The Strand Magazine Covers

The Strand Magazine Covers

The cover image on The Strand Magazine's July 1891 and January 1896 issues

The first of these two images depicts the cover of The Strand Magazine during the July 1891 publication in which "A Scandal in Bohemia" was originally produced. The second image depicts a later cover from The Strand, published in January 1896. Pairing these two covers together allows an audience to view the high level of prominence to which Conan Doyle's stories rose in less than 5 years time. Whereas the first cover contains no mention of Conan Doyle's publication within the issue, the notice of his publishing a new story in 1896 - the first of 12 serialized installments of "Rodney Stone" - receives a banner notice across the top of the magazine's front cover, advertising the work of the newly famed author. The rise of The Strand and Conan Doyle occurred in tandem; Conan Doyle published the majority of his works within the magazine, including his Holmes stories, which in turn caused readers to devour the monthly publication in order to read Conan Doyle's newest works. The prominence to which Conan Doyle rose is due in large part to the popularity of the Sherlock Holmes stories, which in turn expanded his capability to develop non-Holmes stories which would eventually find wide readership in the general public, as exemplified by the 1896 Strand cover.

arthur-conan-doyle.com

The Strand Magazine

July 1891 and January 1896, respectively

George Newnes, Editor

Public Domain

Photograph of a magazine cover

Magazine