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The Best of Sherlock Holmes

 

Sidney Paget Memorabilia and
Sherlock Holmes Association Items

by Randall Stock, August 3, 2016

 

Sidney Paget established the classic image of Sherlock Holmes. His family retained a collection of Holmes drawings and related material until the 1980s, when his son, the Reverend John R. Paget, sold most of it at Sotheby's.

 

 

History and Auctions of Paget Memorabilia

 

Sidney Paget depicted a number of his own possessions in drawings for the Holmes stories. He also retained papers, books, and other items associated with Sherlock Holmes. His family kept this collection for more than 70 years after the artist's death. Winifred Paget, his oldest daughter, loaned a number of these items for the 1951 Sherlock Holmes Exhibition. Some then went on display in 1957 at the Sherlock Holmes Pub in Northumberland Street, and stayed there for more than 20 years.

 

After Winifred's death in 1979 and the death of her sister Mollie in 1980, their brother the Reverend John Rodborough Paget decided it was time to disperse this material. He sent 12 lots to auction at Sotheby's in London on July 25, 1980. The material included four original Sherlock Holmes drawings, a silver cigarette case given to Paget by Conan Doyle, Paget archival material, and a number of objects depicted in various Holmes drawings. The sale attracted keen interest, with the Paget lots bringing more than £10,700, or roughly US$25,600.

 

A year later, the Rev. J. R. Paget sent two more Sherlockian association items to auction. Sotheby's London sold a single lot on July 22, 1981 that included the corduroy waistcoat depicted in "A Scandal in Bohemia" and a photo of Paget wearing a deerstalker.

 

All of these items are listed below. The Paget family still retains a number of Sidney Paget paintings, as well as some non-Sherlockian Paget drawings.

 

See also the Sources section of this page for articles and other info about the auctions.

 

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Sidney Paget Artifacts

 

The following items previously owned by Sidney Paget are listed in this section:

 

 

 

The popular image of Sherlock Holmes includes a deerstalker, a curved pipe, and a magnifying glass. Shown here is Sidney Paget's magnifying glass, accompanied by part of a Paget illustration from The Hound of the Baskervilles. The magnifying glass is 9 inches long and the lens is 4 inches wide.

 

Sidney Paget's son J. R. Paget noted that this magnifying glass was kept "in the top drawer of my mother’s bureau" and "as her sight began to fail, she would often ask me to pass her 'the Sherlock Holmes glass' which was beyond her reach."

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Nicholas Utechin (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 267.  A.L.s., John Paget to Nicholas Utechin, August 2, 1980 (held by Utechin).  Nicholas Utechin emails July 2015.  Photo courtesy of Nicholas Utechin.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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According to Watson in "The Six Napoleons," Holmes's favorite weapon was a loaded hunting-crop. Shown here is a hunting crop owned by Sidney Paget, along with part of his illustration from "The Red-Headed League," in which "Holmes's hunting crop came down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone floor."

 

This hunting crop is 27 inches long, plus another 4 inches for the leather strap. A crop's handle is used for opening gates while on horseback. The leather loop can be used to secure the crop to your wrist, and to prevent the hounds from coming near your horse's legs.

 

In 1980, J. R. Paget said this crop had "hung in the hall of homes we have lived in since I can remember" and noted that his father "hunted with the Old Berkley Hunt from 1893 to 1900."

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Nicholas Utechin (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 267.  A.L.s., John Paget to Nicholas Utechin, August 2, 1980 (held by Utechin).  Nicholas Utechin emails July 2015.  Photo courtesy of Nicholas Utechin.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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Conan Doyle certainly recognized Paget's contribution to the success of the Holmes tales. The author asked for Paget to illustrate other stories, commissioned Paget to paint his portrait, and gave Paget a silver cigarette case as a wedding gift on 1 June 1893. Paget's diary entry for that wedding day, according to his daughter Winifred, said he was "most delighted at breakfast time to find a beautiful silver cigarette case from 'Sherlock Holmes' had come as a present."

 

In 1952, Winifred Paget described the cigarette case as one of her father's "most treasured possessions."

 

Conan Doyle had the 3.5 x 2.75 x 0.75 inch case inscribed as "From Sherlock Holmes, 1893." The 1980 Sotheby's catalogue called it the "only known object or book with an inscription by Sherlock Holmes." It bears the hallmark of Charles Boyton, London, 1892.

 

Exhibited:

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  A. K. Shiel of Edinburgh (from Sotheby's 1980);  Richard Lancelyn Green (from Sotheby's 1989, held to death in March 2004);  City of Portsmouth (bequeathed by Lancelyn Green).

 

Notes: Loaned by Winifred Paget for the 1951 Holmes Exhibition in London (item #42), and by Portsmouth to the 2014 Museum of London Exhibition (p. 18, case 2d).  Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, Lot 265.  Sotheby's catalogue 20 July 1989, part of Lot 117.  Scuttlebutt June & Aug. 1989.  Photo courtesy of Portsmouth Museum Service.  (Last updated: 8/18/15)

 

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Sidney Paget's waistcoat appears in "A Scandal in Bohemia," the first Holmes story published by The Strand Magazine. Shown here is part of Paget's illustration of Sherlock Holmes in the disguise of "a drunken-looking groom." His waistcoat, or vest in American English, thus dates to before July 1891.

 

Byerly describes the actual wide-ribbed corduroy waistcoat as "a mix between tawny and a dark mustard brown," with a satin back, and lining that was "originally alternating blue and green pinstripes on a white background." It has two pockets and a watch pocket.

 

Repairs and wear-marks on the waistcoat suggest considerable use by Paget. Only four of the six buttons match, and the lining has been patched with two different kinds of cloth.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1981);  Ann Byerly Marlowe (from Sotheby's 1981, purchased by Sawyer (likely the dealer Charles J. Sawyer) on behalf of Byerly's agent, the George S. MacManus Company).

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 22 July 1981, part of Lot 111.  Ann Byerly Marlowe emails July 2015.  (Last updated: 8/11/15)

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Holmes had at least three dressing-gowns: a blue one, a purple one, and a mouse-colored one. Watson mentions it in more than 10 stories, and according to Sotheby's, Paget drew Holmes wearing a dressing-gown in six illustrations.

 

Paget's dressing gown has two patch pockets and a cord. Auction reports state that it sold to a private American buyer named Sayer.

 

Exhibited:

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Sayer (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Loaned by Winifred Paget for the 1951 Holmes Exhibition in London (page 59), and to the Sherlock Holmes Pub from its opening in 1957.  Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, Lot 266.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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This table appeared in Paget's drawings for the Holmes stories, and the Paget family continued to use it until the 1980 auction. It might have been displayed in the 1951 Holmes Exhibition, but was not listed separately in that catalogue (see page 59).

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Bernard Quaritch, a dealer (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 268.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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Paget's daughter Winifred recalls "an old cane chair that we had kept all these years out of sentiment," which she then loaned to the 1951 Exhibition and later to the Sherlock Holmes Pub. The artist added rockers to his drawing of this chair in "The Stock-broker's Clerk."

 

Shown here is part of his drawing from "The Greek Interpreter," along with part of a photo from the 221B room at the 1951 Exhibition. Westminster Libraries has another photo of Paget's chair at the exhibition.

 

Exhibited:

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Bernard Quaritch, a dealer (from Sotheby's 1980, reported sold in 1980);  The Sherlock Holmes Museum (reported 2009?-present).

 

Besides the chair in their "study," the Sherlock Holmes Museum also has a wicker chair on display (blog photos) that looks like the chair in Paget's drawings.  The Museum states that this was Paget's chair, but its provenance has not been confirmed.

 

Please send me e-mail if you have info about the authenticity (or not) of this chair. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Loaned by Winifred Paget for the 1951 Holmes Exhibition in London (page 59), and to the Sherlock Holmes Pub from its opening in 1957.  Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 268.  (Last updated: 8/3/16)

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These two chairs appeared in Paget's drawings for the Holmes stories, and the Paget family continued to use them until their sale in 1980. They might have been displayed in the 1951 Holmes Exhibition, but were not listed separately in that catalogue (see page 59).

 

Shown here is one of two chairs on display at the 2014 Museum of London Exhibition. Roger Johnson's Flickr album of that Exhibition has another view of this chair. Although the second chair was obscured, the two chairs do not appear to be from a matched set. Described as "round-backed chairs" at the exhibition, the associated catalogue lists them as "Two mahogany chairs, c. 1875" (p. 80).

 

Exhibited:

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Bernard Quaritch, a dealer (from Sotheby's 1980);  Felicity Browne, playwright and antiquarian bookseller (from Quaritch in 1980, died 2013);  Current owner (acquired 2013).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of the other chair. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 268.  Emails July-Oct. 2015 from Nicholas Utechin, Catherine Cooke, and Roger Johnson.  Photo courtesy of Catherine Cooke.  (Last updated: 10/20/15)

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In addition to the two dining chairs above, the Paget family continued to use three other chairs that appeared in Paget's drawings for the Holmes stories. The family sold all these chairs in 1980. Some or all of them might have been displayed in the 1951 Holmes Exhibition, but they were not listed separately in that catalogue (see page 59).

 

Currently there are no details available on these three chairs.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Bernard Quaritch, a dealer (from Sotheby's 1980, reported sold piecemeal in 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of any of the chairs, or know who owns any of them. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 268.  (Last updated: 10/20/15)

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Sidney Paget Papers & Books

 

The following items, forming a Sidney Paget archive, are listed in this section:

 

 

Although Conan Doyle never actually used the term "deerstalker" in his stories, Paget established the cap as an icon for Sherlock Holmes. According to Paget's daughter, the artist liked wearing a deerstalker while living in the country, and this inspired him to depict Holmes wearing the cap.

 

Shown here is part of what Sotheby's described in 1981 as the only existing photo of Sidney Paget wearing a deerstalker. He is boating on the Colne circa 1890. The entire photo appears in Byerly's main 1983 BSM article.

 

As to the actual deerstalker cap, in 1950 his daughter wrote it was "savagely attacked by moths who apparently are no respecters of ancient relics and reluctantly my mother consigned it to the dustbin."

 

Exhibited:

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1981);  Ann Byerly Marlowe (from Sotheby's 1981, purchased by Sawyer (likely the dealer Charles J. Sawyer) on behalf of Byerly's agent, the George S. MacManus Company).

 

Notes: Photograph loaned by Winifred Paget for the 1951 Holmes Exhibition in London (item #19).  Sotheby's catalogue 22 July 1981, part of Lot 111.  Ann Byerly Marlowe emails July 2015.  Photo courtesy of Goode Press.  (Last updated: 8/11/15)

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Conan Doyle sent this undated 1-page letter from Haslemere to Sidney Paget to arrange a meeting in London. The handwritten letter is signed by Conan Doyle. It's not yet confirmed that Portsmouth acquired this with the rest of Lancelyn Green's collection.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  A. K. Shiel of Edinburgh (from Sotheby's 1980);  Richard Lancelyn Green (from Sotheby's 1989, held to death in March 2004);  City of Portsmouth (bequeathed by Lancelyn Green).

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, Lot 259.  Sotheby's catalogue 20 July 1989, part of Lot 117.  Scuttlebutt June & Aug. 1989.  (Last updated: 8/18/15)

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Paget was married in June 1893, and this 40-page diary for that month records his wedding day and honeymoon. It includes a pencil drawing, and mentions drawings for the Holmes stories as well as Conan Doyle's wedding gift of a silver cigarette case.

 

In her main 1983 BSM article, Ann Byerly says the diary is "filled with pencil sketches," quotes the entry for June 12, 1893, and notes the diary was owned by a Canadian private collector. A brief quote from the diary for June 1 appears in Winifred Paget's 1954 article about her father.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Maurice Neville, for dealers including Peter L. Stern (from Sotheby's 1980);  Unidentified Canadian private collector (held in 1983);  Private Collector (acquired 2008 or earlier).

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 264.  (Last updated: 8/11/15)

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Paget recorded the fees paid to him in a receipt book made up of two handwritten volumes covering 1878 to 1901 and 1906 to 1907. They include payments for illustrating Holmes stories and for painting an oil portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Rev. J. R. Paget annotated both volumes.

 

Ann Byerly notes that Sidney Paget's account book was owned by a Canadian private collector, and discusses many of the entries in her main 1983 BSM article.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Maurice Neville, for dealers including Peter L. Stern (from Sotheby's 1980);  Unidentified Canadian private collector (held in 1983).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 264.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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Sidney Paget married Edith Hounsfield on June 1, 1893. Edith's mother, Fanny Hounsfield, sent her daughter this eight-page handwritten letter the next day, and mentions the cigarette case from Sherlock Holmes. The letter is signed by Edith's mother, and was accompanied by the original envelope and two cards.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Maurice Neville, for dealers including Peter L. Stern (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, part of Lot 264.  (Last updated: 9/2/15)

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Sidney Paget illustrated a number of Conan Doyle stories besides the Sherlock Holmes series. First serialized in The Strand Magazine with illustrations by Paget, Rodney Stone is a Conan Doyle novel about boxing in the Regency period. Smith, Elder & Co. published the first English book edition in November 1896 and included 8 plates with Paget illustrations. It did not credit Paget on the book's title page.

 

This was Paget's own copy of that English first edition, with his signature on the half-title page and his name added to title page.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Artist (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, Lot 258.  The price list named the buyer as "Artist," but that might be a pseudonym.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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Paget provided many illustrations for The Strand Magazine, beginning with its first number in January 1891 and appearing in 50 stories throughout its first five years. This included 201 illustrations for the first 24 Holmes short stories.

 

He retained copies of the first 10 volumes of The Strand (1891-1895), bound in contemporary red half roan and with a list of Holmes and Paget references inserted loosely.

 

History: Sidney Paget;  Miss Winifred Paget and the Reverend John R. Paget (children of Sidney Paget, sold by J. R. Paget at Sotheby's in 1980);  Watt (from Sotheby's 1980).

 

Please send me e-mail if you have a photo of this item or know who owns it. I keep names private upon request.

 

Notes: Sotheby's catalogue 24 & 25 July 1980, Lot 257.  (Last updated: 7/30/15)

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Holmes Drawings Sold by the Paget Family

 

The 1980 auction at Sotheby's included the following Holmes drawings:

 

See the Census of Sidney Paget drawings for a complete list of his Holmes and his non-Sherlockian drawings that are still known to exist.

 

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More About Sidney Paget

 

See the census of Sidney Paget Drawings & Artwork.

 

See the Sidney Paget Biography section from Part I of the census.

 

See the list of Paget Exhibitions section from Part I of the census.

 

See the Sidney Paget Paintings page for Part II of the census with portraits, oil and watercolor paintings.

 

Please send me e-mail if you have additions, corrections or suggestions for this checklist.

 

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Notes, Sources & Acknowledgements

 

Ownership and descriptions have been personally confirmed by me with the owner unless noted otherwise. Abbreviated dates are in the American form of Month/Day/Year.

 

Owners: A "Private Collector" is someone who requested anonymity for this online census.  I will forward email to the owner if you have a question for them.

 

History: Lists prior owners and some sales, but might not be complete.

 

Byerly, Ann. "Sidney Paget: Victorian Black-and-White Illustrator," Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 35 (Autumn 1983), 1-16. Her article and this entire issue of BSM contains a wealth of Paget information that is well worth reading.  Available on CD-ROM.

 

Byerly, Ann. "Sidney Paget's Waistcoat," Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 35 (Autumn 1983), 35-37. Includes photo of the waistcoat. See also her article above.

 

Lellenberg, MacKenzie, and Blau. "The Sidney Paget Auction," Baker Street Miscellanea, No. 23 (Fall 1980), 9-15. Three articles about the 1980 auction.

 

Paget, Winifred. "Sherlock Holmes's Deerstalker," The Picture Post, (December 16, 1950). Reprinted in The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook (1986) ed. by Peter Haining, on page 70.

 

Paget, Winifred. "Full Circle," Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (May 1952), 27-28.

 

Paget, Winifred. "He Made Holmes Real," John O'London's Weekly, Vol. 63 (February 19, 1954), 177. A revised and expanded version of her 1952 article. Reprinted in A Sherlock Holmes Compendium (1980) ed. by Peter Haining, on pp. 41-45.

 

Scuttlebutt from the Spermaceti Press by Peter E. Blau, various issues.  This invaluable Sherlockian newsletter is available online for 1985+ via <http://redcircledc.org/index.php?id=39>.

 

Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. Catalogue..., 24 & 25 July 1980, London (Hodgson's Rooms). The Paget material ("The Property of the Rev. J. R. Paget") consisted of Lots 257–268 and sold on July 25 with a 10% buyer's premium.

 

Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. Catalogue..., 22 July 1981, London (Grosvenor Saleroom). Lot 111 ("The Property of the Rev. J. R. Paget") included the waistcoat and the photograph of Paget in a deerstalker, and sold with a 10% buyer's premium.

 

Sotheby Parke Bernet & Co. Catalogue..., 20 July 1989, London. Lot 117 (consignor not identified) included the cigarette case and Conan Doyle's letter to Paget in a single lot, and sold with a 10% buyer's premium.

 

Utechin, Nicholas.  "A Day at the Sales," Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Winter 1980), 1. About the 1980 auction.

 

Utechin, Nicholas and Catherine Cooke.  Sherlock Holmes: A Catalogue of the Exhibition.  London & New York: The Quartering Press, 2015.  See my review of the catalogue.

 

 

Special thanks to Nick Utechin for inspiring this checklist and helping with its development.

 

My thanks also to everyone who offered their expertise and knowledge, including Ted Bergman, Peter E. Blau, Meghan R. Constantinou, Catherine Cooke, Roger Johnson, Ann Byerly Marlowe, and others who preferred to remain anonymous.

 

Please send me e-mail if you have additions, corrections or suggestions for this checklist.

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Exhibitions of Sidney Paget Memorabilia

 

See also this longer list of Sidney Paget exhibitions.

 

Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Never Lived and Will Never Die

17 October 2014 – 12 April 2015

The Museum of London: Sherlock Holmes Artwork & Rarities

It included eight original Holmes drawings by Paget, plus Paget's painting of Sir Arthur and Conan Doyle's wedding gift to Paget.

The Exhibition Catalogue has color photos of all the Paget art and commentary on the drawings by two collectors.

 

1951 Sherlock Holmes Exhibition (Festival of Britain)

May – September 1951

Catalogue of an Exhibition held at Abbey House, Baker Street, London

Memorabilia and seven original Paget drawings.

 

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More Sherlock Holmes Rarities

 

See the census of Sidney Paget Drawings & Artwork.

 

This website has information on many Conan Doyle manuscripts, including both Sherlock Holmes and non-Holmes material.

 

The site also has details on other rarities, including a census of Beeton's Christmas Annual 1887 with the first Sherlock Holmes story, and a census of the rare first edition of "The Unique Hamlet", a Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Vincent Starrett.

 

While not rare, there are also lists of the each year's best Sherlock Holmes books & DVDs, the best Holmes stories, and the most famous Sherlock Holmes quotes.

 

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