The University of Chichester has secured new funding to explore one of the world’s most significant collections dedicated to the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
Working in partnership with Portsmouth Museums and Portsmouth Libraries and Archives, researchers will examine the vast Conan Doyle Collection – an archive of extraordinary scale originally assembled by renowned collector Richard Lancelyn Green.
The collection includes more than 40,000 archival items, 16,000 books and 3,000 objects linked to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his legendary detective. It is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive resources on Sherlock Holmes anywhere in the world.
The project is being led by Professor Hugo Frey, Professor of Visual and Cultural History at the University of Chichester, who has been awarded a prestigious Collaborative Doctoral Award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
“This is a vast archive. Truly unique. The challenge is conceptual. To find one original and manageable way of gaining research value from such an incredible resource,” he said.
The research will focus on how Sherlock Holmes has been visually represented across history – from early illustrations and film posters to comic books and graphic narratives – revealing how the iconic detective has evolved far beyond the pages of Conan Doyle’s stories.
“What we want to focus on for this grant is the visual depiction of Sherlock Holmes, that is how he has been represented as a figure in art, film posters, illustrations, movies, and even comic books and other graphic narratives. The idea of Sherlock Holmes has always been more than about just the words on the page,” Frey explained.
By analysing these images, the project will trace how different generations have reimagined the detective, reflecting wider cultural and historical shifts.
“It will be fascinating to potentially see the different materials held in the collection, for example, comparing the patriotic materials of the Second World War version of Sherlock Holmes with very different subsequent examples such as in the 1960s,” he added.
The funding will support a fully funded four-year PhD through the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award scheme. The doctoral researcher will be jointly supervised by the University and Portsmouth’s museum, library and archive services, gaining hands-on experience working directly with the historic collection.
The award also marks an important milestone for the University of Chichester, representing the first AHRC collaborative doctoral studentship secured by its humanities department.
