Sidney Paget | |
|---|---|
 Paget inc. 1890 | |
| Born | Sidney Edward Paget (1860-10-04)4 October 1860 Clerkenwell, London, England |
| Died | 28 January 1908(1908-01-28) (aged 47) |
| Notable work | The Strand Magazine illustrations |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
Sidney Edward Paget (/ˈpædʒɪt/;[1] 4 October 1860 – 28 January 1908) was a British artist of theVictorian era, best known for his illustrations that accompaniedArthur Conan Doyle'sSherlock Holmes stories inThe Strand Magazine.
Sidney Paget was the fifth of nine children born to Robert Paget, the vestry clerk ofSt. James and St. John inClerkenwell, and Martha Paget (née Clarke), a music professor. In 1881 Paget entered theRoyal Academy Schools. Here he befriended Alfred Morris Butler, an architecture student who may have become the model for Paget's illustrations ofDr. John Watson. Between 1879 and 1905 Paget contributed eighteen paintings, including nine portraits, to the Royal Academy exhibitions.
Paget's drawings appeared in theStrand Magazine, thePictorial World,The Sphere,The Graphic,The Illustrated London News, andThe Pall Mall Magazine, and his work became well known in both the United Kingdom and United States. He provided illustrations forArthur Morrison's Martin Hewitt detective stories andArthur Conan Doyle'sSherlock Holmes work, doing much to popularise both series.
On 1 June 1893, Sidney Paget married Edith Hounsfield (1865—1942 or 1932?), daughter of William Hounsfield, a farmer.[2] They had four daughters and two sons together: Leslie Robert (1894—1942); Winifred (1896); Edith Muriel (1897); Evelyn Mereoah (1899); Beryl May (1902—1955) and John L. Paget.
Sidney Paget died inMargate 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 inEast Finchley Cemetery. Two brothers,H.M. (Henry Marriott) Paget (1856–1936) andWal (Walter Stanley) Paget (1862–1935) were also successful portraitists and illustrators.[2]
Paget is best remembered as the creator of the popular image ofSherlock Holmes from the original publication of Conan Doyle's stories inThe Strand Magazine. He was originally hired to illustrateThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a series of twelve short stories that ran from July 1891 through June 1892.
In 1893, Paget illustratedThe Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, published inThe Strand as further episodes of theAdventures. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle revived the Sherlock Holmes series withThe Hound of the Baskervilles, serialised inThe 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" in 1893, almost every Holmes story inThe Strand featured a full-page illustration as well as many smaller ones.
Paget was the first to give Holmes hisdeerstalker cap andInverness cape – details never mentioned in the stories and novels.[3] The cap and cape 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 fromThe Return of Sherlock Holmes. (The curvedcalabash pipe was added by the stage actorWilliam Gillette.)
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 ofThe 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 andMoriarty in Mortal Combat at the Edge of theReichenbach Falls" was sold bySotheby's in New York on 16 November 2004 for $220,800.
Legend holds that the publishers ofThe Strand hired Paget accidentally when he mistakenly responded to a letter of commission intended for his younger brother Walter,[2] but a 2019 paper published in theBaker Street Journal found no evidence for this story and much against it.[4]Another commonly held belief – that Paget modeled his depiction of Holmes on that of Walter – was denied by their brother Henry Marriott Paget.[5]
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