4 Covert Notes J une

What did Sherlock

Above illustration by
Frederic Dorr Steele for
Colliers, October 31, 1903.
F
OR OVER A CENTURY, artists have presented diverse
likenesses of Sherlock Holmes. In his Memories
and Adventures Arthur Conan Doyle described him
as very tallover six feetbut so excessively lean
that he seemed considerably taller. He had a thin razor-
like face, with a great hawks bill of a nose, and two small
eyes, set close together.
Of the dozens of artists who illustrated Sherlock
Holmes two stand towering over the others.
To Americans for over sixty years, the most well-
known portrayal was executed by Frederic Dorr Steele,
who used as his model, the American actor William
Gillette, when he began illustrating the Return series for
Colliers in 1903. Steele would illustrate nearly all the rest
of the tales, including the last ever written (and published)
in 1927.
In England, however, the authentic portrait of the great
detective had been that drawn by Sidney Paget for the
Strand Magazine, beginning in 1891, and continuing till
1904. Pagets model was less famous than Steeleshe
used his younger brother Walterbut his drawings of ink
and wash would become the definitive representations. It
has only been since William S. Baring-Gould included
many of theStrand illustrations in his Annotated Sherlock
Holmes (1968), that Americans became familiar with
Pagets inimitable British version.
On film, also, there are but two of the many actors who
have become most identified in the role. Basil Rathbone
began in 1939, appearing in two period films for 20th
Century Fox and a dozen B-pictures for Universal.
Rathbone would not be replaced in the hearts and
minds of Sherlockians for forty years. In 1984, Granada
TV began a series of rather faithful adaptations of Conan
Doyles stories featuring J eremy Brett in an idiosyncratic,
but highly popular portrayal. Though Brett may have
eclipsed Rathbone as Holmes, the non-reading public
probably still identifies Nigel Bruce as epitomizing
Watson, an unflattering image no amount of fine acting by
David Burke or Edward Hardwicke has been able to
eradicate.
1997 Covert Notes 5
The unforgettable Basil Rathbone, still
THE face and voice of Sherlock Holmes to
many fans around the world.
Holmes look like?
Sidney Pagets
view was that of
a leaner, more
aesthetic-looking
Holmes than that
of Steeles.
The late Jeremy
Brett brought a
unique perspective
to the role,
imbuing the
character with a
manic energy
which drew to a
large extent upon
his own
personality.
This article was inspired by a piece which originally appeared in Tage la Cours and Harald Mogensens
The Murder Book: An Illustrated History of the Detective Story (1971).