IT'S AN ELEMENTARY COVER, MY DEAR WATSON

NEED A FIX? No, no, no, not the seven-per-cent solution. I wouldn't push that trauma on anyone. I'm talking about a visual fix of the Great Detective; his attire, his accoutrements and his unmistakable visage. And really, who could we find that's more deserving to give thanks to this month--well besides everyone who is working diligently to battle this horrible pandemic we're stuck in--than the ultimate practitioner of science, logic and deduction himself--Sherlock Holmes.

William Hooker Gillette (1853-1937) was the first person to play writer Arthur Conan Doyle's detective on stage and film, from an amalgamated piece he wrote himself, beginning in 1899 at the Star Theater in Buffalo, New York. For decades afterward he was the model for how America envisioned Holmes, that is until he was supplanted by actor Basil Rathbone. Here we have Gillette's likeness adorning a cigar box label, from what looks to be a hand-colored photograph, date unknown, wearing a deerstalker cap. The cap (and inverness cape, seen further below in other entries), are actually fabrications of Strand Magazine illustrator Sidney Paget, the third person to draw Sherlock Holmes. Neither article of clothing was mentioned by Doyle in any of his Holmes stories.

Englishman David Henry Friston (1820-1906) was the first artist to draw Sherlock Holmes, providing four illustrations for Doyle's novel A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. In this illustration Dr. Watson is to the left of Holmes, and Scotland Yard detectives Gregson and Lestrade are on his right.

Charles Henry Malcolm Kerr (1858-1907) was the second British artist to draw Sherlock Holmes, but only for one inclusion, the frontispiece of Doyle's The Sign of the Four, a hardcover edition published by Spencer Blackett of London in 1890. The caption underneath read "In the light of the lantern I read, with a thrill of horror, 'the sign of the four.'"

 

Sidney Edward Paget (1860-1908) is the British artist most associated with Sherlock Holmes. He produced an astonishing 356 drawings for Doyle's Holmes stories over the course of his too short career. This is his first published illustration of Holmes, a pen & ink and wash, representing the story The Adventure of the Red-Headed League, in the August, 1891, issue of The Strand Magazine (U.K.).

 

 

The September, 1914, issue of The Strand Magazine, has Sherlock Holmes profiled in paint by Sidney Paget, illuminating Arthur Conan Doyle's serialized novel The Valley of Fear.

Here Paget illustrates the famous scene at the Reichenbach Falls in the Switzerland Alps, with Holmes grappling to the death with his nemesis Professor James Moriarty, lifted from Doyle's story The Final Problem, published in The Strand Magazine in December, 1893.

Frederic Dorr Steele (1873-1944) is the American illustrator most associated with Sherlock Holmes, drawing more than 165 illustrations for Doyle's Holmes stories. Pictured above are three out of more than a dozen total covers that he produced for Collier's magazine illustrating some of those stories. They are, in descending order: Collier's, October 29, 1904 (The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez); Collier's, November 26, 1904 (The Adventure of the Missing Quarter); Collier's, August 15, 1908 (The Singular Experience of Mr. J. Scott Eccles aka The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge). Steele's original model for Holmes was an Englishman named Robert King, who was living in the U.S., but Gillette's countenance, as well as what Paget created, was always in the back of his mind too.

Salomon Abbey (1883-1955), born Salomon van Abbé and nicknamed Jack, produced the cover art on Sherlock Holmes: Fact of Fiction?, a biographical conceit by Thomas S. Blakeney, which was published in hardcover by John Murray of London in 1932. Abbey, along with his younger brother Joseph (Salomon signed the y in his name in a straight line or slash; Joseph looped his y), was a prodigious illustrator for most of the major publishers in the United Kingdom, from around 1915 through the mid-1950's, with an estimated 470 book jackets produced.

Conan Doyle's Stories for Boys (what no stories for girls?) by A. Conan Doyle was published in hardcover by Cupples & Leon Co., of London in 1938, with jacket art and frontispiece supplied by an unaccredited illustrator.

The Sherlock Holmes Pocket Book by A. Conan Doyle was published in paperback by Pocket (No. 95) in 1941. The cover art is unaccredited, but my guess would be that this drawn by H. Lawrence Hoffman.

 

Philip Simmonds, a British artist, produced the jacket art on Doyle's novel The Valley of Fear, a hardcover reprint published by John Murray of London in 1949. Not much is known about Simmonds, though I have found maybe a dozen examples of his cover art online. If I didn't know better I would say that this is the work of one of the Abbey brothers.

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was published in paperback by Bantam in 1949. This cover, drawn to near perfection by an unknown artist, has Holmes fighting Moriarty at the now famous Reichenbach Falls.

Charles Skaggs (1917- 2017) designed the cover art on The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was published in paperback by Pocket in 1950. Skaggs was an award-winning book designer and calligrapher who spent three decades working in New York City for various publishers. A special exhibition of his work was held in 2002 at Smith College in Northampton, MA, featuring 580 of his original book designs.

British artist Montague Philip Mendoza (1899-1973) is credited with this cover art on The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which was published in paperback by Pan Books of London in 1951. Philip Mendoza, in addition to his many book covers for both children and adults, also illustrated several comic books, including an outstanding adaptation of Sax Rohmer's The Island of Fu Manchu.

The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr was published in hardcover by Random House in 1954. The copyright page states the the book's design and interior illustrations are by Jerome Kuhl, but I wouldn't be so quick to credit him with the cover art too.

 

D. L. Mays (1900-1991) produced the jacket art on the British edition of The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr, which was published in hardcover by John Murray of London in 1954. Mays, baptized Douglas Lionel Mays, was a very successful cartoonist, poster artist and advertising designer before becoming a prolific illustrator of books for children, teens and adults.

Cheslie D'Andrea produced the cover art and interior illustrations for Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle (a pistol wielding Watson on the back), which was published in glossy illustrated hardcover boards by Whitman in 1955. I couldn't come up with much information about Cheslie D'Andrea (1913-1999), but he is known to have illustrated quite a few teen books, and I found a couple of stunning oil paintings for sale online that have been attributed to him.

Verne Tossey (1920-2002) produced the cover art on the very first paperback edition of The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle & John Dickson Carr. It was published by Ace in 1956. Tossey became one of America's outstanding paperback and magazine illustrators after studying at the Art Students League in New York under famed teacher Frank J. Reilly.

William Teason was an extremely prolific illustrator of paperback covers, and to some mystery fans his name is synonymous with the works of Agatha Christie. He also did a series of classic Sherlock Homes paperback covers for Berkley in the 1960s with still life's as subjects, and while this 1960 Popular Library cover for Doyle's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes isn't signed or initialed, I believe it to be his work.

Although it's not credited, I believe William Teason painted the cover art on this 1974 Popular Library paperback edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The artwork first appeared much earlier though, in 1963, on a pastiche written by W. S. Baring-Gould, titled, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street, also published by Popular Library.

Victor Kalin was also a prolific paperback cover artist, and while I'm no advocate for smoking of any kind, his cover art for Great Stories of Sherlock Holmes (Dell, 1962) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is certainly well lit.

David K. Stone (1922-2001), also known as D. K. Stone, covered a lot of stuff in his art career: genre paperbacks, children's books, magazines and even collectible stamps (The Pioneers of Flight series). Adding to his list of hardcover jacket accomplishments are The Seven-Per-Cent Solution and its sequel The West End Horror, by Nicholas Meyer. Both books were published by E. P. Dutton in 1974 and 1975, respectively.

Naked is the Best Disguise: The Death and Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes by Samuel Rosenberg was published in paperback by Penguin in 1975. The cover art is uncredited.

John Watson is not as well known or productive as some of his peers were (or still are), but he was just as skilled as they were at what he painted. His forte was realism, and the Great Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle shows him at his photo-realistic best. Dell published this paperback in 1975.

Richard Clifton-Dey (1930-1997) produced the cover art for Sherlock Holmes, A Biography by W. S. Baring-Gould, which was published in paperback in the United Kingdom by Panther in 1975. Clifton-Dey was one of the U.K.'s best illustrators during the last century. He produced covers in nearly every genre, with an emphasis leaning towards historicals and science-fiction.

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Victor Gadino provided this wonderful cover painting for Philip Jose Farmer's playful pastiche, The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, which Dell published in paperback in 1976. Gadino graduated from the Pratt Institute of Art in NYC and then went on to produce hundreds of excellent covers for books, magazines and posters. He also illustrated collectibles.

Famed "Jaws" artist Roger Kastel (1932- ) was responsible for this outstanding cover art on The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr. Pocket published this paperback edition in 1976.

Ken Barr (1933- 2016), who generally specialized in fantastic themed illustrations, produced the colorful cover art on both of the Sherlock Holmes pastiches Hellbirds and The Earthquake Machine. These paperbacks, written by Austin Mitchelson and Nicholas Utechin, were published by Belmont Tower in 1976.

The Giant Rat of Sumatra by Richard L. Boyer was published in paperback by Warner in 1976. The cover art is signed on the lower left side but I can't quite decipher it, so I don't know who the artist truly is. Boyer's novel is considered by many Sherlockians to be the best Holmes pastiche ever written (and believe me there's lots to choose from).

A year after Richard L. Boyer's novel The Giant Rat of Sumatra was published in America in paperback, W. H. Allen of London published its own hardcover edition (1977). The jacket art was produced by fabulist illustrator Justin Todd. In 1978, Fontana, a major client of Todd's, issued a full color, 72 page book of his illustrations, aptly titled, The Magical Paintings of Justin Todd.

Boris Vallejo, practically a household name to most science-fiction and fantasy fans, produced this dramatic cover art on An East Wind is Coming by Arthur Byron Cover, which was published in paperback by Berkley in 1979.

Exit Sherlock Holmes by Robert Lee Hall was published in paperback by Sphere (United Kingdom) in 1979. The cover art is unaccredited. This is a post-Reichenbach era tale which purports that Moriarty did not die, and is actually Holmes' physiological double.

The cover montage on Murder by Decree by Robert Weverka was carried over from the film's poster art by famed commercial and poster art specialist Richard Amsel (1947-1985). Ballantine published this novelization in paperback format in 1979.

Jacques Devaud produced the cover art on Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword by Frank Thomas, which Pinnacle published in paperback in 1980. Devaud's Holmes is modeled on actor Alfred Burke, from a revival of a Gillette play performed in 1952. Watson is modeled after Nigel Bruce. From what I can glean, Devaud graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and in addition to his many book covers and movie posters he also he also taught art for a living. 

Neither Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Raleigh Legacy (St. Martin's, 1987) or Sherlock Holmes and the Case of Sabina Hall (Pocket, 1989) by L. B. Greenwood are credited with cover artists, but "Sabina Hall" is at least initialed with a styilized "K". Could it be the work of longtime Pocket Books artist Roger Kastel? Well, maybe, but I doubt it. Chances are it is someone else entirely. The third volume, Sherlock Holmes and the Thistle of Scotland (Pocket, 1990), is credited to Tim O'Brien, one of Time magazine's and publishing's most venerable cover artists. He's currently a professor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn as well as the president of the Society of Illustrators in New York. 

Steve Macanga produced the cover art for Lloyd Biggle, Jr's., well received pastiche The Quallsford Inheritance, A Memoir of Sherlock Holmes from the Papers of Edward Porter Jones, His Late Assistance. Penguin published this novel in paperback in 1987.

Countless numbers of fiction writers are beholden to Pinnacle Books, which published countless numbers of their novels during the late 20th Century. A lot of illustrators are beholden too, but unfortunately they were rarely if ever acknowledged. This outstanding embossed illustration, by an unknown artist, was produced for the cover of The Revenge of the Hound, an excellent pastiche by Michael Hardwick that was published in 1989.

In 1991, The Armchair Detective Library republished Richard L. Boyer's now classic novel The Giant Rat of Sumatra in hardcover, hoping to catch those Sherlockian's who missed it the first time around. The excellent jacket art was produced by Jeffrey Adams.

I don't know much about British artist Paul Dickenson, but he did execute a great chess move, literally, with his well thought out cover art for The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Raymond Smullyan. Oxford University Press published this hardcover in 1992.

This is a poster by noted artist Paul Davis (1938- ) for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Master Blackmailer, a two-part Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke. It was hosted by Diana Rigg and it aired on May 6, 1993 on the PBS Mystery Theater. My brother Jim was of the opinion that Brett was the best screen Holmes ever, and that the episodes he starred in are also the best adaptations of Doyles' work to date. I don't quite share his enthusiasm for Brett, or for that matter the series, but I will admit that the episodes are very faithful to their original source material.

Jill Bauman produced the cover art for In the Dead of Winter, A Myrl Adler Norton Mystery by Abbey Pen Baker and Resurrected Holmes, edited by Marvin Kaye. St. Martin's Press published both hardcovers in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Bauman, a talented artist, was one of the most important and leading purveyors of imaginative horror art during the 1980's horror boom.

Paul Bachem spent thirty years as a professional artist before deciding to concentrate fully on plein air painting (the act of painting outdoors). So who better to end this post than with a colorful London street scene painted by Bachem for The Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Illustrated Junior Library, a division of Grosset & Dunlap, published this handsome hardcover with its glossy boards in 1996.

 

"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last."

                                                                                  -- Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow

     [© November, 2020, Jeffersen]