Letter from Conan Doyle to Douglas Sladen, dated 23 Feb. 1897, about his forthcoming reading from the Sherlock Holmes stories in aid of the Indian Famine Fund.

Douglas Sladen (1856-1947) was a popular novelist, journalist and writer of the earlier part of the twentieth century. He bequeathed his library and papers to the Borough of Richmond where he had lived for many years in Avenue House on Richmond Green.

This letter from Conan Doyle comes from a collection of 74 scrapbooks containing Sladen's correspondence, drafts of books, mementoes and other miscellanea. Sladen had contact with many of the popular, professional writers of the time. The volumes contain letters from many of these people including Rider Haggard, J K Jerome, Hall Caine and H G Wells. As well as writing, Sladen also acted as a literary agent to the Japanese artist and writer Yoshio Markino and others, for example, Frank Butterworth.

The Local Studies Library holds an index to the collection.