LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Apr Books, Manuscripts & Autographs #658  / 

25345

Arthur Conan Doyle: Autograph Lot

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:375.00 USD Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 USD
Arthur Conan Doyle: Autograph Lot
<B>Arthur Conan Doyle: An Extraordinary Manuscript on Spiritualism & an Autograph Letter!</B></I> This lot is comprised of three pieces: a Typewritten Manuscript, bearing copious Autograph corrections and interpolations, an Autograph Letter Signed, and a Typed Letter Signed of Conan Doyle's widow, Jean Conan Doyle. They are, then, as follows: 1) Typed Manuscript, with numerous Autograph additions, deletions and corrections in dark ink, entitled "<I>The Religion of Conan Doyle</B></I>" and being in the form of an interview, 11 pages, 8.5" by 11", no place, no date. Some wear at being handled, else fine. 2) Autograph Letter Signed ("<I>A. Conan Doyle</B></I>"), 1 page, 4/5" by 6.75", 23 Oakley Street, Monday, no month or year; to Marillier. In very fine condition. 3) Arthur Conan Doyle Jean Conan Doyle, Typed Letter Signed, 1 page, 7" by 8", Windlesham, Crowborough, Sussex, August 19, 1930. To editor and writer George Sylvester Viereck. Here the least shall go first: the letter of Lady Conan Doyle to Viereck refers to the above-described manuscript ("<I>the excellent interview which you published</B></I>") and the recent death of her husband some weeks before. The Conan Doyle A.L.S. concerns his schedule of engagements for the week, and refers to his wife and his sister. Best and last is the manuscript... <BR><BR>Spiritualism became Conan Doyle's religion - and driving force - from World War I on. In this remarkable manuscript, he discusses his personal experience with spirits, Henry Ford, Oscar Wilde and Einstein; of course, such Spiritualist concepts as the soul, reincarnation, telepathy, even the (notoriously fraudulent) Cottingley Fairies come up too. In part, in brief:<I>I </B></I> the interviewer <I>Do you believe in reincarnation like Henry Ford? Doyle: I believe the soul is born and reborn many times. I am not sure that it is dons the human form after it has discarded that garment, but my thoughts incline that way... I: Do you consider Ford a great man? Doyle: He is a great personality. I: Why? Doyle: Because he is uncorrupted by his millions. No man can tell if he is incorruptible until such wealth is thrust upon him... I: Did you have any personal contact with the spiritual world? Doyle: When Geley, the French savant and spiritualist, died I was sitting with a medium in England. Suddenly I heard a whispered word, 'Geley.' I asked, in French, "When you had your accident were the moulds you carried broken?' The answer was 'Oui, Oui, ils etaient casses.' Though the medium did not know a word of French, the spirit communicated through him in that language."... </B></I> The interviewer asks about a posthumous book of Oscar Wilde's psychic utterances, Oscar Wilde from Purgatory by Hester Travers-Smith <I>Doyle: I knew Oscar Wilde when he was living. In that book I recognize poetic and epigrammatic passages which are as characteristic of Wilde as anything that bears his imprint... I: Einstein told me modern mathematicians include in their calculations an infinite number of dimensions. Doyle: Einstein merely expressed what every Spiritualist knows...</B></I>" Covered too are Conan Doyle's thoughts on fairies, marriage, death, the Buddha, Moses, Christ, Mohammed and heaven. A fascinating, heavily marked manuscript! From the Henry E. Luhrs Collection. Accompanied by LOA from PSA/DNA.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Small Flat (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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