Gillette as Sherlock

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Creator

Frederic Dorr Steele

Title

Gillette as Sherlock

Date

1903

Subject

Original artwork, Inscribed by the artist to Vincent Starrett

Description

A reworking of the cover originally created for “The Adventure of the Norwood Builder” in Collier’s Weekly, October 31, 1903, this Steele (item 91) was embellished and reproduced often during Gillette’s Farewell Tour. It was on the cover of a promotional piece from the New Amsterdam Theatre (item 92) and a January 1930 Ford’s Theatre poster in which the figure faces the opposite direction (item 93). Steele often repurposed his own “finished” artwork, making additions, deletions, or substitutions. Starrett (1886–1974), a prolific writer in many genres and book critic for the Chicago Tribune, encouraged Gillette to collect the many versions of the play’s typewritten scripts, and helped him edit a version for publication.

Format

ink, pencil, and crayon on paper, 15 × 11 in