Gillette and Conan Doyle photographs

Gillette and Conan Doyle photographs

undated

with signed holograph letter to R. H. Russel on Hindhead stationery

Conan Doyle’s letter at the center of this framed triptych, though a mere two lines, betrays a sense of excitement in the run-up to the play’s opening at London’s Lyceum Theatre, where it ran from September 9, 1901, to April 12, 1902. It is his apology for not being able to accept an engagement with Robert Howard Russell, who for decades published programs for the play.

Framed triptych, 101⁄2 × 161⁄2 in