The Valley of Fear.

DOYLE, Arthur Conan.

Item Number: 90408

London: Smith, Elder & Co, 1915.

First British edition of the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel, first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. Octavo, original red cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panel, frontispiece by Frank Wiles. In very good condition.

The fictional private detective Sherlock Holmes became immensely popular with his first appearance in a series of short stories in The Strand Magazine, beginning with "A Scandal in Bohemia" in 1891. Additional tales appeared from then until 1927, eventually totaling four novels and 56 short stories. Widely considered a British cultural icon, Sherlock Holmes and his stories have had a profound and lasting effect on mystery writing, with the original tales as well as thousands written by authors other than Conan Doyle being adapted into stage and radio plays, television, films, video games, and other media for over a century.