Fine Books & Manuscripts

[SHERLOCKIANA]. CHRIST, Jay Finley (1884–1963). Group of Letters, Booklets, and Ephemera Related to Sherlock Holmes by Jay Finely Christ. Includes three pamphlets written by Finley and published by The Fanlight Press: Irregular Chronology of Baker Street, Gleanings by Gaslight (INSCRIBED), and Flashes by Fanlight (INSCRIBED); all housed in original mailer with Finley’s address stamp. –– Sherlock Homes, Raffles, and their Prototypes. The Fanlight House, 1949. With errata slip. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED BY FINELY, also with a tipped-in note by the author and typed short story titled “John H. Watson Never Went to China”. –– 2pp. TLS from Finley on his personal letterhead (Dec. 17, 1949) and a printed bifold brochure for the London Society (Christmas, 1949) titled The Christmas Number for 1882. The Man with Three Eyes. INSCRIBED TO THE AUTHOR’S FRIEND C. RUSSELL SMALL. Both housed in original mailer with Finley’s address stamp. –– 1pp. TLS from Finely enclosed with 7 photos of “quite unique” Sherlock Holmes illustrations from various Louisville Courier–Journal magazines from the 1920s. –– the author’s personal copy of The Cornhill with his ownership stamp to upper cover. Includes an original Sherlock Holmes short story by James Edward Holroyd titled 221B Baker Street?. –– An Irregular Guide to Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street. New York and New Jersey: Argus Books and The Pamphlet House, 1947. 8vo. Laid in with supplemental material. –– Generally, very good condition. Jay Finely Christ was one of the more decorated members of The Baker Street Irregulars. He famously created the system of Abbreviations which shorten in 4 letters the titles of 60 Sherlock Holmes stories which is still used in existence today and cemented his reputation as a Sherlockian scholar with his publication of “Irregular Guide to Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street”. In 1964, he was posthumously awarded the Two-Shilling Award in 1964 at a Baker Street Irregular dinner for his significant contributions to the publication.