E. W. Hornung 
The Amateur Cracksman 

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.