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Arthur J. Raffles (usually called A. J. Raffles) is a fictional character created in 1898 by E. W. Hornung, brother-in-law of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, an inversion of Holmes – he is a "gentleman thief", living at the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing cricket as a gentleman (or "amateur") for the Gentlemen of England and supporting himself by carrying out ingenious burglaries. He is called the "Amateur Cracksman" and often, at first, differentiates between him and the "professors" – professional criminals from the lower classes. As Holmes has Dr. Watson to chronicle his adventures, Raffles has Harry "Bunny" Manders – a former schoolmate saved from disgrace by Raffles, whom Raffles persuaded to accompany him on a burglary. Raffles is an expert thief and like Holmes, he is a master of disguise. Raffles's adventures have been adapted across various media, the character played by a number of popular actors including John Barrymore and David Niven. Inspiration Hornung was inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories of his brother-in-law Arthur Conan Doyle and dedicated The Amateur Cracksman to Doyle: "To A. C. D. This Form of Flattery". It has been suggested that Raffles's name may have been inspired by the title of Doyle's 1891 novel The Doings of Raffles Haw. Richard Lancelyn Green points out that Raffles shares his first name with Conan Doyle and with Hornung's son, Arthur Oscar Hornung. Raffles's initials are those of Hornung's housemaster at Uppingham School, A. J. Tuck and reversed, those of J. A. Turner, the cricket captain at Uppingham during 1882, Hornung's first year. The model for Raffles was George Ives, a Cambridge-educated criminologist and talented cricketer, according to Andrew Lycett. Hornung and Ives played cricket for the Authors Cricket Club. Ives was privately homosexual and although Hornung "may not have understood this sexual side of Ives' character", Raffles "enjoys a remarkably intimate relationship with his sidekick Bunny Manders". Owen Dudley Edwards writes that Raffles and Bunny are "an imitation of Holmes and Watson which is very obviously homosexual", while C. P. Snow, in a 1975 review, describes their relationship as juvenile and innocent but with homosexual undertones. Raffles is also shown to have romantic relationships with the Neapolitan girl Faustina (in "The Fate of Faustina") and an artist using the name Jacques Saillard (in "An Old Flame"). Biographer Peter Rowland notes that these relationships are not shown until the second Raffles story collection, The Black Mask. Rowland writes that Raffles and Manders were also fictionalised versions of Oscar Wilde and his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. Characters in Hornung's 1896 short story "After the Fact" were prototypes for Raffles and Bunny. In "After the Fact", which is set in Australia, a young man, Bower, discovers that the man he used to fag for at school, Deedes, is a burglar. Hornung explained in an interview with Tit-Bits in 1909: A good many years ago I wrote a story about a public-school villain; he committed a terrible crime in Australia, and was met by his old fag, who shielded him. Unfortunately, I killed the villain at the end of the story. One day my brother-in-law, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to whom I owe a very great deal, said to me, 'What a pity you killed that fellow! A public-school villain would be a new figure for a series. Why not revive him?' 'I don't believe I could write such a series to save my life,' I replied. However, I was advised to think the suggestion over. I did so, and the eventual result was a variation of the type in the shape of Raffles. "After the Fact" was inspired by Hornung's travels in Australia and by his only experience with a real burglar, which occurred while the author was living at Teddington, England. Hornung described the incident to Tit-Bits in 1909 when discussing Raffles, though the burglar was unimpressive and nothing like the gentleman thief character. Hornung had been asked by a house's caretakers to help them catch a burglar, who tried to hide in a space under the kitchen floor but was ultimately apprehended by a policeman. In his book Raffles and His Creator, Peter Rowland states that Deedes is Raffles's prototype, but also differs significantly from Raffles. While Raffles and Deedes are both charismatic, Raffles has a code of honour and "is not really evil at all" according to Rowland, whereas Deedes "turns very nasty indeed" after Bower tries to get him to return the money he stole. Rowland writes that "Hornung (having passed the midway point of his story) had realised that he was on very dangerous ground and had speedily de-glamorised Deedes. Morality had been asserted at the eleventh hour, and justice had to be administered without further ado.... After experimenting with his new concept in 'After the Fact', Hornung was aware that his amateur cracksman would have to be a thoroughly decent chap even if he is a bit of a law-breaker." Furthermore, Raffles views burglary as a sporting challenge and has a prominent position in society (as a gentleman cricketer), unlike Deedes, who is only after money and is a social outcast. Fictional biography History Raffles has a sister. At his public school, Raffles played cricket and was captain of the eleven. He also played rugby football. He attended the same public school as Bunny, who was Raffles's fag (a junior student who does menial jobs for an older student). In "The Ides of March" Bunny says that Raffles was kind to him at school. In turn, Bunny would help Raffles sneak out of their dormitory at night, pulling up the rope after him and later letting it down for him to climb back in. Raffles stole at least one policeman's helmet while at Oxford according to the short story "A Costume Piece", but was a member of the Cambridge cricket team according to "The Field of Philippi". Raffles eventually becomes a gentleman cricketer. At one point, he goes to Australia to play cricket and commits his first burglary there, as he tells Bunny in "Le Premier Pas". He uses the prestige of his sporting fame to maintain his standing in London society, while secretly supporting himself with burglary. Raffles plays for multiple cricket clubs and teams, including I Zingari, the Gentlemen against the Players, the Middlesex eleven, and the English team. He lives in the Albany, a prestigious residential building in London. Ten years after they were at their public school together, Raffles meets Bunny again when they play baccarat with others in "The Ides of March". Raffles saves Bunny from disgrace and suicide, and Bunny becomes his accomplice. "The Ides of March" takes place in March 1891 (according to biographer Peter Rowland). Raffles and Bunny act as "amateur" (gentleman) thieves and rob wealthy members of London society while appearing respectable. They encounter a rival thief, Crawshay, in "Gentlemen and Players" and again in "The Return.... Discover the Federico Pagello popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Federico Pagello books.