How Sherlock Holmes got his looks

A tall man in an Inverness cape and a deerstalker hat. Who else but Sherlock Holmes?

The features of Sherlock Holmes are no secret for the enthusiasts of Conan Doyle’s stories. But few know how did he get his looks.

It was by mistake that the artist Sindey Paget ended up chosen to illustrate Holmes’ stories. The editor of Strand magazine wanted to appoint his brother but the commission fell accidentely in the hands of Sindney.

Sidney Paget did all the 350 illustrations for the stories of Conan Doyle published in the Strand Magazine

Paget’s version of the sleuth followed the clues of the stories. But, originally, Sidney gave Holmes an Inverness cape and the deerstalker hat.

When Conan Doyle first saw the drawings he is said to have thought Page made Holmes slightly too handsome. Nevertheless, the writer got on well with page and Homes kept the new look.

The Holmes drawings of Sidney Paget, influenced later illustrators and films.

“When people think, what does Sherlock Holmes looks like they will almost certainly be thinking of Paget’s drawings”, Gerrard Roots, exhibtion currator said.

The case of the Influential illustrator, on at the Church Farmhouse Museum, exhibits Paget’s drawings of Sherlock Holmes, until May 5. Free entry.

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