View source for Raffles stories and adaptations

{{Short description|Fictional short story character}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

[[File:Out of Paradise 01.jpg|thumb|1904 ''[[Collier's]]'' illustration by [[J. C. Leyendecker]]]]

[[A. J. Raffles (character)|A. J. Raffles]] is a British fictional character &ndash; a [[cricketer]] and [[gentleman thief]] &ndash; created by [[E. W. Hornung]]. Between 1898 and 1909, Hornung wrote a series of 26 short stories, two plays, and a novel about Raffles and his fictional chronicler, [[Bunny Manders|Harry "Bunny" Manders]].

The first story, "[[The Ides of March (short story)|The Ides of March]]", appeared in the June 1898 edition of ''[[Cassell's Magazine]]''.<ref name="strand" /> The early adventures were collected in ''[[The Amateur Cracksman]]''<ref name="cracksman">{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=E. W. |date=29 April 2013 |title=The Amateur Cracksman |publisher=[[CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform]] |isbn=978-1484852606 }}</ref> and continued with ''[[The Black Mask]]'' (1901).<ref name="mask">{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=E. W. |date=29 April 2013 |title=The Black Mask |publisher=Ulverscroft Softcover |isbn=978-1444808094 }}</ref> The last collection, ''[[A Thief in the Night (short story collection)|A Thief in the Night]]'' (1904)<ref name="thief">{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=E. W. |date=22 July 2013 |title=A Thief in the Night |publisher=[[CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform]] |isbn=978-1491069363 }}</ref> and the novel ''[[Mr. Justice Raffles]]'' (1909)<ref name="justice">{{cite book |last=Hornung |first=E. W. |date=25 December 2012 |title=Mr. Justice Raffles |publisher=[[CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform]] |isbn=978-1481841856 }}</ref> tell of adventures previously withheld. The novel was poorly received, and no further stories were published.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rowland|first1=Peter|title=Raffles and His Creator|date=1999|publisher=Nekta Publications|location=London|isbn=0953358321|pages=190 & 194–95}}</ref>

Hornung dedicated the first collection of stories, ''The Amateur Cracksman,'' to his brother-in-law, [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], intending Raffles as a "form of flattery."<ref name="strand">{{cite web|url=http://www.strandmag.com/htm/strandmag_raffles.htm |title=Raffles: The Gentleman Thief |first=Richard |last=Bleiler |work=[[Strand Magazine]]|accessdate=22 February 2014}}</ref> In contrast to Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson, Raffles and Bunny are "something dark, morally uncertain, yet convincingly, reassuringly English."<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |last=Stuart |first=Evers |date=28 April 2009 |title=The Moral Riddles of AJ Raffles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/apr/27/aj-raffles-sherlock-holmes |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] }}</ref>

{{Quote|text=I think I may claim that his famous character Raffles was a kind of inversion of Sherlock Holmes, Bunny playing Watson. He admits as much in his kindly dedication. I think there are few finer examples of short-story writing in our language than these, though I confess I think they are rather dangerous in their suggestion. I told him so before he put pen to paper, and the result has, I fear, borne me out. You must not make the criminal a hero.|sign=[[Arthur Conan Doyle]]<ref name="strand" />}}

Raffles is an antihero. Although a thief, he "never steals from his hosts, he helps old friends in trouble, and in a subsequent volume he may or may not die on the veldt during the Boer War."<ref name="independent">{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/book-of-a-lifetime-raffles-by-ew-hornung-8297781.html |title=Book of a Lifetime: Raffles by EW Hornung |first=Anthony |last=Quinn |date=10 November 2012 |website=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> Additionally, the "recognition of the problems of the distribution of wealth is [a] recurrent subtext" throughout the stories.<ref name="strand" />

According to the ''[[Strand Magazine]]'', these stories made Raffles "the second most popular fictional character of the time," behind [[Sherlock Holmes]].<ref name="strand" /> They have been adapted to film, television, stage, and radio, with the first appearing in 1903.

== Plot ==
The "Raffles" stories have two distinct phases. In the first phase, Raffles and Bunny are men-about-town who also commit burglaries. Raffles is a famous gentleman cricketer, a marvellous spin bowler who is often invited to social events that would be out of his reach otherwise. "I was asked about for my cricket", he comments after this period is over. It ends when they are caught and exposed on an ocean voyage while attempting another theft; Raffles dives overboard and is presumed drowned. These stories were collected in ''The Amateur Cracksman.''<ref name="cracksman" /> Other stories set in this period, written after Raffles had been "killed off", were collected in ''A Thief in the Night.''<ref name="thief" />

The second phase begins some time later when Bunny{{spaced ndash}}having served a prison sentence{{spaced ndash}}is summoned to the house of a rich invalid. This turns out to be Raffles himself, back in England in disguise. Then begins their "professional" period, exiled from Society, in which they are straightforward thieves trying to earn a living while keeping Raffles's identity a secret. They finally volunteer for the [[Second Boer War|Boer War]], where Bunny is wounded and Raffles dies in battle after exposing an enemy spy. These stories were originally collected in ''The Black Mask'', although they were subsequently published in one volume with the phase one stories.<ref name="mask" /> The last few stories in ''A Thief in the Night'' were set during this period as well.<ref name="thief" />

Raffles was never quite the same after his reappearance. The "classic" Raffles elements are all found in the first stories: cricket, high society, West End clubs, Bond Street jewellers{{spaced ndash}}and two men in immaculate evening dress pulling off impossible robberies.

== Characters ==

=== A. J. Raffles ===
{{Main|A. J. Raffles (character)}}
Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes{{spaced ndash}}he is a "[[gentleman thief]]", living at the [[The Albany|Albany]], a prestigious address in [[London]], playing [[cricket]] 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 himself and the "professors"{{spaced ndash}}professional criminals from the lower classes.<ref name="strand" /><ref name="cracksman" />

=== Bunny Manders ===
{{Main|Bunny Manders}}

Bunny Manders, a struggling journalist, is Watson to Raffles' Holmes, his partner and chronicler. They met initially at school and then again on the night Bunny intended to commit suicide after writing bad cheques to cover gambling debts. Raffles, also penniless, but thriving, persuaded Bunny to join him instead.<ref name="strand" /><ref name="cracksman" />

=== Inspector Mackenzie ===

The most notable recurring character in the stories aside from Raffles and Bunny is Inspector Mackenzie, a Scottish detective from [[Scotland Yard]]. Mackenzie is an adversary to Raffles and appears in "Gentlemen and Players", "The Return Match", "The Gift of the Emperor", and ''Mr. Justice Raffles''. He is first mentioned in "A Costume Piece" and is also referenced by name in "The Chest of Silver". He is probably the "canny man at Scotland Yard" mentioned in "The Rest Cure".

Mackenzie was based on [[Melville Macnaghten|Melville Leslie Macnaghten]], the Chief Constable of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard, according to [[Richard Lancelyn Green]].<ref>Hornung (2003), p. 156, "Notes" by Richard Lancelyn Green.</ref> [[Owen Dudley Edwards]] wrote that the character Inspector MacDonald in ''[[The Valley of Fear]]'' seems to have been inspired by Inspector Mackenzie.<ref>{{cite book|last=Doyle |first=Arthur Conan |editor-last=Edwards |editor-first=Owen Dudley |authorlink= Arthur Conan Doyle |editor-link= Owen Dudley Edwards |date=1994 |orig-year=1915 |title=The Valley of Fear |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn= 9780192823823 |page=181}} Stated under "Explanatory Notes" by Owen Dudley Edwards.</ref>

Though Mackenzie only directly appears in four of the Raffles stories, he is used as a more major character in several adaptations of Raffles, for example the 1977 television series ''[[Raffles (TV series)|Raffles]]''. There are a few other minor recurring characters in the Raffles stories, such as the rival thief Crawshay, who appears in two early stories and is mentioned in "The Chest of Silver".

==List of stories==
[[File:The Ides of March 02.jpg|thumb|Bunny and Raffles in "The Ides of March", by [[John Henry Frederick Bacon|John H. Bacon]] (''Cassell's Magazine'', 1898)]]
The Raffles stories include three short story collections and one novel. Most of the short stories appeared in magazines before being published in book form.

* ''[[The Amateur Cracksman]]'' (1899):
#"[[The Ides of March (short story)|The Ides of March]]", first published in June 1898 in ''[[Cassell's Magazine]]''.
#"[[A Costume Piece]]", first published in July 1898 in ''Cassell's Magazine''.
#"[[Gentlemen and Players (short story)|Gentlemen and Players]]", first published in August 1898 in ''Cassell's Magazine''.
#"[[Le Premier Pas]]", first published in this collection.
#"[[Wilful Murder (short story)|Wilful Murder]]", first published in this collection.
#"[[Nine Points of the Law]]", first published in September 1898 in ''Cassell's Magazine''.
#"[[The Return Match]]", first published in October 1898 in ''Cassell's Magazine''. 
#"[[The Gift of the Emperor]]", first published in November 1898 in ''Cassell's Magazine''. 
* ''[[The Black Mask]]'' (1901) – stories take place after "The Gift of the Emperor":
#"[[No Sinecure]]", first published in January 1901 in ''[[Scribner's Magazine]]''.
#"[[A Jubilee Present]]", first published in February 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[The Fate of Faustina]]", first published in March 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[The Last Laugh (short story)|The Last Laugh]]", first published in April 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[To Catch a Thief (short story)|To Catch a Thief]]", first published in May 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[An Old Flame (short story)|An Old Flame]]", first published in June 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[The Wrong House]], first published in September 1901 in ''Scribner's Magazine''.
#"[[The Knees of the Gods]]", first published in this collection.
* ''[[A Thief in the Night (short story collection)|A Thief in the Night]]'' (1905) – all except the last two take place before "The Gift of the Emperor":
#"[[Out of Paradise]]", first published in December 1904 in ''[[Collier's Weekly]]''.
#"[[The Chest of Silver]]", first published in January 1905 in ''Collier's Weekly''.
#"[[The Rest Cure (short story)|The Rest Cure]]", first published in February 1905 in ''Collier's Weekly''.
#"[[The Criminologists' Club]]", first published in March 1905 in ''Collier's Weekly''.
#"[[The Field of Philippi]]", first published in April 1905 in ''Collier's Weekly''.
#"[[A Bad Night]]", first published in June 1905 in ''[[Pall Mall Magazine]]''.
#"[[A Trap to Catch a Cracksman]]", first published in July 1905 in ''Pall Mall Magazine''.
#"[[The Spoils of Sacrilege]]", first published in August 1905 in ''Pall Mall Magazine''.
#"[[The Raffles Relics]]", first published in September 1905 in ''Pall Mall Magazine''.
#"The Last Word", shorter than the other stories, first published in this collection.
* ''[[Mr. Justice Raffles]]'' (1909), takes place sometime before "The Gift of the Emperor".

== Adaptations ==
===Film===
There have been numerous films based on Raffles and his adventures, including:
* ''Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman'' (1905), starring [[J. Barney Sherry]].<ref name="strand" />
* Three short films released in Denmark in 1908 featured Raffles and Sherlock Holmes. These films were titled "Sherlock Holmes in Deathly Danger" (also called "Sherlock Holmes Risks His Life"), "Raffles Escapes From Prison", and "The Secret Document". [[Holger-Madsen|Forrest Holger-Madsen]] portrayed Raffles and [[Viggo Larsen]] portrayed Sherlock Holmes. Otto Dethlefsen appeared as [[Professor Moriarty]] in the first film. The films were produced by [[Nordisk Film|Nordisk]].<ref name=pittstwo>{{cite book | author-last= Pitts | author-first= Michael R. | title= Famous Movie Detectives II | location= Metuchen, New Jersey | publisher= Scarecrow Press | date= 1991 | page= [https://archive.org/details/famousmoviedetec0000pitt/page/116 116] | isbn= 978-0810823457 | url= https://archive.org/details/famousmoviedetec0000pitt/page/116 }}</ref>
* A film titled ''Raffles'' was released by Nordisk in 1910.<ref name=pittstwo/>
* An Italian serial titled ''Raffles'' was released in 1911.<ref name=pittstwo/>
* ''[[The Van Nostrand Tiara]]'' (1913), starring [[Reggie Morris]].
* ''[[Raffles The Amateur Cracksman (1917 film)|Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman]]'' (1917), starring [[John Barrymore]] and [[Frank Morgan]].<ref name="strand" /><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Irving, George (Director) |year=1917 |title=Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman |trans-title=|medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/raffles-the-amateur-cracksman-v139255/ |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Mr. Justice Raffles (film)|Mr. Justice Raffles]]'' (1921) starring [[Gerald Ames]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people= Quiribet, Gaston and Gerald Ames (Director) |year=1921 |title=Mr. Justice Raffles |medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/mr-justice-raffles-v131050 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman (1925 film)|Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman]]'' (1925), with [[House Peters]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Baggot, King (Director) |year=1925 |title=Raffles |medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/raffles-v107132 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Raffles (1930 film)|Raffles]]'' (1930), featuring [[Ronald Colman]] and [[Bramwell Fletcher]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Fitzmaurice, George and Harry D'Abbadie D'Arrast (Director) |year=1930 |title=Raffles |medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/raffles-v107129 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[The Return of Raffles]]'' (1932) starring [[George Barraud]] and [[Claud Allister]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Markham, Mansfield (Director) |year=1932 |title=The Return of Raffles |medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-return-of-raffles-v107685 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Raffles (1939 film)|Raffles]]'' (1939), starring [[David Niven]] and [[Douglas Walton (actor)|Douglas Walton]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Wood, Sam (Director) |year=1939 |title=Raffles |medium=Motion picture |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/raffles-v107130 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Raffles (1958 film)|Raffles]]'' (1958), with [[Rafael Bertrand]] as a Mexican version of Raffles.<ref name=pittstwo/>

===Television===
* ''Raffles'' (1975), a made-for-TV film, with [[Anthony Valentine]] portraying Raffles and [[Christopher Strauli]] playing his partner Bunny Manders.<ref>{{cite web|title= Raffles The Amateur Cracksman (1975)|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/325748|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213131120/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/325748|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 February 2009|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|accessdate=26 February 2014}}</ref>
*  Valentine and Strauli reprised their roles in a television series titled ''[[Raffles (TV series)|Raffles]]'', produced by [[Yorkshire Television]] in 1977 and scripted by [[Philip Mackie]]. [[Victor Carin]] portrayed Inspector Mackenzie. The series was intermittently repeated on ITV3 in 2006, and has been released on DVD.<ref name="independent" /><ref>{{cite AV media |year=1977 |title=Raffles |medium=Television production |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BQ1HSY/ |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
*A version of Raffles makes an appearance in the Sherlock Holmes TV film ''[[Incident at Victoria Falls]]'' under the name Stanley Bullard and played by Alan Coates.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Corcoran, Bill (Director) |year=1991 |title=Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls |medium=Television production |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IU37WK |accessdate=25 February 2013 }}</ref>
* ''[[The Gentleman Thief]]'' (2001), starring [[Nigel Havers]].<ref name="Guard: NBS">{{cite news|last=Banks-Smith|first=Nancy|title=Cutglass vowels and strangled yowls in the last summer of peace|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 July 2001|authorlink=Nancy Banks-Smith|location=London|page=22}}</ref>

===Radio and audio===
*[[Frederic Worlock]] voiced Raffles in a 1934 CBS radio series, ''Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman''.<ref name=pittsthree>{{cite book | author-last= Pitts | author-first= Michael R. |title= Famous Movie Detectives III | location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher= Scarecrow Press|date=2004 |page=301 |isbn=978-0810836907}}</ref> The scripts were adapted by [[Charles Tazewell]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://americanradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Site-Early-Radio/Archive-Radio-Guide-IDX-Site/IDX/1934/Radio-Guide-34-05-12-OCR-Page-0004.pdf#search=%22raffles%20bunny%22 |title= Raffles Saves Crime For Air |website=Radio Guide |access-date=15 September 2019}}</ref>
*A radio adaptation of "The Ides of March" aired on 9 December 1941 on the [[BBC Forces Programme]], with Malcolm Graeme as Raffles and [[Ronald Simpson (actor)|Ronald Simpson]] as Bunny. It was adapted by John Maitland and produced by John Cheatle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/f29d45ad5b654b7da02e009313d78703 |title= The Ides of March |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref>
*Horace Braham voiced Raffles in CBS radio productions between 1942 and 1945.<ref name=pittsthree/>
*Six radio episodes with Frank Allenby as Raffles and Eric Micklewood as Bunny were broadcast on the [[BBC Light Programme]] between 3 December 1945 and 14 January 1946. The producer was [[Leslie Stokes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=Frank+Allenby+as+Raffles#search |title= Frank Allenby as 'Raffles' |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref>
*[[Austin Trevor]] voiced Raffles with Lewis Stringer as Bunny in a radio adaptation of ''Mr. Justice Raffles'', adapted and produced by [[Val Gielgud]]. It aired on the [[BBC Home Service]] on 8 February 1964. Duncan McIntyre voiced Inspector Mackenzie.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a7aebf682a264ece8d1da3ecfbdcdc6e |title= Saturday-Night Theatre |author=<!--Not stated--> |year=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref>
* ''[[Raffles (radio series)|Raffles]]'' (1985–1993), a BBC radio series starring [[Jeremy Clyde]] as Raffles and [[Michael Cochrane]] as Bunny Manders. The series included an adaptation of the play ''[[The Return of A. J. Raffles]]''.
* ''[[Raffles, the Gentleman Thief]]'' (2004–present), a series on the American radio show ''[[Imagination Theatre]]'' starring John Armstrong as Raffles and Dennis Bateman as Bunny Manders. Raffles and Bunny encounter Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in an episode of another ''Imagination Theatre'' radio series, ''[[The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (American radio series)|The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]''.
* Audiobooks such as ''Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman'' read by [[David Rintoul]].<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Rintoul, David (Narrator) |year=2013 |title=Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman |medium=Audiobook |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GNJ5PA2/ |publisher=[[Audible.com]] |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref>
* "[[Mr. Raffles (Man, It Was Mean)]]", a 1974 pop single by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, was inspired by the character.
*The [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] audio play ''[[The Suffering (audio drama)|The Suffering]]'' by Jacqueline Rayner has the First Doctor comment that he learned his house breaking techniques "from Raffles". He almost certainly means nothing more than he picked up techniques from reading Hornung's stories, but since Sherlock Holmes appears as a real character in the Doctor Who universe, it is possible that A.J. Raffles is real too.<ref>[[Doctor Who – The Companion Chronicles]]; Sherlock Holmes appears as a character in the Doctor Who novel ''[[All-Consuming Fire]]''.</ref>

===Theatre===
* The story of A. J. Raffles was first performed on Broadway as ''Raffles, The Amateur Cracksman'' on 27 October 1903 at the Princess Theatre.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bordman |first1=Gerald |last2=Hischak |first2=Thomas S. |date=January 2004 |title=The Oxford Companion to American Theatre |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195169867.013.2560 |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195169867 |accessdate=25 February 2014}}</ref> The play moved to the Savoy Theatre in February 1904 and closed out in March of that year racking up 168 performances. It starred [[Kyrle Bellew]] as Raffles, a young [[Clara Blandick]] as Gwendolyn and E. M. Holland as Captain Bedford.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=4918 |title=Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=ibdb.com |publisher=[[IBDB]] |accessdate=22 February 2014}}</ref> The play was co-written by E. W. Hornung and Eugene Presbrey. It premiered in London on 12 May 1906, with [[Gerald du Maurier]] as Raffles.<ref>{{cite book | author-last= Rowland | author-first= Peter |title= Raffles and His Creator: The Life and Works of E. W. Hornung | location=London |publisher= Nekta Publications |date=1999 |page = 261 |isbn=0-9533583-2-1}}</ref> [[André Brulé]] starred as Raffles in a production that opened on 14 June 1907 at the Théatre Réjane, Paris. The play opened at the Teatro de la Comedia, Madrid, on 11 February 1908.<ref name=green/> [[Eille Norwood]] played Raffles in a touring version of the play in 1909.<ref>"Eille Norwood", Who's Who in the Theatre, Volume 3, ed. John Parker, Boston: Small, Maynard, and Co., 1912, p. 372.</ref>
*In [[Langdon McCormick]]'s 1905 play, ''[[The Burglar and the Lady]]'', Raffles went up against [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s famous fictional detective [[Sherlock Holmes]]. Former boxer [["Gentleman Jim" Corbett]] played Raffles, who was portrayed as an American to match his casting. McCormick did not secure permission from either Doyle or Hornung to use their characters. A 1914 movie adaptation of the play removed Holmes but kept Raffles, again played by Corbett.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sherlock Holmes on the Stage: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Plays Featuring the Great Detective |last=Kabatchnik |first=Amnon |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8108-6125-1 |oclc=190785243 |pages=47–51}}</ref>
*The play ''A Visit from Raffles'', by E. W. Hornung and Charles Sansom, opened on 1 November 1909 at the [[Empress Theatre (Brixton)|Empress Theatre]], Brixton. It starred [[H. A. Saintsbury]] as Raffles.<ref name=green>Horning (2003), pp. xlviii–lvi, "Further Reading" by Richard Lancelyn Green.</ref>
*[[Graham Greene]] wrote a play called ''[[The Return of A. J. Raffles]]'' which differs from the Hornung [[canon (fiction)|canon]] on several points, including reinventing Raffles and Bunny as a homosexual couple.<ref>{{cite book |last=Greene |first=Graham |date=4 December 1975 |title=The Return of A. J. Raffles |publisher=The Bodley Head |isbn=0370106024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/20/specials/greene-raffles.html |title=Graham Greene's 'Raffles' Is No Sherlock Holmes |last1=Nightingale |first1=Benedict |date=21 December 1975 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> [[Denholm Elliott|Denholm Mitchell Elliott]] starred as Raffles in the 1975 premiere at the Aldwych Theatre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.shakespeare.org.uk/search/rsc-performances/ret197512-the-return-of-a-j-raffles/search/play_title:the-return-of-a-j-raffles/page/1/view_as/grid |title= The Return of A J Raffles |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=Shakespeare Birthplace Trust |access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref> Raffles has also been played in other productions by [[John Neville (actor)|John Neville]] (1979), [[Jeremy Child]] (1979), and [[Brian Protheroe]] (1994). The play was adapted for radio in 1993 as part of the BBC radio series with Jeremy Clyde as Raffles.

===Comics===
*In the [[Doctor Who]] comic strip ''Character Assassin'' by Scott Gray (Doctor Who Magazine no.311, 12 December 2001), A. J. Raffles is a member of the villainous Sisyphean Society's inner circle in the Land of Fiction. The Master quickly kills him along with the other members of the Society.
*The character was mentioned in the 2007 epistolary graphic novel ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Alan |date=4 November 2008 |title=The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier |publisher=[[WildStorm]] |isbn=978-1401203078 }}</ref> Following this he recently appeared as a central character in the first chapter of ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century]]'', set in 1910.<ref>{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Alan |date=19 May 2009 |title=The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 1910 |publisher=[[Top Shelf Productions]] |isbn=978-1603090001 }}</ref>
*''[[Raffles, Gentleman Thug]]'' is a strip in ''[[Viz (comic)|Viz]]'' that features a character who shares his name (plus the name of his assistant, Bunny) with the literary Raffles. He is depicted as an upper-class, late Victorian or early Edwardian version of a '[[chav]]'.

==Literary pastiches==
*The Raffles character was continued by [[Barry Perowne]] with the approval of the Hornung Estate. Published in the story paper ''The Thriller'' during the 1930s and early 1940s,<ref name="strand" /> his series featured Raffles as a fairly typical contemporary pulp adventure hero and plays the role of detective alongside that of thief. When he picked up the series again in the 1950s, and once again during the 1970s, the stories were set closer to the late Victorian-setting of the original stories. Over the course of 50 years, off and on, Perowne produced around 60 short stories, some at novella length, and five novels featuring Raffles. Rare for a pastiche writer, Perowne's stories have been compared favourably with the originals.<ref>David Vinyard's review of ''[http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=25457 Raffles Revisited]'' is typical.</ref>
*Jon L. Breen's story "Ruffles versus Ruffles" is based on the conceit that Hornung's Raffles and Perowne's Raffles are separate people, playing off the differing characterisation used by the two authors.<ref>{{cite book |last=Breen |first=Jon L. |title=Ruffles versus Ruffles |url=http://www.iblist.com/book11974.htm |publisher=[[Ellery Queen]] |accessdate=25 February 2014 }}</ref>
*The 1977 novel ''Raffles'', by David Fletcher, is a fresh re-write of many of Hornung's original stories, deriving from the television series of the same year.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fletcher |first=David |date=1977 |title=Raffles |url=https://archive.org/details/raffles00flet |publisher=Putnam |isbn=0399119485 }}</ref>
*[[Peter Tremayne]] wrote the 1991 novel ''The Return of Raffles'' in which Raffles becomes involved in a plot between rival spies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tremayne |first=Peter |date=July 1991 |title=The Return of Raffles |publisher=Severn House Pub Ltd |isbn=0727841408 }}</ref> Although announced as the "first of a new series of Raffles adventure," it remains a single volume.
*Around the turn of the 21st Century, John Hall wrote eight Raffles pastiches, some of which appeared in the ''[[Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine]]''. Some were adaptions of scripts he wrote earlier for the ''Imagination Theatre'' radio series. They were collected in the 2007 book ''The Ardagh Emeralds''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hall |first=John |date=2007 |title=The Ardagh Emeralds |publisher=Linford Mystery Library, F. A. Thorp (Publishing) |isbn=9781846178672 }}</ref>
*Adam Corres authored the 2008 novel ''Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Corres |first=Adam |date=14 January 2008 |title=Raffles and the Match-Fixing Syndicate |publisher=Grosvenor House Publishing Limited |isbn=9781906210625 }}</ref> a modern crime thriller in which A. J. Raffles, a master of gamesmanship, explores the corrupt world of international cricket match fixing.

===Raffles and Holmes===
*[[John Kendrick Bangs]] authored a 1906 novel, ''R. Holmes & Co.'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Bangs |first=John Kendrick |title=R. Holmes & Co. |year=2013 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20559 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]] |isbn=978-3955630782 }}</ref> starring Raffles' grandson (and [[Sherlock Holmes]]'s son, by Raffles' daughter Marjorie), [[Raffles Holmes]]. The novel's second chapter tells the story of Holmes's pursuit of Raffles and his growing affection for Raffles's daughter. Bangs also wrote ''Mrs Raffles'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Bangs |first=John Kendrick |title=Mrs. Raffles |date=3 January 2014 |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30853 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]] |isbn=978-1494875060 }}</ref> in which Raffles's sidekick Bunny Manders teams up in America with the cracksman's hitherto-unchronicled wife.
*[[Carolyn Wells]] wrote several short parodies in which Sherlock Holmes leads a group called the International Society of Infallible Detectives. Raffles is depicted as a member of the society, along with other characters such as [[C. Auguste Dupin]] and [[Arsène Lupin]]. Raffles appears in four of the stories, which were published in magazines: "The Adventure of the 'Mona Lisa'" (1912),<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000000491920?urlappend=%3Bseq=514 |website=HathiTrust Digital Library |title=The Century illustrated monthly magazine. v.83 1912. |page=514 |hdl=2027/inu.32000000491920?urlappend=%3Bseq=514 |access-date=26 January 2021}}</ref> "Sure Way to Catch Every Criminal. Ha! Ha!" (1912),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Origins of the American Detective Story |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eprIfmj-GukC |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7864-8138-5 |last=Panek |first=LeRoy Lad}}</ref> "The Adventure of the Lost Baby" (1913),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks19/1900921h.html |title=Collected Short Stories by Carolyn Wells |access-date=26 January 2021 |website=Project Gutenberg Australia}}</ref> and "The Adventure of the Clothes-line" (1915).<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=The Adventure of the Clothes-line |last=Wells |first=Carolyn |author-link=Carolyn Wells |year=1915 |publisher=The Century Magazine}}</ref>
*Several of Barry Perowne's Raffles short stories feature or reference Sherlock Holmes, including: "The Victory Match"; "The Baskerville Match" and "Raffles and an American Night's Entertainment".
*In 1932, [[Hugh Kingsmill]]'s "The Ruby of Khitmandu", in which Raffles and Bunny were pitted against Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, was published in the April issue of ''[[The Bookman (London)|The Bookman]]''. A portion of the story was republished in the collection ''[[The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'' (1944, edited by [[Ellery Queen]]).
*[[Philip José Farmer]] put Raffles and Manders into a [[science fiction|science-fictional]] situation in his story, "The Problem of the Sore Bridge{{spaced ndash}}Among Others", in which he and Bunny solve three mysteries unsolved by Sherlock Holmes and save humanity from alien invasion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Farmer |first=Philip José |date=April 1981 |title=Riverworld and Other Stories |chapter=The Problem of the Sore Bridge – Among Others |url=https://archive.org/details/riverworldothers00farm_0 |series=The Gregg Press science fiction series |publisher=Gregg Press |isbn=0839826184 }}</ref>
*In one of [[Robert L. Fish]]'s Schlock Homes stories, "The Adventure of the Odd Lotteries" (1980), Homes and Watney encounter a cracksman and hypochondriac known as "A.J. Lotteries."<ref>{{cite book |last=Fish |first=Robert L. |date=1 August 1990 |title=Schlock Homes: The Complete Bagel Street Saga |chapter=The Adventure of the Odd Lotteries |publisher=Gaslight Publications |isbn=0934468168 }}</ref>
*Raffles and Bunny feature in ''Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles'' (2011), by [[Kim Newman]], in a chapter depicting the gathering of the world's greatest criminals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Kim |date=4 October 2011 |title=Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Ubervilles |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |isbn=978-0857682833 |url=https://archive.org/details/houndofdurbervil00newm }}</ref>
*In 2011 and 2012 [[Richard Foreman]] published a series of six Raffles stories, collected in a single volume, ''Raffles: The Complete Innings''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Foreman |first=Richard |title=Raffles: The Complete Innings |date=25 March 2013 |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |isbn=978-1480203136 }}</ref> These stories, contemporaneous with ''The Amateur Cracksman'', begin with "The Gentleman Thief," in which Raffles and Bunny are hired by [[Sherlock Holmes]] to steal a stolen letter. Later stories in the sextet see Raffles and Bunny encounter [[H. G. Wells]] and [[Irene Adler]]. Foreman's Raffles is also more moralistic than the original: the gentleman thief often donates part of his ill-gotten gains to various charitable causes.

=== Cameo appearances ===
*Raffles makes a cameo appearance in Kim Newman's ''[[Anno Dracula]]'' (1992). Although never mentioned by name, the character is described as an amateur cracksman (a reference to the title of the first short story collection), and mutters the epigram, "You play what's chucked at you, I always say."<ref>{{cite book |last=Newman |first=Kim |date=24 May 2011 |title=Anno Dracula |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |isbn=978-0857680839 }}</ref>
*Raffles and Bunny make a minor appearance in ''[[Lost in a Good Book]]'', a 2004 novel written by [[Jasper Fforde]]. They are pulled out of the literary world into the real world to help crack a safe containing the stolen manuscript of Shakespeare's ''[[Cardenio]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fforde |first=Jasper |date=24 February 2004 |title=Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel) |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0142004030 }}</ref>

== References ==
'''Notes'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Larance, Jeremy. "The A. J. Raffles Stories Reconsidered: Fall of the Gentleman Ideal." ''English Literature in Transition, 1880–1920''. 57.1 (2014): 99–125.
* Rowland, Peter. ''Raffles and His Creator: The Life and Works of E. W. Hornung'', Nekta Publications, London, 1999. {{ISBN|0953358321}}
* {{cite book|last=Hornung |first=E. W. |editor= Richard Lancelyn Green |editor-link=Richard Lancelyn Green |title=Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman |orig-year=1899 |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn= 978-1856132824 |location=London |edition= Reprinted}}

== External links ==
*{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/ArthurJRaffles|title=Arthur J. Raffles}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/h#a364 Raffles stories] on [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{librivox book |dtitle=A.J. Raffles | stitle=Raffles | author=E.W. Hornung}}
* "[http://orwell.ru/library/reviews/chase/english/e_bland Raffles and Miss Blandish]", ''Horizon'' 10.58 (1944){{spaced ndash}}an essay by [[George Orwell]]
* "[http://www.raffles-the-amateur-cracksman.com Raffles the Amateur Cracksman]", a site about the 1970s TV series
* "[http://www.rafflesredux.com Raffles Redux]", a site with all of the Raffles Stories, complete with Annotations and Original Illustrations

{{A. J. Raffles}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:A. J. Raffles]]
[[Category:1898 in literature]]
[[Category:1898 introductions]]
[[Category:Book series introduced in the 1890s]]