David Kirby of Rupert Books - Revision history

TCDE-Team at 14:13, 18 February 2026

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	~~{{Cargo_Research_Articles~~
	~~\|date=1991-09-01~~
	~~\|author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith~~
	~~\|topic=Obituary~~
	\|summary=This tribute commemorates David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, celebrating his expertise, integrity, humour, and international stature as a specialist bookseller in Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Written by close friends, it honours both his professional achievements and the personal warmth that made him a central figure in the Sherlockian community.
	}}
	''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by [[Richard Lancelyn Green]] & [[R. Dixon Smith]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991.		''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by [[Richard Lancelyn Green]] & [[R. Dixon Smith]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991.

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TCDE-Team at 21:19, 17 February 2026

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	\|author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith		\|author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith
	\|topic=Obituary		\|topic=Obituary
			\|summary=This tribute commemorates David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, celebrating his expertise, integrity, humour, and international stature as a specialist bookseller in Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. Written by close friends, it honours both his professional achievements and the personal warmth that made him a central figure in the Sherlockian community.
	}}		}}
	''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by [[Richard Lancelyn Green]] & [[R. Dixon Smith]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991.		''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by [[Richard Lancelyn Green]] & [[R. Dixon Smith]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991.

TCDE-Team at 20:46, 12 February 2026

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	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p161-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 161)]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p161-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 161)]]
	[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p162-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 162)]]		[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p162-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 162)]]
	~~[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p163-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 163)]]~~

	Fate was harsh on Dave Kirby who died suddenly on 3 June 1991 at the age of 43. His business, Specialist in the field of [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] and [[Sherlock Holmes]], was reaching new heights and extending into area far beyond those which he originally envisaged. He had in mind to be the best and, over the ten years or so that I knew him, he achieved that end and became the most knowledgeable bookseller in his field. By the end he was handling items of the first rank, while also offering first editions and Sherlockian classics and acting as the main distributor for new books and magazines. He was a patron and instigator of new work and was on the point of becoming a publisher. Within the last year, an original drawing by [[Sidney Paget]] for [[The Hound of the Baskervilles]] had passed through his hands, as had one of three copies of the Scotland Yard H.O.L.M.E.S. print-out on [[FINA\|The Final Problem]]. He was within an inch of negotiating the sale of a [[Beeton's Christmas Annual]] and there was scarcely any [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Doyle]] title which he had not seen. He had paid two visits to America (the last shortly before his death) and had become as well versed in American Sherlockiana as in English. He had supplied material for use as illustrations and had broken into print by writing an introduction to a Spanish edition of [[The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes]].		Fate was harsh on Dave Kirby who died suddenly on 3 June 1991 at the age of 43. His business, Specialist in the field of [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Conan Doyle]] and [[Sherlock Holmes]], was reaching new heights and extending into area far beyond those which he originally envisaged. He had in mind to be the best and, over the ten years or so that I knew him, he achieved that end and became the most knowledgeable bookseller in his field. By the end he was handling items of the first rank, while also offering first editions and Sherlockian classics and acting as the main distributor for new books and magazines. He was a patron and instigator of new work and was on the point of becoming a publisher. Within the last year, an original drawing by [[Sidney Paget]] for [[The Hound of the Baskervilles]] had passed through his hands, as had one of three copies of the Scotland Yard H.O.L.M.E.S. print-out on [[FINA\|The Final Problem]]. He was within an inch of negotiating the sale of a [[Beeton's Christmas Annual]] and there was scarcely any [[Arthur Conan Doyle\|Doyle]] title which he had not seen. He had paid two visits to America (the last shortly before his death) and had become as well versed in American Sherlockiana as in English. He had supplied material for use as illustrations and had broken into print by writing an introduction to a Spanish edition of [[The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes]].
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	=== Obituary by R. Dixon Smith ===		=== Obituary by R. Dixon Smith ===
			[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p163-david-kirby.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 163)]]

	David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, Cambridge, England, died at home of a heart attack on 3 June 1991. He was 43 years old, and is survived by his wife, Paula, and three book-loving cats. Richard Lancelyn Green and I spoke at his funeral on 11 June.		David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, Cambridge, England, died at home of a heart attack on 3 June 1991. He was 43 years old, and is survived by his wife, Paula, and three book-loving cats. Richard Lancelyn Green and I spoke at his funeral on 11 June.

TCDE-Team: Created page with "{{Cargo_Research_Articles |date=1991-09-01 |author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith |topic=Obituary }} ''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by Richard Lancelyn Green & R. Dixon Smith published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991. This tribute commemorates David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, celebrating his expertise, integrity, humour, and international stature as a specialist boo..."

2026-02-12T20:45:22Z

Created page with "{{Cargo_Research_Articles |date=1991-09-01 |author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith |topic=Obituary }} ''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by Richard Lancelyn Green & R. Dixon Smith published in the A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991. This tribute commemorates David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, celebrating his expertise, integrity, humour, and international stature as a specialist boo..."

New page

{{Cargo_Research_Articles
|date=1991-09-01
|author=Richard Lancelyn Green, R. Dixon Smith
|topic=Obituary
}}
''David Kirby of Rupert Books'' is an article written by [[Richard Lancelyn Green]] & [[R. Dixon Smith]] published in the [[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (Vol. 2, No. 2) in autumn 1991.

This tribute commemorates David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, celebrating his expertise, integrity, humour, and international stature as a specialist bookseller in [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] and [[Sherlock Holmes]]. Written by close friends, it honours both his professional achievements and the personal warmth that made him a central figure in the Sherlockian community.

== David Kirby of Rupert Books ==
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p160-david-kirby.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 160)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p161-david-kirby.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 161)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p162-david-kirby.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 162)]]
[[File:Acd-society-journal-1991-09-p163-david-kirby.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[A.C.D. - The Journal of The Arthur Conan Doyle Society]] (autumn 1991, p. 163)]]

Fate was harsh on Dave Kirby who died suddenly on 3 June 1991 at the age of 43. His business, Specialist in the field of [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] and [[Sherlock Holmes]], was reaching new heights and extending into area far beyond those which he originally envisaged. He had in mind to be the best and, over the ten years or so that I knew him, he achieved that end and became the most knowledgeable bookseller in his field. By the end he was handling items of the first rank, while also offering first editions and Sherlockian classics and acting as the main distributor for new books and magazines. He was a patron and instigator of new work and was on the point of becoming a publisher. Within the last year, an original drawing by [[Sidney Paget]] for [[The Hound of the Baskervilles]] had passed through his hands, as had one of three copies of the Scotland Yard H.O.L.M.E.S. print-out on [[FINA|The Final Problem]]. He was within an inch of negotiating the sale of a [[Beeton's Christmas Annual]] and there was scarcely any [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Doyle]] title which he had not seen. He had paid two visits to America (the last shortly before his death) and had become as well versed in American Sherlockiana as in English. He had supplied material for use as illustrations and had broken into print by writing an introduction to a Spanish edition of [[The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes]].

My first encounter was at one of the early sales held by Bloomsbury Book Auctions in a London Hotel near the British Museum. John Gibson and I were there because of the sale of books from the Collection of S. J. Robinson — whose distinctive bookplate will be familiar to many collectors. John was building a large collection which he later sold in America, while I had my eye on a number of rarities: a near fine copy of the [[Vagabond's Annual]] with a [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Doyle]] story and a copy in publisher's cloth of the English issue of Volume 1 of [[Lippincott's Monthly Magazine|Lippincott's Magazine]]. The estimates were low, but the prices high and Dave came away with only one Lot. It included a copy of [[The Firm of Girdlestone]] which had been issued by the [[The Daily Telegraph|Daily Telegraph]] as one of the hundred best books', and this was the first book I purchased from him. Many others followed and I can not now look at my collection without thinking of him. There is an early proof of [[The Lost World]] bound in purple cloth; there are unusual ephemeral items such as the programme for [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Doyle]]'s Memorial Service at the Royal Albert Hall. These are but a few of the many items that came from Rupert Books and similar items adorn the shelves of other collectors.

In the beginning Gaby Goldscheider held sway, but her catalogues were becoming less regular and the format was always a puzzle. Dave's first catalogue was short, well set-out and distinctive in style. With each year that passed, they grew in size and content, culminating in one printed in full colour to commemorate the centenary of [[A Study in Scarlet]] (itself a collector's item).

The flow of information between us also grew as time passed and I soon counted him among my closest friends. He would turn to me for bibliographical information, while I came to depend on him for news of recent publications and for those which were in the process of composition. We would meet for coffee before the monthly bookfairs in a seedy coffee shop near the National Hotel; we would lunch together during the long interval between the morning and afternoon bookfairs. We would meet during the week when he came to London to check his stock at Murder One. He visited me in the north and I stayed with him in Cambridge. Above all, we kept in touch by telephone. He was the ideal friend, congenial, witty, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

Though I knew him well, part of his life remained a mystery. I gathered that he had grown up in the East End and that his parents had owned a cafe. He was a member of Mensa. He had worked as an engineer repairing photocopiers. He had started as a book collector and his first purchase of a [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Doyle]] title had been [[Three of Them]] (which, like many before him, he took to be a great rarity), but the bad state of his heart (involving constant check-ups and operations) suggested that he had taken less care of himself in the past than was prudent. Dave was known as 'Rupert' by his wife who gave him the name when he appeared in a pair of loud check trousers which with his red beard and solid shape gave him a striking resemblance to Rupert Bear. It stuck and the name was used for the business.

Dave was all that a good bookseller should be. He was honest, efficient, and friendly. He had a marvellous sense of humour and in the limbo of memory I still seem to hear his chuckles and his loud laughter. I still half expect to hear his voice when I answer the telephone, or to see him at a bookfair smartly dressed in a short-sleeved shirt (which he wore even on the coldest days). He valued friends and put people at their ease. He was kind and considerate, offering help and encouragement whenever his assistance was sought. Many people came to rely on him. He was in at the birth of the [[The Arthur Conan Doyle Society (1989-2003)|Conan Doyle Society]]; he was the principal source of new books at the Marylebone Library; he was the agent for the smaller American presses specialising in [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]]. On every level, success bred success and he went from strength to strength proving, against the odds, that a flourishing business could be built on the works of a single author.

I saw him a day or so before he died and he was in high spirits. Two friends from America, Dixon Smith and Madeleine Henry were in London and were on the point of going to Cambridge; a catalogue was all but completed, and many plans were being laid for the future. Then as a bolt from the blue I heard from his wife that he was dead. I have rarely felt so numb as I did on the morning when this news came through. It may be selfish, but I felt cheated by his death and if I felt that, how much worse it must have been for his wife, Paula. It was sudden and unexpected and it made one conscious of one's own mortality. A 'fixed point' for [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Doyle]] studies was gone, leaving a wealth of memories. Those who remain will feel diminished by his death but they will also be grateful for all that he did, and will feel enriched by having known him.

Richard Lancelyn Green

=== Obituary by R. Dixon Smith ===

David G. Kirby of Rupert Books, Cambridge, England, died at home of a heart attack on 3 June 1991. He was 43 years old, and is survived by his wife, Paula, and three book-loving cats. Richard Lancelyn Green and I spoke at his funeral on 11 June.

In eight remarkably short years, Dave Kirby earned international recognition as one of the world's foremost booksellers in the fields of [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] and [[Sherlock Holmes]]. American and British clients alike turned to him for his expertise and for the quantity and quality of his stock. And if you purchased books from him long enough, you generally gained a loyal friend as well as an invaluable bibliographical source.

Dave had been in poor health for some years, but he bore with bravery the angina that plagued his final months and the knowledge that he was unlikely to live a long life. He seized his moments and savoured life with a wit that sparkled and laughter that was irrepressible. He possessed these virtues, together with an abiding kindness, in abundance.

In the autumn of 1988, [[Jeremy Brett]] and [[Edward Hardwicke]] opened their two-man play, [[The Secret of Sherlock Holmes]], at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End. Having no idea that the play would prove enormously popular and run for a full year, and that I would see it in the following June. I wrote to Dave. No matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, I told him, get me a copy of the theatre programme. On 10 December he sent me the programme, together with the following invoice:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| From your 'instructions':
|
|-
| LUXURY LIMOUSINE TO STATION AND BACK
| £75.00
|-
| FIRST-CLASS RETURN TICKET TO LONDON
| £25.00
|-
| TAXIS IN CENTRAL LONDON (VARIOUS)
| £35.00
|-
| LUNCH AT SAVOY
| £125.00
|-
| DINNER AT RITZ
| £95.00
|-
| TICKET FOR PRIVATE BOX AT THEATRE
| £85.00
|-
| PROGRAMME FOR PLAY
| £0.60
|-
| TOTAL
| £440.60
|-
| CONVERT TO U.S.$
| $859.17
|-
| ROUNDING UP BECAUSE IT IS CHRISTMAS<br />AND MY BONUS FOR ALL THE HARD WORK INVOLVED
| '''$1000.00'''
|-
| This is probably the most expensive theatre programme you will ever buy.
|
|}

Rupert Books invoices always bore the request that cheques be made payable to D. G. Kirby. Beneath it Dave added the following suggestion: "or send gold bullion."

I have lost one of the dearest friends I shall ever have. We all have lost an irreplaceable resource for the [[Arthur Conan Doyle|Conan Doyle]] and Sherlockian movements. As a bookseller, he graced our world; as a man, he touched our lives. Rupee, gentle man, we miss you.

R. DIXON SMITH

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