The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; [and] The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. by DOYLE, Arthur Conan - 1892 & 1894

London: George Newnes Ltd,, 1892 & 1894. The original Holmes story collections with accompanying autograph letters First editions, first impressions, of the first two great collections of Sherlock Holmes stories, each with a laid-in autograph letter signed by Doyle. In the first letter, loosely inserted in the Adventures and dated 8 November 1892, Doyle writes to the literary agent and founder of the Author's Syndicate William Morris Colles (1865-1926). He informs Colles that "I know no one who is more qualified" to give advice to Doyle's friend, one Mr Buton, who aimed to publish some works and join the Society of Authors (est. 1884). Doyle himself joined the Society, to which Colles's Syndicate was associated, in 1890. Colles left the Society in 1898 following organizational disagreements and ran the Syndicate separately until his death in 1926. Doyle's letter to him is headed with the address 12 Tennison Road, South Norwood, where Doyle lived from 1892 to 1894. The second letter, found inside the Memoirs, is undated but was sent within the years 1897 and 1907, while Doyle was living at the given address of Undershaw, Hindhead, Haslemere. Doyle writes cordially to a Miss Martineau, "I shall be delighted to do so. With many thanks & hoping that you are all very well. Yours very truly, A. Conan Doyle". The Martineau family were prominent Unitarians who cultivated an intellectual, political, and business dynasty. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is one notable descendant. The tales in these volumes were gathered from their original appearances in Strand Magazine by its proprietor George Newnes; the front covers feature a vignette after the Strand's cover design. The Adventures has the misprint "Miss Violent Hunter" on p. 317 and the blank street sign in the cover vignette, as called for. The textual error continued through all three impressions, while in the second (1893) and third (1894) impressions the street sign was corrected to read "Southampton Street". There are no corresponding points for the Memoirs. These copies are from the library of Katherine de Berkeley Parsons, daughter of Manhattan socialites, with her leather book label on the front pastedowns. Her collection was sold at Sotheby's New York on 6 October 1976. 2 works, royal octavo. Original pale and dark blue cloth over bevelled boards, spines lettered in gilt and in black on gilt ground, front covers lettered in gilt with black detail and stamped with publisher's vignette in black, endpapers patterned with flowers in Adventures and peacock feathers in Memoirs, edges gilt. With custom blue cloth dust jackets. Both housed in a double-barrelled cloth slipcase with morocco entry. Frontispiece in Memoirs illustrating Holmes's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; both works prolifically illustrated in the text by Sidney Paget. W. H. Smith blindstamp on front free endpaper verso of Memoirs. Bright cloth with light marks and rubbing, superficial splits to inner hinges, sporadic foxing in the Adventures, the Memoirs internally fresh. A very good set.