Mr. Justice Raffles
Encyclopedia
Mr. Justice Raffles was a 1909 novel written by E.W. Hornung. It featured his popular character A. J. Raffles
a well-known cricketer
and gentleman thief
. It was the fourth and last in his four Raffles books which had begun with The Amateur Cracksman
in 1899.
Unlike the three previous works, the book was a full-length novel and featured darker elements than the earlier collections of short stories. In it a jaded Raffles is growing increasingly cynical about British high society
. He encounters Mister Brigstock, an unscrupulous moneylender operating out of London's East End. Brigstock manages to entrap a number of young men, mostly sons of the wealthy, by giving them loans and then charging huge amounts of interest. Raffles takes it upon himself to teach Brigstock a lesson.
At the end of Hornung's second Raffles short story collection The Black Mask
, Raffles and his companion Bunny Manders
volunteer for service in the Second Boer War
in 1899 where he was killed at the hands of the Boers. Hornung had intended this as a patriotic finale to his hero's story. However there was great popular demand for the return of the character, and a number of generous publishing offers, and Hornung agreed to write another book.
In this he has been compared to Arthur Conan Doyle
's decision to resurrect Sherlock Holmes
after he had been killed falling over the Reichenbach Falls
. Doyle had managed this by revealing that Holmes had actually survived the falls, while Hornung set Mr. Justice Raffles before the events of the Boer War
. The comparison between the resurrections of Holmes and Raffles is made interesting by the fact that Doyle and Hornung were brothers-in-law. Indeed prior to resurrecting Holmes, Doyle had used much the same technique, demand had called for another Holmes story, so the book he wrote to meet this demand The Hound of the Baskervilles
was set prior to Holmes's "demise".
Its reception was mixed, with some fans lamenting the loss of the carefree gentlemen thief of the early stories. It was the last Raffles work written by Hornung, although a number of continuations have been written by other authors in a mixture of parody
and homage
.
.
A. J. Raffles
Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a "gentleman thief," living in the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing...
a well-known cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
and gentleman thief
Gentleman thief
In the Victorian vernacular, a gentleman thief is a particularly well-behaving and apparently well bred thief. A "gentleman" is usually, but not always, a man with an inherited title of nobility and inherited wealth, who need not work for a living. Such a man steals not in order to gain material...
. It was the fourth and last in his four Raffles books which had begun with The Amateur Cracksman
The Amateur Cracksman
The Amateur Cracksman was the original short story collection by Ernest William Hornung featuring his most famous character A. J. Raffles a gentleman thief in late Victorian Great Britain. It was first published in 1899...
in 1899.
Unlike the three previous works, the book was a full-length novel and featured darker elements than the earlier collections of short stories. In it a jaded Raffles is growing increasingly cynical about British high society
Upper class
In social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
. He encounters Mister Brigstock, an unscrupulous moneylender operating out of London's East End. Brigstock manages to entrap a number of young men, mostly sons of the wealthy, by giving them loans and then charging huge amounts of interest. Raffles takes it upon himself to teach Brigstock a lesson.
At the end of Hornung's second Raffles short story collection The Black Mask
The Black Mask
The Black Mask is the second collection of stories written by Ernest William Hornung in the A. J. Raffles series concerning a gentleman thief in late Victorian London...
, Raffles and his companion Bunny Manders
Bunny Manders
Harry Manders is a character in the popular series of Raffles novels by E.W. Hornung. He is the faithful companion of Raffles, a cricketer and gentleman thief, who makes a living robbing the rich in late Victorian British High Society.Whereas Raffles is sharp-witted and cynical, the younger Bunny...
volunteer for service in the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
in 1899 where he was killed at the hands of the Boers. Hornung had intended this as a patriotic finale to his hero's story. However there was great popular demand for the return of the character, and a number of generous publishing offers, and Hornung agreed to write another book.
In this he has been compared to Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's decision to resurrect Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
after he had been killed falling over the Reichenbach Falls
Reichenbach Falls
The Reichenbach Falls are a series of waterfalls on the River Aar near Meiringen in Bern canton in central Switzerland. They have a total drop of 250 m . At 90 m , the Upper Reichenbach Falls is one of the highest cataracts in the Alps...
. Doyle had managed this by revealing that Holmes had actually survived the falls, while Hornung set Mr. Justice Raffles before the events of the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. The comparison between the resurrections of Holmes and Raffles is made interesting by the fact that Doyle and Hornung were brothers-in-law. Indeed prior to resurrecting Holmes, Doyle had used much the same technique, demand had called for another Holmes story, so the book he wrote to meet this demand The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
was set prior to Holmes's "demise".
Its reception was mixed, with some fans lamenting the loss of the carefree gentlemen thief of the early stories. It was the last Raffles work written by Hornung, although a number of continuations have been written by other authors in a mixture of parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
and homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
.
Adaptations
Two popular adaptations in the 1930s revived interest in the character of Raffles. However this tended to focus on the lighter, earlier tales of the gentleman thief. It was not until 1977 that Mr. Justice Raffles was adapted, as part of the popular British Raffles television seriesRaffles (TV series)
Raffles was a 1977 television adaptation of the A. J. Raffles stories by Ernest William Hornung. The series was produced by Yorkshire Television and written by Phillip Mackie...
.