlock Holmes editions

The first American edition occupies an important place in the publication history of Holmes in the United States, while the distinctive Gordius Nodus binding makes it one of the most visually recognizable early American Doyle editions.

A handsome and complete copy of the 1892 first American edition, second state, of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the first collected volume of Sherlock Holmes short stories.

The book retains its original pale blue pictorial publisher’s cloth, with the elaborate dark-blue Gordius Nodus design, bright gilt front-cover lettering, and black lantern device on the spine.

Complete with all twelve stories, all 307 numbered pages, and all sixteen full-page illustrated plates. Two plates are detached but present.

An attractive and highly collectible early American Sherlock Holmes edition in its distinctive original binding.