The Maracot Deep. The Deed of Raffles Haw

The book includes the science fiction novel "The Maracot Deep" by the famous English writer Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), as well as his story "The Deed of Raffles Haw." In both of these works, Doyle demonstrates his extraordinary writing skill, intricately weaving an intriguing plot. All texts are translated by Dmitry Mochnev. The book is adorned with illustrations that appeared in the pages of various foreign periodicals that first published Doyle's works. At the end of the edition, illustrations for "The Maracot Deep," created by the French artist René Giffi (1884–1965) for the magazines "Le Pele-Mele" and "Sciences et Voyages," are also included.
The science fiction novel "The Maracot Deep" was first published as a separate edition in 1929. It became the last major work of Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930). In "The Deep," the writer skillfully played on the reading public's interest in the depths of the ocean, which at the beginning of the 20th century still remained peculiar white spots on the maps of our planet. Doyle's talent and imagination allowed him to go far beyond the style of "scientific expeditions" that was developed in European literature by Jules Verne. Doyle expertly twists the intriguing plot of his novel, introducing readers to the Atlanteans - the inhabitants of the deep-sea trench of the Atlantic Ocean. In the last years of his life, Doyle became fascinated with spiritualism and so-called occult knowledge. This fascination is noticeable in the last part of "The Deep," where the heroes encounter in one of the abandoned temples an immortal all-powerful lord of the "otherworld." Publishers in Soviet Russia could not afford to print lengthy and mystical musings of Doyle about the "eternal struggle between good and evil" and about demonic forces. Therefore, between 1927-1929, when publishing the novel in domestic magazines "Around the World," "The World of Adventures," and "The Universal Pathfinder," its text was given in an abbreviated form. The complete "The Maracot Deep" was published in Russia only at the turn of the 20th century. No less interesting is Doyle's story "The Deeds of Raffles Haw," in which the writer realizes the long-standing dream of alchemists about turning lead into gold. According to Doyle, such a trick could undermine the entire world economy. The book is adorned with illustrations that appeared in the pages of various foreign periodicals that first published Doyle's works. Many of them were created by the wonderful artist Anton Otto Fischer (1882-1962). He collaborated for a long time and fruitfully with the magazine "Saturday Evening Post," where stories by popular writers were published, including Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, Herman Melville, Jack London, and Arthur Conan Doyle. The novel "The Maracot Deep" was published in the first third of the 20th century not only by British and American magazines. It was successful in France as well, where its text was published in the pages of the magazines "Le Pele-Mele" (1928-1929) and "Sciences et Voyages" (1930). To illustrate "The Deep," French publishers attracted the well-known artist René Giffi (1884-1965) for collaboration. He was not only a wonderful caricaturist — in the history of European art, Giffi's name is inseparably linked to the development of the comic book sphere. At the end of this edition, his illustrations for "The Maracot Deep" are published.