Arthur Conan Doyle Reads "The Hound of the Baskervilles" — In His Own Restored Voice
“Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!”
About this work
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) is Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes novel — a gothic mystery set on the fog-wrapped moors of Dartmoor, where an ancient family curse and a spectral, glowing hound stalk the heirs of Baskerville Hall. It is Holmes and Watson at their atmospheric best, blending detective reasoning with genuine dread.
To hear the case told in the author's own restored voice adds a layer no narrator can match: the man who conjured the moor and the hound speaking them into being. The terror of the legend and the cool relief of Holmes's logic both carry the authority of their creator.
Who was Arthur Conan Doyle?
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was a Scottish physician and writer who created the most famous detective in literature, Sherlock Holmes. Trained in medicine at Edinburgh, he modeled Holmes's piercing deductions on his old professor Joseph Bell. Though he wrote historical novels, science fiction, and poetry, it was Holmes and Dr. Watson who made him a household name across the English-speaking world.
In his later years Conan Doyle became an ardent and very public champion of Spiritualism, convinced he could prove the survival of the soul after death — a crusade that consumed his final decade. The same restless mind that built the coldly rational Holmes spent its last years searching for contact with the beyond.
About the voice
This recording reconstructs Conan Doyle's voice from his real surviving audio. On 14 May 1930, just two months before his death, Conan Doyle recorded speeches at Queen's Hall in London — talking about how he came to write Sherlock Holmes and about his belief in Spiritualism — preserved today by the British Library sound archive. His restored voice is built from that genuine recording. It is an honest reconstruction of how he sounded, not a claim that he is speaking live today.
Provenance: Restored from real recordings. We label every voice honestly — restored, narrated, or disputed.
Questions
What did Arthur Conan Doyle sound like?
Warm, deliberate, and unmistakably Scottish-tinged. His 1930 recording reveals a deep, measured voice — the steady tone of a doctor and storyteller explaining himself plainly.
Is this really his voice?
It is a restoration drawn from his genuine 1930 recording held by the British Library. We are honest that this reconstructs how he actually sounded; it is not a live performance or an impersonation.
Is The Hound of the Baskervilles in the public domain?
Yes. First published in 1901–1902, the novel is in the public domain in the United States and may be freely read, recorded, and shared.
More iconic voices
Hear Arthur Conan Doyle read — free
Get the full first chapter in this restored voice, free — plus one new voice from history every week. No spam.