Dear Pinaki and other SHians,

Like has been discussed before, a few of us watched the Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes in serial form in the mid 80s. The very first image that I have is of
Holmes and Watson sitting by the fireside in their cosy chairs, Holmes with a
pipe in his hand explaining something to Watson who is formally dressed and is
all attention. Subsequently, when I first read the Canon the illustrations by
Sidney Paget reminded me of that very first image of Holmes that I had in my
mind and only made that image stronger. So I would have to say Paget's pictures
had a lot to do with how I always picture Holmes.


Sridhar.


pinaki roy <monkaroy@...> wrote:
Dear Sherlockians,

This has reference to Mr. Johnny’s question regarding “The Tangled Skin”. I do
not think “The Tangled Skin” was to have any supernatural connotation. From the
draft of the story (Arthur Conan Doyle started writing it on 8 March 1886), a
copy of which Allen Eyles has provided in the 12th page of “Sherlock Holmes: A
Centenary Celebration” (London: John Murray, 1986), it appears that Doyle was
initially without any particular idea about how the detective story would
develop, but obviously he had ‘murder in his mind’. Probably the mass of skin
was to be of a victim brutally annihilated by an initially-unknown assailant. It
is interesting that Doyle aimed, even from the first draft, at demeaning
detective characters created by other writers like Poe and Gaboriau. The writer
had scribbled, “Lecoq was a burglar – Dupin was better.” In the first draft of
that story, John H. Watson and Sherlock Holmes appeared respectively as ‘Ormond
Sacker’ and ‘Sherrinford Holmes’. The story was
purchased for a mere 25 pounds by M/s. Ward, Lock and Company, and was published
as “A Study in Scarlet” in “Beeton’s Christmas Annual”, November 1886. And the
rest, as we know, is history.

Sumal, I think this topic may be taken up for discussion. Though D.H.Friston was
the first artist to depict Sherlock Holmes, followed by Charles Doyle, most of
the Sherlock Holmes illustrations in “The Strand Magazine” were drawn by Sidney
Paget (for 38 adventures). It is often put forward as hypothesis that Sidney
Paget modelled Sherlock Holmes on his brother Walter, whereas for Watson, he
employed a slightly-modified image of Doyle himself. I ask for the Sherlockians’
valuable opinion regarding how much have had our conception about the detective
in his deerstalker and wooden pipe been influenced by Sidney Paget’s
illustrations.

Yours sincerely,

(Pinaki Roy, Ph.D.)




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