This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 edition. Excerpt: ... XII THE JEW'S BREASTPLATE My particular friend, Ward Mortimer, was one of the best men of his day at everything connected with Oriental archaeology. He had written largely upon the subject, he had lived two years in a tomb at Thebes, while he excavated in the Valley of the Kings, and finally he had created a considerable sensation by his exhumation of the alleged mummy of Cleopatra in the inner room of the Temple of Horus, at Philae. With such a record at the age of thirty-one, it was felt that a considerable career lay before him, and no one was surprised when he was elected to the curatorship of the Belmore Street Museum, which carries with it the lectureship at the Oriental College, and an income which has sunk with the fall in land, but which still remains at that ideal sum which is large enough to encourage an investigator, but not so large as to enervate him. There was only one reason which made Ward Mortimer's position a little difficult at the Belmore Street Museum, and that was the extreme eminence of the man whom he had to succeed. Professor Andreas was a profound scholar and a man of European reputation. His lectures were frequented by students from every part of the world, and his admirable management of the collection entrusted to his care was a commonplace in all learned societies. There was, therefore, considerable surprise when, at the age of fifty-five, he suddenly resigned his position and retired from those duties which had been both his livelihood and his pleasure. He and his daughter left the comfortable suite of rooms which had formed his official residence in connection with the museum, and my friend, Mortimer, who was a bachelor, took up his quarters there. On hearing of Mortimer's appointment Professor Andreas...

This early work by Arthur Conan Doyle was originally published in 1898 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'The Brazilian Cat' is a short story about an enormous and captivating black cat. Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. It was between 1876 and 1881, while studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh, that he began writing short stories, and his first piece was published in 'Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' before he was 20. In 1887, Conan Doyle's first significant work, iA Study in Scarlet', appeared in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual'. It featured the first appearance of detective Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist who was to eventually make Conan Doyle's reputation. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.

About the Author-Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer who is most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste.He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.-Wikipedia

ÒWhen the impossible has been eliminated the residuum, however improbable, must contain the truth.Ó

“Start a story by Conan Doyle and you cannot stop reading, whether you are ten or sixty.” -Michael Dirda “The immense talent, passion and literary brilliance that Conan Doyle brought to his work gives him a unique place in English letters.”-Stephen Fry Arthur Conan Doyle’s Tales of Terror and Mystery (1922) is a haunting collection of twelve stories that highlights his extraordinary skills of storytelling. The first six stories are bloodcurdling tales of horror, and includes the macabre classic “The New Catacomb”. The last six stories, closer in form to the Sherlock Holmes work, includes the classic railroad mystery, “The Lost Special”. One of the stand-out works in the entire collection is “The Horror of the Heights”; in a story that straddles both the science fiction and horror genres, the journals of a missing pilot reveal the existence of terrifying creatures that lurk in the upper atmosphere. “The New Catacomb”, in Doyle’s tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, tells the revenge story of two rival archeologists as they sink deeper into an endless Roman catacomb. In the evocative story “The Lost Special”, a train has mysteriously disappeared without trace between two stations. When the only evidence of the enigma is the dead body of the locomotive driver, the local newspaper becomes a platform to solve the mystery. The intrigue of speculation and reasoning is on par with the best of the Sherlock Holmes adventures. Tense, disturbing, and dark, these stories will keep readers captivated until the final page. Other stories included are: “The Leather Funnel”, “The Case of Lady Sannox”, “The Terror of Blue John Gap”, “The Brazilian Cat”, “The Beetle-Hunter”, “The Man with the Watches”, “The Japanned Box”, “The Black Doctor”, and “The Jew’s Breastplate”. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Tales of Terror and Mystery is both modern and readable.