Summary

            These, then, are some of the high points of the Conan Doyle-Greenhough Smith correspondence. Their specifics aside, the letters tell a story, in itself of great interest, of a finely sustained relationship between a famous author and an almost forgotten editor, one that endured for almost forty years. Conan Doyle had obviously more to give than did Smith, for although the latter was by no means a passive partner in that relationship, he clearly did not play the kind of role in the honing of Conan Doyle's writing skills that Maxwell Perkins, for example, did in the case of Thomas Wolfe. But he was an experienced and proficient editor, well able to judge reader interest and preferences,  and, always available for consultation on projects, he provided that sympathetic ear which most authors need.

            Conan Doyle may have made some financial sacrifices to the relationship, but he felt himself amply repaid. Nor  did he ever forget that Smith was the first to recognize the true potential of Sherlock Holmes. When asked to speak about the great detec­tive at the Stoll Film Company dinner in 1921, Conan Doyle told Smith that he ought to be on hand as well, for "if I am his father, you were the 'accoucheur'." To have been the midwife of Sherlock Holmes is no small achievement for any editor.

Afterword

            Housed in The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of The Metropoli­tan Toronto Library, the Conan Doyle-Greenhough Smith correspond­ence is open to study. Interested researchers need only write beforehand so that suitable arrangements can be made for its re­view. Use of the letters in a published work requires permission, and an acknowledgement to the Library would be appreciated..

            Thanks are due to Jon L. Lellenberg for suggesting this article, his persistence in seeing it through to completion, and his help in its preparation. Janice McNabb of the Metropolitan Toronto Library was of material help also, and I am grateful too to Peter E. Blau for his chronological ordering of the letters and his identification of works mentioned therein.

*As Cameron Hollyer has indicated, Toronto's holdings are by no means the complete run of the correspondence. Three more let­ters are located at the Humanities Research Center of the Uni­versity of Texas, all dealing with The Valley of  Fear. "I fancy this is my swan-song in fiction, writes the author in one; and in another: "This part of the story will contain one surprise which I hope will be a real staggerer to the most confirmed reader. There are also a considerably larger number of letters to Smith at the University of Virginia, and Baker Street Miscel­lanea hopes to publish soon an article dealing with them, by Richard Lancelyn Green. Any information which readers can pro­vide us about the location of other Conan Doyle-Greenhough Smith correspondence will be greatly appreciated. – Eds.

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