Publisher's Synopsis
Arsène Lupin (French pronunciation: [aʁsɛn lypɛ̃]) is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. He was originally called Arsène Lopin, until a local politician of the same name protested. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialised in the magazine Je sais tout. The first story, "The Arrest of Arsène Lupin", was published on 15 July 1905.
Lupin was featured in 17 novels and 39 novellas by Leblanc, with the novellas or short stories collected into book form for a total of 24 books. The number becomes 25 if the 1923 novel The Secret Tomb is counted: Lupin does not appear in it, but the main character Dorothée solves one of Arsène Lupin's four fabulous secrets.
The character has also appeared in a number of books from other writers as well as numerous film, television, stage play, as well as comic book adaptations. Five authorised sequels were written in the 1970s by the celebrated mystery writing team of Boileau-Narcejac.
Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar (French: Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur) is the first collection of stories by Maurice Leblanc recounting the adventures of Arsène Lupin, released on 10 June 1907. It contains the first nine stories depicting the character, first published in the French magazine Je sais tout, the first one being on 15 July 1905. The seventh features English detective Sherlock Holmes, changed in subsequent publications to "Herlock Sholmes" after protests from Arthur Conan Doyle's lawyers, as seen in the second collection Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes. Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmès (French: Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès) is the second collection of Arsène Lupin stories written by Maurice Leblanc, featuring two adventures following a match of wits between Lupin and Herlock Sholmès. The character "Herlock Sholmès" is a transparent reference to Sherlock Holmes of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective stories, who appeared in "Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late", one of the eight stories in the first collection, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar. The collection was translated twice into English, as Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmès in the US (1910, by George Morehead), and as Arsène Lupin versus Holmlock Shears in the UK (1910, by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, printed as The Blonde Lady in the US).
