The Ring of Thoth

By: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Narrated by: Edward E. French

The Ring of Thoth is a tale of Fantasy, mystery, the supernatural and horror by the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

Author Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Doyles were a prosperous Irish-Catholic family, who had a prominent position in the world of Art. Charles Altamont Doyle, Arthur's father, a chronic alcoholic, was the only member of his family, who apart from fathering a brilliant son, never accomplished anything of note.

Charles had married Mary Foley, a vivacious and very well-educated young woman of seventeen. Mary had a passion for books and was a master storyteller. Her son Arthur wrote of his mother's gift of "sinking her voice to a horror-stricken whisper" when she reached the culminating point of a story. There was little money in the family and even less harmony on account of his father's excesses and erratic behavior.

After Arthur reached his ninth birthday, the wealthy members of the Doyle family offered to pay for his studies. He was in tears all the way to England, where for seven years he had to go to a Jesuit boarding school. It was during these difficult years at boarding school that Arthur realized he also had a talent for storytelling. He was often found surrounded by a bevy of totally enraptured younger students, listening to the amazing stories he would make up to amuse them.

Doyle died on July 7th, 1930, from heart disease. Besides the Sherlock Holmes stories, his other publications include non-fiction, plays, verse, memoirs, short stories, and several historical novels and supernatural and speculative fiction. The Lost World is perhaps the best known of his other fictional works.

Public Domain (P)2024 Edward E. French