Published in 1902, this was the novel is which Conan Doyle resurrected his most famous character Sherlock Holmes after killing him off in 1894.
Heritage’s historical manuscripts director Sandra Palomino said: “McClure, Phillips & Company, the New York publisher of the book, embarked on a publicity campaign in an effort to promote the book and the return of Sherlock Holmes. They asked Doyle for the original manuscript, and when they received it, they broke up the pages and offered them individually to dealers who purchased copies of the book.”
Unfortunately the manuscript was written on very acidic paper which meant it deteriorated quickly so not many pages have survived, adding to the scarcity of this page which Heritage has estimated at in excess of $170,000 in the Manuscripts sale in Dallas on November 6.