Doyle Diary, The the Last Great Conan Doyle Mystery
Baker, With a Holmesian Investigation Into the Strange and Curious Case of Charles Altamont Doyle. New York/London: Paddington Press, (1978). First edition. Cloth, oblong 4to., 91 pp., profusely illustrated in color from the sketchbooks of C. A. Doyle, father of the detective novelist. Doyle was hospitalized in an insane asylum in Scotland and while there kept a diary which he illustrated with watercolors and sketches; this volume prints the text of the diary and includes a section of annotation of the images and text. Arthur Conan Doyle's father was committed in 1889 at the Montrose Royal Lunatic Asylum, where he was treated for a combination of alcoholism, depression, fatigue, and epilepsy. The diary was bought as part of a lot in the dispersal of household goods at the Doyle family country retreat in 1955, and stored thereafter in a children's playroom until 1977, when it was shown to a dealer who realized it was a major find. Wondrous blending of words and water colour, collage of fact and fancy featuring exquisitely detailed fairies and birds. Punch-like cartoons and never-ending streams of quips and puns. At its core - a desperately lonely aging man struggling to maintain his hold on reality by confronting his fantasies and his fears directly through the medium of art. Dust jacket shows shelfwear, small edge tears/creases, light spotting. ..Media shipping $3.75
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