Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859- 1930), author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was so keen to work during his extensive travels that in 1925 he commissioned a case-maker to create a trunk that transformed into a writing desk, writes Laura Chesters.
He designed the portable desk with French luxury company Goyard, which made it. The resulting item was roughly the same size and weight as an ordinary travel trunk but would unfold into a writing desk with table, bookcase, typewriter and storage space.
Only seven were made, two of which are owned by Goyard. One is in a French museum while the whereabouts of another is unknown.