The Hound of the Baskervilles. by DOYLE, Arthur Conan - 1902

London: George Newnes,, 1902. First edition in book form, first impression, an exemplary copy in the striking cloth. The Hound of the Baskervilles was Sherlock Holmes's literary return after "The Final Problem" (although the action is set before the detective's demise at the Reichenbach Falls). The story was first serialized in the Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902. In April 1901 Doyle had written to his mother with reference to his new Sherlock Holmes adventure and noted "I think it will work out splendidly... Holmes is at his very best, and it is a highly dramatic idea" (Green & Gibson, p. 129). To the editor of the Strand Magazine, Doyle claimed "it is full of surprises" (ibid., p. 130). Octavo. Original red cloth, lettering and art nouveau decoration to spine after a design by Alfred Garth Jones, enlarged on front cover incorporating silhouette of hound stamped in black. Housed in a full red morocco folding case. Contemporary gift inscription to front free endpaper. A vivid copy, with only minimal rubbing to ends and corners, square and sound, clean within and free from spotting: a near-fine copy. Cooper & Pike, Detective Fiction 115-119; Green & Gibson A26a.