Annotated Editions

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Annotated Editions presents scholarly and annotated editions of works by Arthur Conan Doyle. These volumes provide reliable texts accompanied by introductions, explanatory notes, chronologies, textual essays, appendices, and editorial apparatus. They are useful for readers who want to explore Conan Doyle's fiction with historical, literary, and bibliographical context.

The books are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent publications first.


Annotated Editions

The Land of Mist and Other Spiritualist Writings
Edited by Christine Ferguson
Edinburgh University Press
September 2026
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Presents the first scholarly edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's important spiritualist novel, The Land of Mist, accompanied by selected short works of his spiritualist non-fiction. Features a lost chapter from the original manuscript that is here published for the first time. A critical introduction and detailed annotations that explain the novel's spiritualist theology and identify the real-life experiences, sites and figures on which the novel is based. An essay on the text which explains the novel's composition and publication. A textual apparatus that collates The Land of Mist's manuscript, original serialization in The Strand Magazine and first U.K. book edition.
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The Tragedy of the Korosko and The Fires of Fate with The Nile Journal
Edited by Douglas Kerr
Edinburgh University Press
May 2026
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Brings together Arthur Conan Doyle's Egyptian-themed works, based on his imperial travels. Gathers three texts by Conan Doyle, in three genres, dealing with contemporary Egypt at the time of the 'Dervish Wars'. Includes two texts that have never before appeared in print. Enables a serious study of Conan Doyle's ideas about empire and race. Displays Conan Doyle's gifts in narrative and drama. A full scholarly treatment, including introduction, essays on the texts, textual apparatus and full explanatory notes.
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The Annotated Brigadier Gerard
Edited and annotated by Colin Samuels
Wessex Press
January 2025
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The Annotated Brigadier Gerard is an annotated edition of Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard stories, edited with notes by Colin Samuels. The volume explains the historical background of Gerard's Napoleonic world, including people, places, events, military terms, objects, and period details. It is designed to help readers appreciate both the adventure and humour of the stories and the real historical context behind them.
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Not Just Sherlock: The Other Conan Doyle
Edited and annotated by Sophia Shearwood
Figlie di Giacobbe
May 2025
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Not Just Sherlock: The Other Conan Doyle is an annotated anthology presenting Arthur Conan Doyle beyond the Sherlock Holmes canon. With an introduction by Sophia Shearwood, the volume brings together lesser-known works that reveal Conan Doyle's wider Victorian imagination, including his interest in mystery, the supernatural, adventure, and the strange margins of nineteenth-century fiction. Including The Poison Belt, The Disintegration Machine, When the World Screamed and The New Revelation.
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The Stark Munro Letters
Edited by James Machin
Edinburgh University Press
December 2024
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The first new edition of The Stark Munro Letters since the early 1980s. Contains detailed introduction and scholarly apparatus. Extensive notes explore the historical and biographical references. Appendixes that collect original transcriptions of previously inaccessible archival material. Ideal for students and scholars interested in Arthur Conan Doyle, medical fiction, popular fiction, autobiographical fiction, and epistolary fiction.
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Edited by Andrew Glazzard
Edinburgh University Press
October 2024
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The first new critical edition in a generation of the first volume of Sherlock Holmes short stories. Provides a detailed account of the stories' textual and publication histories, with a full textual apparatus. Includes scholarly notes, to elucidate references and provide background information on names, places and events mentioned in the text. Includes reproductions of the 104 illustrations by Sidney Paget which appeared in the first British edition — including those that created the popular images of Holmes and Dr Watson.
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Round the Red Lamp Being Facts and Fancies of Medical Life
Edited by Roger Luckhurst
Edinburgh University Press
July 2023
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An often overlooked collection in Arthur Conan Doyle's career, these tales actually track the vital moment in his life when he decided to shift careers from provincial medic to celebrated London author. Detailed introduction, notes and scholarly apparatus. Appendixes that collect extra medical tales, Conan Doyle's early contributions to the medical press and the two one-act plays that he produced from two of the stories, including one of his greatest successes for the stage, Waterloo. Introduction provides the medical context to help understand its place in Conan Doyle's career.
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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Edited by Jonathan Cranfield
Edinburgh University Press
July 2023
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The first scholarly edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes including a detailed introduction, an essay on the text, a textual apparatus and explanatory notes. First new annotated edition for twenty-five years. Detailed notes explore the historical and biographical references within each story. Definitive textual apparatus collating the original magazine stories, the first book edition and Conan Doyle's author's edition of 1903. Ideal for students and scholars interested in Arthur Conan Doyle, detective fiction, popular fiction, empire fiction, late-Victorian magazine culture and British authorship.
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Between 2023 and 2025, Oxford University Press published a new series of annotated books with newly commissioned introductions as well as different annotations/footnotes:




Memories and Adventures
Edited by Douglas Kerr
Edinburgh University Press
November 2021
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A scholarly edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's autobiography. This scholarly edition includes: A collation of four versions of the book including manuscripts. An introduction giving the history of the book's composition, publication, revision, and reception, placing it in personal, historical and literary contexts. A full textual apparatus, showing all significant emendations and variations. Ample explanatory notes, including data on the hundreds of historical figures and events mentioned in the book.
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Gothic Tales
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Darryl Jones
Oxford University Press
2018
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Gothic Tales is an Oxford World's Classics edition gathering more than thirty of Arthur Conan Doyle's Gothic and horror stories. Edited by Darryl Jones, the volume includes an introduction and notes that place the tales in the context of Conan Doyle’s medical background, travels, spiritualist interests, imperial imagination, and use of Gothic conventions. The collection presents Conan Doyle's darker short fiction as an important part of his wider literary work beyond Sherlock Holmes.
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The Annotated White Company
Edited by Doug Elliott & Roy Pilot
Wessex Press
2013
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The Annotated White Company highlights the real historical background behind the narrative, including places, customs, battles, weapons, artifacts, heraldry, and costume. The edition is annotated by Doug Elliott and Roy Pilot, who explain obscure terms and historical details throughout the text. It also includes historical illustrations, colour illustrations by N. C. Wyeth, and a foreword by Nicholas Meyer. The volume aims to reintroduce Conan Doyle’s neglected medieval novel to modern readers.
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Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure
By Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited by Jon Lellenberg & Daniel Stashower
British Library
2012
368 pages
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Dangerous Work is an edited edition of Conan Doyle's Arctic diary, written during his 1880 voyage as ship's surgeon aboard the whaler Hope. The volume presents the diary known as the Log of the S. S. Hope, with editorial material, historical context, annotated transcript, illustrations and analysis of Conan Doyle’s early life, medical training, travels and later literary development.
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The Narrative of John Smith
Edited and annotated by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, Rachel Foss
British Library
2011
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The Narrative of John Smith is Conan Doyle's first novel, written in 1883 while he was living in Portsmouth and trying to establish himself as both a doctor and a writer. Edited and annotated by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Rachel Foss, this first published edition presents an unfinished but biographically important work that reveals early forms of themes later found in Conan Doyle's fiction, including the Sherlock Holmes stories. Through the character of John Smith, Conan Doyle reflects on literature, science, religion, war, education, and other subjects.
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The Parasite and The Watter's Mou'
By Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker
Edited by Catherine Wynne
Valancourt Books
2009
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The Parasite and The Watter's Mou is pairing Arthur Conan Doyle's The Parasite with Bram Stoker's The Watter's Mou. The volume presents the unabridged texts of both novellas, taken from the scarce British first editions, with a substantial introduction tracing parallels between Conan Doyle and Stoker's lives and literary careers. It also includes explanatory annotations and an appendix containing Conan Doyle's John Barrington Cowles, Stoker's The Coming of Abel Behenna, and a 1907 interview of Conan Doyle by Stoker.
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In 2008, Oxford University Press reprinted his 1998 annotated volume of "The Lost World" :

The Lost World
Oxford University Press
2008
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes vol. 3: The Novels
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
W. W. Norton & Co.
2005
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The four classic novels of Sherlock Holmes, heavily illustrated and annotated with extensive scholarly commentary. Leslie Klinger reassembles Conan Doyle's four seminal novels in their original order, with over 1,000 notes, 350 illustrations and period photographs, and tantalizing new Sherlockian theories. Included: A Study in Scarlet (1887), The Sign of Four (1889), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1901) and The Valley of Fear (1914).
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The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2009
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An annotated volume gathering Sherlockian apocrypha and related Holmes material, with Leslie S. Klinger's notes, commentary, and bibliographical apparatus completing the ten-volume Sherlock Holmes Reference Library.
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The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2007
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An annotated edition of the final collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, providing explanatory notes, Sherlockian commentary, textual references, and contextual material on the late Holmes stories.
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His Last Bow
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2006
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An annotated edition of the stories collected in His Last Bow, with notes explaining historical references, textual details, chronology, and Sherlockian interpretations of the later Holmes stories.
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The Valley of Fear
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2005
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An annotated edition of Conan Doyle's fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, with detailed notes on the text, its historical and literary background, chronology, characters, and Sherlockian problems.
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes vol. 2: Short Stories 2/2
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
W. W. Norton & Co.
2004
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume 2 presents Leslie S. Klinger's extensive annotations to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes short stories, offering biographical material on Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle, as well as Victorian literary and cultural context. This volume includes the stories from The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow, and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, accompanied by more than 450 illustrations and new Sherlockian commentary.
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes vol. 1: Short Stories 1/2
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
W. W. Norton & Co.
2004
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 presents Leslie S. Klinger's extensive annotations to the short stories from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The volume includes biographical material on Holmes, Watson, and Conan Doyle, rich Victorian literary and cultural context, Sherlockian commentary, and more than 450 illustrations.
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The Sign of Four
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2004
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An annotated edition of Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, offering explanatory notes, contextual material, textual commentary, and discussion of the novel's place in the Holmes canon.
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The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2003
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An annotated edition of the stories marking Sherlock Holmes's return after Reichenbach, with Leslie S. Klinger's notes on chronology, sources, Victorian context, and Sherlockian scholarship.
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2002
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An annotated edition of Conan Doyle's best-known Sherlock Holmes novel, with notes on Dartmoor, Gothic atmosphere, textual details, historical references, and the novel's Sherlockian controversies.
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A Study in Scarlet
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
2001
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An annotated edition of the first Sherlock Holmes novel, with notes on Holmes and Watson's first appearance, textual problems, historical background, chronology, and early Sherlockian interpretation.
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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
1999
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An annotated edition of the second collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, including commentary on the cases, chronology, Victorian references, and the significance of The Final Problem.
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Edited and annotated by Leslie S. Klinger
Wessex Press
1998
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An annotated edition of the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, with explanatory notes, historical context, textual commentary, and Sherlockian observations on the early Holmes canon.
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The Lost World
Edited and annotated by Ian Duncan
Oxford University Press
1998
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The Lost World is an Oxford World's Classics edition of Conan Doyle's first Professor Challenger novel, edited by Ian Duncan. The volume presents the novel with an introduction and notes, placing the story in its literary, scientific, and imperial context. It is useful for readers who want a scholarly but accessible edition of one of Conan Doyle's major non-Sherlock Holmes works.
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The Annotated Lost World
Edited and annotated by Roy Pilot & Alvin E. Rodin
Wessex Press
1996
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An annotated edition of the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, with explanatory notes, historical context, textual commentary, and Sherlockian observations on the early Holmes canon.
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The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
Edited with an Introduction by W. W. Robson
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of the final Sherlock Holmes short-story collection, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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His Last Bow
Edited with an Introduction by Owen Dudley Edwards
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of Conan Doyle’s later Sherlock Holmes stories, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Valley of Fear
Edited with an Introduction by Owen Dudley Edwards
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of Conan Doyle's fourth Sherlock Holmes novel, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Edited with an Introduction by Richard Lancelyn Green
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of the collection that brought Holmes back after “The Final Problem,” with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Edited with an Introduction by W. W. Robson
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of Conan Doyle's most famous Sherlock Holmes novel, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Edited with an Introduction by Christopher Roden
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of the second Sherlock Holmes short-story collection, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Edited with an Introduction by Richard Lancelyn Green
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of the first Sherlock Holmes short-story collection, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Sign of the Four
Edited with an Introduction by Christopher Roden
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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A Study in Scarlet
Edited with an Introduction by Owen Dudley Edwards
Oxford University Press
1993
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An annotated Oxford edition of Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novel, with introduction, explanatory notes, chronology, selected bibliography, and editorial material from The Oxford Sherlock Holmes series.
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The Annotated Jelland's Voyage
Edited and annotated by Hirayama Yuichi
The Shoso-in Press
1993
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The Annotated Jelland's Voyage is an annotated edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "Jelland's Voyage," edited by Hirayama Yuichi and published by The Shoso-in Press in 1993. The volume presents one of Conan Doyle's lesser-known short stories, with notes and contextual material explaining its setting, background, and significance within his fiction.
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Conan Doyle's Tales of Medical Humanism and Values: Round the Red Lamp, Being Facts and Fancies of Medical Life, with Other Medical Short Stories
By Arthur Conan Doyle
Edited with introduction, commentaries and notes by Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key
Krieger Publishing Co.
1992
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Conan Doyle's Tales of Medical Humanism and Values is an annotated medical edition of Conan Doyle's Round the Red Lamp, supplemented with six additional medical short stories and a 1910 address to medical students. Edited by Alvin E. Rodin and Jack D. Key, the volume studies Conan Doyle's medical imagination, his treatment of illness, doctors, patients and professional ethics, and the place of medicine in his fiction. It belongs in this section because it connects Conan Doyle's literary work directly with his medical training and medical values.
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The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, vol. II
Edited and annotated by William S. Baring-Gould
Clarkson N. Porter Inc.
1967
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The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume II, edited by William S. Baring-Gould, completes the two-volume annotated edition of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. It continues the extensive commentary, illustrations, maps, chronologies, and notes begun in Volume I, making the set one of the most influential early annotated editions of the Sherlock Holmes canon.
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The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, vol. I
Edited and annotated by William S. Baring-Gould
Clarkson N. Porter Inc.
1967
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The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume I, edited by William S. Baring-Gould, is the first volume of the landmark 1967 annotated edition of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes canon. It presents the opening part of the Holmes stories with extensive notes, illustrations, maps, chronologies, and Sherlockian commentary, offering historical context and playful scholarly interpretation for readers of the canon.
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