Daily Casefile · Verdict
A Rare Volume at Quill & Crown
≈ 4 min
On 2 September 2026, collector Vivienne Pask purchased what she believed to be an authentic 1887 first edition of 'A Study in Scarlet' from Quill & Crown for £9,500. A subsequent assessment by a third party raised questions about the volume's authenticity, and Trading Standards opened an inquiry into whether Reginald Ashby had knowingly sold a forgery. Ashby insists he purchased the book in good faith from a dealer and had no reason to doubt its provenance. The question before you is whether Ashby knew — or should have known — the book was not genuine when he sold it to Ms Pask.
Subject
Reginald Ashby, proprietor of Quill & Crown Antiquarian Books
Charged with Knowingly selling a forged first edition — specifically, passing off a counterfeit 1887 first-edition copy of Arthur Conan Doyle's 'A Study in Scarlet' as genuine, for £9,500
The scene
Quill & Crown Antiquarian Books, a cluttered three-room vintage bookshop in York, England, present day — comprising a front sales floor, a back cataloguing room, and a glass-fronted display cabinet reserved for the shop's most valuable stock.
The witnesses
- Vivienne Pask — Purchaser and complainant
- Delia Crane — Ashby's bookshop assistant and long-term employee
- Professor Aldous Morrow — Retired bibliographer, called by Trading Standards as an independent expert
- Harold Fenwick Jr. — Son of the estate from which Ashby purchased the volume
Play today’s Verdict.
This case first aired on September 13, 2026. A fresh verdict runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.