Letter to Algernon Methuen about Round the Red Lamp (4 june 1894)

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

This letter was written by Arthur Conan Doyle on 4 june 1894 to Algernon Methuen, the Methuen & Co. editor, about the collected volmume of short stories Round the Red Lamp.

Conan Doyle attached a quick drawing to suggest a cover to Methuen. He first thought about Under the Red Lamp.


Letter

June 4 /94


Dear Sir

In your note I should simply change the word 'adventures' to 'experiences.' You might add something to this effect "Round the Red Lamp of the general practitioner cluster many dramas, some morbid, some terrible. It's crimson glare, scarcely noticed by the hale, becomes the centre of the thoughts and the hopes of the unfortunate. An attempt is made in this volume to draw a few phases of life from the point of view of the man who lives and works behind it." My idea for a cover is something like that on the next page.

Yours faithfully
A. Conan Doyle