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‘South America is a granite continent. At a single point in the interior there has been, in some distant age, a great, sudden volcanic upheaval. .. What is the result? Why, the ordinary laws of nature are suspended.’
Arthur Conan Doyle’s science fiction novel The Lost World is an exploration of this dangerous and exotic place, where prehistoric creatures still thrive. Published in 1912, the book was inspired by H G Wells’s novella The Country of the Blind, 1904, which was also set in a secret South American valley (and which appeared, like much of Doyle’s own work, in the Strand magazine).
The Lost World is a bold and imaginative account of an expedition to the Amazon basin, led by Professor Challenger (the first of four books featuring this huge and bearded, unruly figure). Here, he and his three companions – rapidly cured of their earlier scepticism – are mobbed by a cluster of flying pterodactyls and pursued by flesh-eating dinosaurs.
An exciting and visual tale, it provided an appealing subject for filming, and in 1925 the first screen version appeared, with further films in 1960, 1992 and 2001. In 1997 the story of The Lost World was used in a sequel to Jurassic Park.
A group of young people from Portsmouth Autism Support Network (PASN) created their own interpretation of the story, using 2D stop-motion animation and a musical accompaniment. A part of both the Sharing Sherlock and Strong Voices projects, this is a lively contribution to The Lost World's continuing history.
PASN have been running for about 10 years and aim to support anyone affected by Autism in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas.
Strong Voices is a national programme which aims to connect new audiences of young people to world class arts and cultural experiences. For more information about Strong Voices please contact Judith Carrie on judith@artswork.org.uk
Books from the Collection
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Armchair Detective, vol. 15, no. 2 [Periodicals]/ Atkey, Bertram, 1982.
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P.156 refers to Doyle's 'The lost world'.
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The Annotated Lost World (hardback)/ Arthur Conan Doyle: illustrated by Patrick Forbes, Harry Roundtree 1996. Central Library, Conan Doyle Reference, 823 DOY, reference use only.
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Central Library Store, Conan Doyle Reference, 823 DOY.
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Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 294, no. 1773, July 1963 [Periodicals].
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P.67-74 contain article 'The lost world revisited' by E S Orr Ewing. Central Library Store, Conan Doyle Reference, Periodical Archive, reference use only.
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Bookman, vol. 66, no. 3, November 1927 [Periodicals], Hugh Walpole.
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P.287 contains review of 'In the beginning' by Alan Sullivan, comparing it to The lost world by Conan Doyle. Central Library Store, Conan Doyle Reference.
Photos from the 1925 production of The Lost World
The Lost World first appeared in the 1912 June edition of The Strand Magazine.
To see more images and find out more about The Conan Doyle Collection, please email: sherlock.holmes@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
In 2023 we held an open art exhibition as part of our Detectives project on the theme on the poison belt where we produced and collected artwork throughout the year and at the end of it, displayed it in Portsmouth central library. That same year we also did a puppet theatre based on the lost world with our Detectives as part of our Summer of Sherlock activities.
Inspiration
Online exhibitions featuring items from The Conan Doyle Collection and celebrating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's connection with Portsmouth.- You are here: Exhibitions > Arthur and George 123 Arthur and George A joint exhibition from The Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, at Portsmouth City Council, and the ITV production which starred Martin Clunes as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which first aired in March 2015.
- As part of the Sharing Sherlock project Portsmouth MIND group designed, built and painted their own personal version of this most famous of imaginary places, the study of Sherlock Holmes and his fellow detective
- Not only did sport feature in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction, he was also an active sportsman himself.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his first two Sherlock Holmes stories while living in Portsmouth where he had arrived in 1882 to set up a doctor’s practice at 1 Bush Villas, Elm Grove, Southsea
- Due to his success as a writer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the opportunity to travel widely and often took his family. From Canada and America, to Australia, Ceylon and Egypt,
- Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle also wrote science fiction and had a surprising belief in fairies at the bottom of the garden.
- Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about 60 stories starring his most famous creation, the detective Sherlock Holmes.
- When Arthur Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, he had no idea of how popular his hero was to become. Soon famous as a man of many disguises,
- Since Sherlock Holmes was introduced to the public in The Study in Scarlet, first published in 1887 thousands of people have taken part in a Sherlock Holmes ‘fan’ culture.
- In Arthur Conan Doyle’s story The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, a resourceful young woman seeks help from Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
- In the summer of 1917, in leafy Cottingley Glen near Shipley in West Yorkshire, Elsie Wright aged 16, and her cousin Frances Griffiths aged 9, claimed to have taken photographs of fairies.
- The students of Harbour School’s Key Stage 3 Group created fanciful masks and costumes inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s story Charles Augustus Milverton.
- Learn all about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated 'consulting detective' Sherlock Holmes, in this free exhibit at Portsmouth Museum.
- Using the themes The Lost World and The Poison Belt, supported by archives, books and objects from Conan Doyle Collection, our Detectives will host an 'Open Art' exhibition in May.
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