The Amateur Cracksman, a collection of short stories by E. W. Hornung was released in 1899. It was published by Methuen & Co. and Scribner's in New York. It was published by Methuen & Co. and Scribner's in New York in London, UK. The title is expanded to Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman in many later versions (T. Nelson & Sons, 1914; the University of Nebraska Press, 1976; et al). Some editions rename the collection simply as Raffles, as the Penguin Books, 1948 edition. It was Hornung's first collection of short stories, and it included his most well-known figure, A gentleman thief in late Victorian Great Britain named Raffles. The Black Mask (1901) and A Thief in the Night (1904), two other short story collections, as well as a full-length novel, Mr. Justice Raffles, were produced in response to the book's positive reception (1909). Arthur J. Raffles is a significant figure in London society and a national sports hero. He frequently competes for England in Test matches as a cricketer. He exploits this as a pretext to steal precious jewels from London's aristocracy in a number of burglaries, mostly for fun and profit.
On June 7, 1866, in Cleveland Villas in Marton, Middlesbrough, Ernest William Hornung was born. He was a poet and writer from England best known for his A. J. Raffles novels about a gentleman burglar in late 19th-century London. In 1898, he published "In the Chains of Crime," which introduced Bunny Manders and Raffles. In 1899, the collection of Raffles' short stories was published as a book for sale. In addition to his Raffles tales, Hornung was a prolific fiction author who produced a large number of works between 1890 and 1914. He wrote a lot when he was in France; his son, Oscar, was killed at the Second Battle of Ypres in July 1915. The strain of his wartime duties significantly deteriorated Hornung's already poor constitution. He and his wife traveled to the south of France in 1921 to help with his recovery. He became ill with influenza while traveling and passed away on March 22, 1921, at the age of 54. Though a large portion of Hornung's output has faded into oblivion, his Raffles tales have remained famous and served as the basis for countless film and television adaptations. In addition to criminality, Hornung's novels also tackled guilt, class, technological and medical advancements, and the uneven treatment of women in society.
