The White Company.

DOYLE, Arthur Conan.

$7,200.00

Item Number: 146566

London: Smith, Elder, & Co, 1891.

Rare first edition of this incredible work of historical fiction. Octavo, three volumes, original publisher’s cloth with gilt titles to the spine and decorative borders stamped in blind to the spine and front panel, botanical endpapers. In near fine condition with some toning to the endpapers and light bumping to the crown and foot of the spine of each volume, bookplate to the front pastedown and gift inscription to the title page of Vols. II and III. Housed in a custom slipcase. An attractive and rare set, printed in only 750 examples.

Conan Doyle had grown up with his mother telling him stories of chivalry, much of which fed into 'The White Company,' set in England, France and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward the Black Prince. He wrote the entire novel in solitude in a small New Forest cottage, chiefly in an attempt to capture the history and splendour of the region. Although the novel is relatively unknown today, Conan Doyle's himself regarded 'The White Company' and his other historical novels more highly than the Sherlock Holmes adventures for which he is mainly remembered. Of it, he has said: "When I wrote that last line, I remember that I cried 'well, I'll never beat that..."