Lupin before there was Raffles ...

If I say "gentleman thief", you answer me probably "Arsene Lupin" and what is normal? Yet this dear Lupin was indeed a precursor, equally gentleman burglar and no less than he, including Maurice Leblanc was inspired to create his famous character: the precursor called Arthur J. Raffles and was born in England in 1898 , written by Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921), which Hornung was the friend and brother of a Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes! Like what a small world ... Journalist avid cricket, Hornung had already published several books in the 1890s, books betraying some interest for crime and criminals, but with the creation of Raffles he gave the extent of his talent ... Very quickly, this character dandy robber sort of Sherlock Holmes moved to the other side of the law, will experience considerable popularity ... He will appear in all 26 new and novel, then in countless adaptations for the small and big screen where he took particular traits of David Niven, in 1939 ...

The popularity of Raffles is not in France what it is in the Anglo-Saxon world and particularly in England, probably because with us, precisely, Arsene Lupin, emulating talent with Raffles, the eclipsed. Nevertheless, for all lovers of crime fiction or trice, the corpus presented in this large volume Omnibus by the care of very competent Francis Lacassin is a must. Obviously, Raffles is an off-the-law. This caused some concern also appeared when the first news featuring him. Conan Doyle himself was troubled and declared that it was dangerous to do a criminal a hero. Except that Raffles is not a criminal like the others. It has principles, panache, style, and even humor, and he steals a rare object in the British Museum before posting to Queen Victoria as a gift for her Diamond Jubilee! It was said that Raffles Hornung had modeled on the personality of Oscar Wilde. Well, it is possible. So, homosexuality is talked about more or less latent about it. But have we not also issued similar assumption about Holmes? It is characteristic of the great characters of fiction than arouse many a fantasy and open to a plethora of interpretations!

What is rarely boast, alas, in the adventures of Raffles is writing. Yet it is remarkable. I had the pleasure of reading while Raffles in English, sometimes, and I dare say that the prose of Hornung, quality question, is not far behind that of Conan Doyle, which as everyone knows is dazzling. As Doyle, indeed, and perhaps to honor him, Hornung adjoined to his hero a confederate Stooges. Sherlock's Watson? Well, as Raffles is flanked by a friend, Bunny Manders, who accompanies him on his adventures and tells us his exploits ... In short, this is a volume that can only do honor to any self-respecting library! Translations offers that seemed to me quite correct. As for his preface, it is more illuminating! Elementary, my dear Raffles ...