COVE

Sidney Paget’s “He is a professional beggar” is the fifth of ten illustrations found in Doyle’s short story “The Man with the Twisted Lip;” the illustration is located on page 139 of The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes (1892).  “The Man with the Twisted Lip” was the eight Sherlock Holmes story, first published in the Strand Magazine in December of 1891.  The story begins with Dr. Watson coming to the aid of his wife’s friend; the woman is distraught, claiming her husband, an opium addict, is missing.  After helping the couple, Watson finds Detective Holmes in disguise at the opium den attempt to uncover information on Neville St. Clair, another missing man.  It is later revealed, thanks to Holmes and Watson that Mr. St. Clair was leading a double life as a businessman and beggar named Hugh Boone.  The vignette used for the purpose of this gallery exhibit is a photographic reproduction of a watercolour.  It depicts a disguised Neville St. Clair dressed as Hugh Boone the beggar, sat cross-legged on the cold asphalt of Threadneedle Street.  Doyle writes that in his lap he holds a tiny stock of matches and a greasy leather cap lays on the pavement beside him.  However, Paget’s illustration does not include the stock of matches and the cap is held in Boone’s hand.  These details may have intentionally been excluded in order to situate the legitimacy of Hugh Boone’s character and distract from the suspicion placed on him.  The title of the illustration helps to assert this; by establishing Boone as a “professional beggar” it helps to diffuse any speculation of him being anything else.  Other than being sat on the pavement, Paget illustrates Boone as a quite comfortable beggar.  He is dressed in a long coat, scarf, pants, and boots; no item of clothing appears to be wore-out or in disarray, characteristics you would expect to find on a true beggar.

Principal sources:

https://www.arthur-conan-doyle.com/index.php?title=The_Man_with_the_Twisted_Lip

http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/pagets/71.html