[ Conan Doyle; Edalji Case ] Autograph Letter Signed "Maud E. Edalji" to Collin Brooks, journalist (Wikipedia) reflecting on the role of the periodical "Truth" had in the cases of Adolf Beck and George Edalji.

Two pages, cr. 8vo, fold mark, one punch- hole text good and complete. She has been listening to "Any Questions" (on the wireless) where "the publicity given to the recent murder trials" was discussed. She reflects on the role of the Press in murder trials and "other criminal cases, "letting the public know the facts, so that they may judge for themselves whether the accused is guilty or innocent." She goes on "In the cases of Adolf Beck, & my brother George Edalji, if it had not been for the publicity given by "Truth" [double underlining; Collin Brooks,sometime editor ] & other papers, the public would have known very little about them. It was very largely through the publicity given by the press to those two terrible cases of injustice, that at long last the Court of Criminal Appeal [ established 1907 ] came into being." The Beck case stimulated demand for such a body, and then "when George Edalji was falsely accused & imprisoned in 1903, the press & the public felt more than ever the need of a Court of Criminal Appeal". And how beneficial it has proved and will do so, "but it should not be forgotten how [underlined] that Court came into existencce, & that it was mainly through the sufferings of two innocent men Adolf Beck, &George Edalji, & the publicity given to those cases by the newspapers. Enclosed: photocopy of the relevant page from Collin Brooks's Journals (he just says "AQ" ["Any Questions" led to this letter coming to him out of the blue]. Notes: a. Arthur Conan Doyle's part in thess cases is well-known but NOT referred to in this letter; b. George lived with Maud until his death in 1953.