| Dr. Huxtable aka Ronald Kritter led the following interview via e-mail with artist Nis Jessen from Denmark:
Ron: I write to you now because I moderate the WelcomeHolmes Sherlockian mail-list, and we are reading that first great novel in the Canon. Your edition was highly recommended by Charles Prepolec as a classic! I'd like to know if I could ask a few questions in this email which I would post to the group if you give permission; we do have 650+ members at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WelcomeHolmes, and I'm sure at least some may be interested in considering a purchase.
Nis Jessen: Thank you for that encouraging message. It warms my old artists heart.
Ron: I congratulate you , first of all, on the beauty of your illustrations and, secondly, on the perseverance that this artistic endeavor most have required!
Nis Jessen: Thank you again !
 My Sherlock Holmes project was originated from information I got
from educators and mass media, who tells that young people less and less are
reading books which are rich in words, that slow-readers are more and more
common among the new generations - and that the youth use more and more
time on action-videos, computer-games etc.
That made me think, if one could turn this negative development a
little in a positive course, so that the great cultural treasure - which lay in books -
not will be forgotten or only collect dust on old shelves - and if I - maybe via a
sort of graphic-technic - could bring more reading into young people's world.
I decided to create a book which had the full text from a novel,
but at the same time has picture-richness in the best possible art-quality.
I choose a worldknown, classical novel, which has never been fully-illustrated
before - *A STUDY IN SCARLET*, Conan Doyle's very first Sherlock Holmes novel.
My dear, late father gave me in Christmas 1948 - when I was 13 years young -
a full collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in English
- and at the same time a similar collection in Danish, and I loved my
two collections from the first pages in A Study in Scarlet.
Years later I asked him why he gave me the English version (we are living in
Denmark, but we are of German origin), and he said:
"You MUST learn English - that is the language of the future"
... and you know: Fathers will etc.
In the summer 1989 I decided to make my version of A Study in Scarlet - before I was
getting to old and I began collecting all possible material about the Victorian
time and the Mormon settlers in Utah.
This collection continued througout the years, until the last page was created.
I used some years for research. My intention was to make a completely realistic
illustrated work based on facts from the Victorian period - the original buildings,
places etc. - and with a lot of original "background-atmosphere".
I got help from foreign museums, libraries, Scotland Yard etc. etc. The whole project
took me about 9 years to complete (I had to take care of my gallery at the same time,
to make new paintings, and make a living out of my talent)
I have used the original text from Beeton’s 1887. Now I have found out,
that readers all over the world are interested in the book, because it's value
as a cultur-historical collection. It shows a part of the Victorian era in pictures,
and as you might now: the ?"romantic"? Victorian era in English history,
is more and more interesting for people in our time. Young people are
interested in my version of A Study in Scarlet, because it has a lot of
dramatic picture-action (in contrast to most other Sherlock Holmes stories).
Ron: Have you received correspondence from Sherlockians around the world on your book?
Nis Jessen: Yes, I am so very happy that I recieve a lot of VERY positive letters and e-mails
from all over the world. Readers are so enthusiastic, and they have so many "roses" for me,
and it warms very much, because to make a project like that is a very 'solitary'
job - it is like an actor who is standing alone on the stage the whole night ... and
only at the end will become an applause. Now I am 70 years young - but even
in my high age, and after many 'hits' in my life - it still makes my heart
pump extra happy.
Ron: Where can one buy a copy? (If you prefer the interested members of the groups could contact you off list)
Nis Jessen: You can buy it directly by my publisher. Please click on the following address:
http://home2.inet.tele.dk/fnjessen/
and http://home2.inet.tele.dk/fnjessen/scarlet.htm
Ron: Has your interested in Baker Street been satiated by this wonderful project or do you still contemplate further artistic *adventures*?
Nis Jessen: Sherlock Holmes will always have a big place in my heart, and I have made
a few original oil-paintings from other of the stories, but I have no power
to make a project like A Study in Scarlet again - and I doubt that any other artist
in the world ever again will invest so much handwork in one project
- artists nowadays works mostly with computers and digital technics.
I will ask you to bear with me, that I write in broken English, but I guess
you will understand that better than my perfect Danish.
Ron: Should you wish to join WelcomeHolmes you'd be welcomed of course! Perhaps it would help increase contacts which in turn could increase sales.
Nis Jessen: Thank you - I will keep it in mind. I am a member of the Danish Sherlock
Holmes Club, and I have heard from 'a little bird' that they will make me
to an 'Honoured Member' on January the 7th in Copenhagen, and that
will make me very happy and proud.
I WISH YOU AND ALL IN 'WELCOMEHOLMES'
A HAPPY NEW YEAR !
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