Having previously visited sites relating to ‘The Strand Magazine’ and its publisher, George Newnes, it was time to celebrate the man who is responsible for the everlasting image that we have of the Great Detective (and his stalwart Watson). In 1891, the first Sherlock Holmes short stories were published in The Strand, and needing illustrations, the illustrator. Sidney Edward Paget was hired to provide these for ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’, a series of twelve short stories that ran from July 1891 through December 1892.
There are two main misconceptions in relation to this, the first is that the publishers accidentally sent him the letter of commission rather than his younger brother, Walter Paget; and the second that Paget subsequently based Holmes' appearance on that of Walter. However, there is no evidence of the former, and according to the 1912 Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "The assertion that the artist's brother Walter, or any other person, served as model for the portrait of Sherlock Holmes is incorrect." Henry Marriott (H.M.) Paget, brother and close friend of Sidney, is cited as the source of private information.
In 1893, Paget illustrated ‘The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes’, published in The Strand as further episodes of the Adventures. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle revived the Sherlock Holmes series with ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’, serialized in The Strand in 1901-02, he specifically requested that Paget be the illustrator. Paget went on to illustrate another short story series, ‘The Return of Sherlock Holmes’, in 1903-04. In all, he illustrated one Holmes novel and thirty-seven Holmes short stories. His illustrations have influenced every interpretation of the great detective in fiction, film and drama.
As Holmes' popularity grew, the illustrations became larger and more elaborate. Beginning with ‘The Adventure of the Final Problem’ in 1893, almost every Holmes story in The Strand featured a full-page illustration (the first being of the infamous Reichenbach Falls) as well as many smaller pictures within the text. The illustrations also gained a darker tone as Paget used the black-and-white medium to reflect the grim mood of the stories. The deep, shadowy look of Paget's illustrations probably influenced American detective movies and film noir. They have certainly influenced every film version of the Holmes stories.
Paget is also credited with giving the first deerstalker cap and Inverness cape to Holmes, details that were never mentioned in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing (the cap is described as an ‘ear-flapped travelling cap’). The cap and coat first appear in an illustration for ‘The Boscombe Valley Mystery’ in 1891 and reappear in ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’ in 1893. They also appear in a few illustrations from ‘The Return of Sherlock Holmes’. (The curved pipe was added by the stage actor William Gillette.) Paget was also known to wear a deerstalker cap himself on occasion.
Altogether, Paget did some 356 published drawings for the Sherlock Holmes series, and also painted a portrait for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1897–1898. Owned by his son Adrian Conan Doyle after his father's death, the picture was taken by Adrian to the Château de Lucens in Switzerland by the mid-1960's, where it is now on display in the Sherlock Holmes Museum in Lucens (visited by myself in 2008).
My planned sojourn would take in both ends of Paget’s life. Catching a Northern Line train from Morden to Angel, a five minute walk brought me to the DoubleTree by Hilton London Angel Kings Cross Hotel built on the site that formerly housed 60 Pentonville Road where on 4th October 1860, Sidney Paget was born, the son of Robert Paget (1819-28th June 1892), a vestry clerk at St James and St John in Clerkenwell, and his wife Martha née Clarke (c1830-1st January 1898), a music professor. The Hotel’s bar is called ‘60’ relating to its address. However, although the building where Paget was born no longer exists, it is likely to have looked like the houses opposite.
A seven minute walk took me to my second port of call, 19 Lloyd Square. Paget started drawing at an early age and studied at the British Museum for two years before entering Heatherley's School of Art, and in 1881 at the Royal Academy Schools. Paget contributed eighteen paintings, including nine portraits, to the Royal Academy exhibitions 1879-1905. A member of the Ipswich Art Club 1885-1891, in 1885 he exhibited from this address, an oil painting 'A Native of Blythburgh'.
Retracing my steps to Angel Station, I caught the Northern Line to East Finchley, reading more about Paget’s life. He married Edith Hounsfield, eldest daughter of William Hounsfield of Oxney Hall, at St Matthew's Church, Oxney, Watford on 1st June 1893, and they had four daughters and two sons. The family then moved to Margate.
Leaving the Underground, I caught a #143 bus, finishing my reading about Paget’s life. Around 1905, Paget developed a painful chest complaint which may have come from ingesting lead-based paint when sucking his brushes. He died at 16 Surrey Road, Margate on 28th January 1908, and was buried at my final port of call, East Finchley Cemetery.
I arrived at the cemetery to find it locked up despite it being twenty-five minutes after the displayed opening times. There was also a queue of cars that had arrived for a funeral. However, within two minutes, a member of staff appeared to unlock both the entrances. Taking the entrance away from the funeral party, I began my search for Paget’s grave, finding it after around twenty minutes by comparing online photos of it with the graves in front of me. The grave is marked by a cross with a P for Paget, and the inscription: ‘To the dear memory of Sidney Paget who died January 28th. 1908, aged 47 years. Until the day dawn. And of Edith, his wife, 1865-1942’. The sides of the memorial add the names of his children, Leslie (who died on active service in the RAF in the Second World War) and Beryl.
After his death in 1908, other illustrators imitated Paget's style when drawing Sherlock Holmes. The Paget illustrations have been reprinted in many Holmes anthologies. Paget did for Sherlock Holmes what John Tenniel did for Lewis Carroll's Alice stories: he defined the look of a truly great and original fictional character.
Catching the bus back to East Finchley station, I slowly made my way home.
