“New” Sherlock Holmes Story Discovered

We’re beginning to wonder what on Earth could be next! First the To Kill a Mockingbird prequel was announced. Then a lost Dr. Seuss manuscript was uncovered. And now … a long-forgotten story by the master himself, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Whilst rifling through his attic not long ago, Scottish historian Walter Eliot discovered a short story written more than a century ago by the Sherlock Holmes creator, who was then a celebrity fresh from publishing The Hound of the Baskervilles. Titled “Sherlock Holmes: Discovering the Border Burghs and, By Deduction, the Brig Bazaar,” this “unsigned, 1,300-word yarn is part of a pamphlet printed in 1903 to raise money to restore a bridge in the Scottish border town of Selkirk,” explains an article in yesterday’s Guardian. The Telegraph offers more information:

It is believed the story--about Holmes deducing Watson is going on a trip to Selkirk--is the first unseen Holmes story by Doyle since the last was published over 80 years ago.

Mr. Elliot, a great-grandfather, said: “In Selkirk, there was a wooden bridge that was put up some time before it was flooded in 1902.

“The town didn't have the money to replace it so they decided to have a bazaar to replace the bridge in 1904. They had various people to come and do things and just about everyone in the town did something. …

“[Doyle] really must have thought enough of the town to come down and take part and contribute a story to the book. It’s a great little story.”

You can read the full text of that forgotten yarn here.