Sidney Paget

Sidney Edward Paget (4 October 1860 – 28 January 1908) was the English illustrator responsible for the original Sherlock Holmes illustrations in The Strand Magazine. He illustrated one novel and 37 short stories — approximately 356 published drawings in total — and in doing so created the definitive visual image of Holmes and Watson that has shaped every adaptation since.

Biography

Early life and training

Born in Clerkenwell, London, the fifth of nine children of Robert Paget (vestry clerk) and Martha Clarke (music teacher). Educated at Cowper Street School, then the Heatherley School of Fine Art, before enrolling at the Royal Academy Schools in 1881. He distinguished himself there, winning second place in the Armitage competition in 1885 and first place and medal in 1886 for a biblical painting. He established a studio in Kensington and built a dual career as a portrait painter and periodical illustrator.

Family of illustrators

Three Paget brothers became professional illustrators:

Henry Marriott Paget (1856–1936) — the eldest; portraitist and magazine illustrator
Sidney Edward Paget (1860–1908) — the subject of this page
Walter Stanley Paget (1863–1935) — also a prominent illustrator; Sidney reportedly used Walter as the model for Holmes’s face, which is said to be one reason Holmes appears more conventionally handsome than Doyle’s prose description suggests

Personal life

Married Edith Hounsfield on 1 June 1893 — the same year Doyle gave him a silver cigarette case inscribed “From Sherlock Holmes, 1893” as a wedding gift. Six children: Leslie Robert (1894–1942), Winifred, Edith Muriel, Evelyn Mereoah, Beryl May (1902–1955), and John.

Death

Suffered from a painful chest complaint in his final years — likely caused by lead paint inhalation. Died in Margate, Kent, on 28 January 1908, aged 47. Death certificate gives cause as “Mediastinal tumour, 3 years, exhaustion.” He did not live to see His Last Bow or The Case-Book.

Sherlock Holmes illustrations

Collections illustrated

Paget illustrated four of the five short story collections and both Strand-serialised novels:

Work	Period	Approx. illustrations
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	Jul 1891–Jun 1892	~102
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Dec 1892–Dec 1893	~90
The Hound of the Baskervilles	Aug 1901–Apr 1902	61
The Return of Sherlock Holmes	Oct 1903–Dec 1904	~71
Total		~356

He did not illustrate The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, or The Case-Book — he died in 1908, before those were written or serialised.

Story-by-story illustration count

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Code	Story	Illustrations
SCAN	A Scandal in Bohemia	10
REDH	The Red-Headed League	10
IDEN	A Case of Identity	7
BOSC	The Boscombe Valley Mystery	10
FIVE	The Five Orange Pips	6
TWIS	The Man with the Twisted Lip	8
BLUE	The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle	8
SPEC	The Adventure of the Speckled Band	9
ENGI	The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb	8
NOBL	The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor	8
BERY	The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet	8
COPP	The Adventure of the Copper Beeches	9

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Code	Story	Illustrations
SILV	Silver Blaze	9
CARD	The Adventure of the Cardboard Box	7
YELL	The Adventure of the Yellow Face	7
STOC	The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk	7
GLOR	The Adventure of the Gloria Scott	7
MUSG	The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual	6
REIG	The Adventure of the Reigate Squire	8
CROO	The Adventure of the Crooked Man	7
RESI	The Adventure of the Resident Patient	6
GREE	The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter	8
NAVA	The Adventure of the Naval Treaty	15
FINA	The Adventure of the Final Problem	9

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Code	Work	Illustrations
HOUN	The Hound of the Baskervilles	61

The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Code	Story	Illustrations
EMPT	The Adventure of the Empty House	7
NORW	The Adventure of the Norwood Builder	7
DANC	The Adventure of the Dancing Men	9
SOLI	The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist	7
PRIO	The Adventure of the Priory School	10
BLAC	The Adventure of Black Peter	7
CHAS	The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton	—
SIXN	The Adventure of the Six Napoleons	—
3STU	The Adventure of the Three Students	—
GOLD	The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez	—
MISS	The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter	—
ABBE	The Adventure of the Abbey Grange	—
SECO	The Adventure of the Second Stain	—

(Individual counts for the final 7 Return stories are not confirmed in available sources; all were illustrated.)

The deerstalker and Inverness cape

Paget’s most consequential artistic decision: Holmes wears neither the deerstalker nor the Inverness cape in Doyle’s prose — Doyle describes only an “ear-flapped travelling cap” in SILV. Paget introduced the deerstalker in his illustrations for BOSC (October 1891) and made it iconic in SILV (December 1892). The Inverness cape followed. These two elements, invented by Paget, became the globally recognised costume of Sherlock Holmes.

Conan Doyle later acknowledged that “Paget’s image of Sherlock Holmes was much better than his own description of the Great Detective.”

Other illustration work

Beyond Holmes, Paget was a prolific illustrator for major Victorian periodicals:

The Strand Magazine — general illustration beyond Holmes
The Sphere
The Graphic
The Illustrated London News
The Pall Mall Magazine
Pictorial World
Arthur Morrison’s Martin Hewitt detective stories — Paget illustrated the second major fictional detective series of the 1890s, making him the defining illustrator of Victorian detective fiction
The Tragedy of the Korosko (Doyle, 1898) — Doyle novel set in Egypt; Wikimedia Commons category
The Croxley Master (Doyle, 1899) — Doyle boxing story; Wikimedia Commons category
The Crime of the Brigadier (Doyle) — from the Brigadier Gerard series; Wikimedia Commons category
The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings (L.T. Meade & Robert Eustace) — non-Doyle; Wikimedia Commons category
Royal Academy exhibitions — 18 paintings submitted 1879–1905, including 9 portraits

Illustrations on Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

All Paget Holmes illustrations are in the public domain. Organised by collection on Wikimedia Commons:

Collection	Wikimedia Commons category
All Holmes by Paget	Main category
The Adventures	Adventures category
The Memoirs	Memoirs category
The Hound of the Baskervilles	Hound category
The Return	Return category
SCAN (A Scandal in Bohemia)	SCAN category
FINA (The Final Problem)	FINA category
BERY (The Beryl Coronet)	BERY category
All Paget Strand illustrations	Strand category
Paget general	Sidney Paget category

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