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Conan Doyle, Arthur (1859 – 1930) & Slater, Oscar (1872 – 1948)

A quite extraordinary pair of letters exchanged between Conan Doyle and Oscar Slater, the notorious victim of miscarriage in Scotland — a case in which the Sherlock Holmes author took a famous interest.

The first letter is from Slater to Conan Doyle, December 15th 1927, just weeks after his release from prison. He writes, ‘Dear Sir, I really do not know how to begin in asking you to forgive me, Sir, for having been so tactless in writing my last letter to you. Surely, Sir Arthur, you will take into consideration that I have left a wild place in which I have lived for 19 solid years, and now I am thrown among civilized people — yet, I may write to you, Sir, and express my feelings but I would do nothing without your consent, that is certain. Yours very faithfully, Oscar Slater.’ The Conan Doyle letter is dated 14th August 1928. It is a retained copy of his letter to Slater, written out by a secretary, but signed by Conan Doyle himself at the conclusion.  In full, ‘Sir, You seem to me to have taken leave of your senses for your letters are unintelligible. If you are indeed quite responsible for your actions then you are the most ungrateful as well as the most foolish person whom I have ever known. Not that I have learned to know you I have no desire for further direct correspondence, but you may rest assured that you will be held accountable for your jest debts and that you will not be allowed to foist them upon others. Yours faithfully, [signed] A. Conan Doyle.’

A rare and revealing exchange. Oscar Slater was famously championed by the author in his The Case Against Oscar Slater after major flaws were discovered in the 1912 prosecution case against Slater, in which he was found guilty of murder. Slater was a German Jew who in 1908 was wrongly convicted of the murder of Marion  Gilchrist in Glasgow. The author’s publication and dedication to the case, as well as his financial contributions, played a big role in the eventual release of Slater in November 1927. The case had highlighted both police incompetence anti-Semitic prejudice. The present letters poignantly document the troubled aftermath of Slater’s release and the eventual bitter collapse of his relationship with Conan Doyle — over debts, gratitude and Slater’s difficult return to civilian life.

In fine condition, with an area of age-toning to the bottom of the Slater letter. The first time we have encountered correspondence between these two individuals.