Three of Them

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Revision as of 15:58, 20 May 2017 by TCDE-Team (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Three of Them (John Murray, 1923)

Three of them is a series of 5 short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle first published in The Strand Magazine from april to december 1918.

The 5 stories where collected as Three of Them by George H. Doran Co. the same year. On 2 november 1923, John Murray added two other short stories Billy Bones (1922) and The Forbidden Subject (1923) to the five, with an introduction written by Arthur Conan Doyle.



Editions


Original Articles

# Original article Date Magazine
I. Three of Them I. A Chat About Children, Snakes and Zebus april 1918 The Strand Magazine
II. Three of Them II. About Cricket april 1918 The Strand Magazine
III. Three of Them III. Speculations july 1918 The Strand Magazine
IV. Three of Them IV. The Leatherskin Tribe august 1918 The Strand Magazine
V. Three of Them V. About Naughtiness and Frogs and Historical Pictures december 1918 The Strand Magazine
VI. Billy Bones december 1922 The Strand Magazine
VII. The Forbidden Subject august 1923 The Strand Magazine


Three of Them

Dedicace in Three of Them (John Murray, 1923)


Introduction

This little book is an attempt to catch some of the fleeting phases of childhood, those phases which are so infinitely subtle and have so rare a charm. No imagination can invent them, and the only task for the chronicler is that of selection. There is a phrase in these dialogues which is not drawn from life. If it be objected that there is nothing remarkable here, and that any three children present the same general characteristics, the writer would not dispute the justice of the criticism, but would rather infer that he had succeeded in his attempt to produce an unexaggerated account of the most beautiful period of human development where thought is frank and fresh. I am prepared to believe that England is full of even such children, and that those who love them may welcome an attempt to picture them as they are.

Several of these sketches appeared some years ago at the conclusion of a volume named "Danger." With the addition of the new matter, they now form a homogeneous little record.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Crowborough,
August 22, 1923.