Sidney Edward Paget () (4 October 1860 – 28 January 1908) was a British artist of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

, best known for his illustrations that accompanied

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

stories in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

''.

Life

Sidney Paget was the fifth of nine children born to Robert Paget, the vestry clerk of St. James and St. John in

Clerkenwell Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England. Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The well after which it was named was redisco ...

, and Martha Paget (née Clarke), a music professor. In 1881 Paget entered the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

Schools. Here he befriended Alfred Morris Butler, an architecture student who may have become the model for Paget's illustrations of Dr. John Watson. Between 1879 and 1905 Paget contributed eighteen paintings, including nine portraits, to the Royal Academy exhibitions. Paget's drawings appeared in the '' Strand Magazine'', the ''

Pictorial World An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'', ''

The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latt ...

'', ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

'', and ''

The Pall Mall Magazine ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and ge ...

'', and his work became well known in both the United Kingdom and United States. He provided illustrations for

Arthur Morrison Arthur George Morrison (1 November 1863 – 4 December 1945) was an English writer and journalist known for realistic novels, for stories about working-class life in the East End of London, and for detective stories featuring a specific detect ...

's Martin Hewitt detective stories and

work, doing much to popularise both series. On 1 June 1893, Sidney Paget married Edith Hounsfield (born 1865), daughter of William Hounsfield, a farmer. They had four daughters and two sons together: Leslie Robert (1894); Winifred (1896); Edith Muriel (1897); Evelyn Mereoah (1899); Beryl May (1902) and John L. Paget. Sidney Paget died in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

on 28 January 1908, at age 47, after suffering from a painful chest complaint for the last few years of his life. According to his death certificate, the cause of death was " Mediastinal tumour, 3 years, exhaustion". Mediastinal tumours are growths that form in the central chest; as they grow, they increasingly constrict the lungs. The condition is rare, with unknown causes, and in the early twentieth century led to a painful and certain death. Paget was buried in

East Finchley Cemetery East Finchley Cemetery is a cemetery and crematorium in East End Road, East Finchley. Although it is in the London Borough of Barnet, it is owned and managed by the City of Westminster.Wal (Walter Stanley) Paget (1863–1935) were also successful portraitists and illustrators.

''The Strand'' illustrations

Sidney Paget Wearing His Deerstalker Cap

Paget is best remembered as the creator of the popular image of

from the original publication of Conan Doyle's stories in ''The Strand Magazine''. He was originally hired to illustrate ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, w ...

'', a series of twelve short stories that ran from July 1891 through June 1892. In 1893, Paget illustrated ''

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ''The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published late in 1893 with 1894 date. It was first published in the UK by G. Newnes Ltd., and was published in the US by Harper & ...

'', 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 ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...

'', serialised 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 37 Holmes short stories. His illustrations have influenced interpretations of the detective in fiction, film and drama. ''The Strand'' became one of Great Britain's most famous fiction magazines, with the Holmes series its most popular feature. As Holmes' popularity grew, Paget's illustrations became larger and more elaborate. Beginning with "

The Adventure of the Final Problem "The Final Problem" is a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in the United Kingdom, and ''McClure's'' in the United States, under the title " ...

" in 1893, almost every Holmes story in ''The Strand'' featured a full-page illustration as well as many smaller ones. Paget was the first to give Holmes his

deerstalker A deerstalker is a type of cap that is typically worn in rural areas, often for hunting, especially deer stalking. Because of the cap's popular association with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, it has become stereotypical headgear f ...

cap and

Inverness cape The Inverness cape is a form of weatherproof outer-coat. It is notable for being sleeveless, the arms emerging from armholes beneath a cape. It has become associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. History The garment began in ...

details never mentioned in the stories and novels. The cap and cape first appear in an illustration for "

The Boscombe Valley Mystery "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", one of the fifty-six short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the fourth of the twelve stories in ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in the ''Strand Magazine'' ...

" in 1891 and reappear in "

The Adventure of Silver Blaze "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the first from the 12 in the cycle collected as '' The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in ''The Strand Magaz ...

" in 1893; they also appear in a few illustrations from '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. (The curved

calabash pipe A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber (the bowl) for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simp ...

was added by the stage actor

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...

.) Altogether, Paget did some 356 published drawings for the Sherlock Holmes series. His depictions of Holmes became iconic and other illustrators found themselves compelled to imitate his style in their own depictions of Holmes. A complete set of ''The Strand'' issues featuring the illustrated Sherlock Holmes tales is one of the rarest and most expensive collector's items in publishing history. Paget's original 6.75 x 10.5-inch drawing of "Holmes and Moriarty in Mortal Combat at the Edge of the

Reichenbach Falls The Reichenbach Falls (german: Reichenbachfälle) are a waterfall cascade of seven steps on the stream called Rychenbach in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. They drop over a total height of about . At , the upper falls, known as the ...

" was sold by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in New York on 16 November 2004 for $220,800. Legend holds that the publishers of ''The Strand'' hired Paget accidentally when he mistakenly responded to a letter of commission intended for his younger brother Walter, but a 2019 paper published in the ''

Baker Street Journal ''The Baker Street Journal'' is a quarterly journal devoted to Sherlockiana published by The Baker Street Irregulars. Leslie S. Klinger has called it "the leading publication" in the study of Sherlock Holmes. History After the formation of The ...

'' found no evidence for this story and much against it. Another commonly held beliefthat Paget modeled his depiction of Holmes on that of Walterwas denied by their brother Henry Marriott Paget.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, 1912

Notes and references

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paget, Sidney 1860 births 1908 deaths British illustrators Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle People from Maesteg Artists' Rifles soldiers Burials at East Finchley Cemetery British children's book illustrators