Letter to Mr Stoddart (3 june 1890)
This letter was written by Arthur Conan Doyle on 3 june 1890 to Mr. Joseph M. Stoddart (1845-1921), editor of the Lippincott's Monthly Magazine where The Sign of the Four was first published.
The illustration mentioned by Arthur Conan Doyle was the magazine frontispiece by Herbert Denman captioned "I shall reward you, young Sahib, and your governor shall also, if he will give me the shelter I ask."
Letter
- Bush Villa
- Southsea
- Bush Villa
Dear Mr Stoddart,
Just a line to say to you that I was very pleased with the printing of "The Sign of the Four" and that the picture especially struck me as being A1. Should you chance to see the artist I wish you would tell him that I am delighted with it. I have had a good many critiques of the yarn sent me, & their tone is so kind that I hope Lippincott's will be none the worse for its insertion on this side of the water. I hope you'll bring it out as a book, and the "Study in Scarlet" to match, for I have a lawsuit on, & want all the dollars I can raise.
By the way there is one very obvious mistake which must be corrected in book form— in the second chapter the letter is headed July 7th, and on almost the same page I talk of it's being a September evening. Again in the first chapter the same post-office is called Wigmore Street & Seymour Street. The first is correct.
By the way it must amuse you to see the vast and accurate knowledge of London which I display. I worked it all out from a post-office map.
I have what I hope will be a good yarn on now — the middle ages from an entirely novel point of view. It will either be a laughing stock, or it will break fresh ground and do some good. I hope we'll have international Copyright before it is finished. "The White Company" will be the name. I still meditate having a shot at the Pilgrim fathers afterwards, though I foresee that it will entail immense reading, and a Journey to America — which latter however would not be all toil. If I could only make the book worthy of the subject!
Goodbye — I hope we may see you in London again before very long.
- Yours very truly
- A Conan Doyle.
You seem to have sunk all your individuality in that infernal typewriter. By the way you might let me see some of the American critiques of "The Sign".
