In 1906, the author of Arsène Lupine, Maurice Leblanc, decides to integrate the character of Sherlock Holmes in his novels. What attract the wrath of the creator of the detective "so British": Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this bonus episode of "At the heart of history", Jean Des Cars returns to the passing of arms between the two authors.
Listening to the story about Arthur Conan Doyle, you may have wanted to know more about the influence of his favorite character, Sherlock Holmes, in literature. In this bonus episode of "At the heart of history", the story specialist Jean des Cars tells you how the author of Arsène Lupine, Maurice Leblanc, integrated the British detective into his novels.
Did you know that in June 1906, Maurice Leblanc, the father of the famous Arsène Lupine, published a short story in his book Arsène Lupine, a gentleman burglar entitled: Sherlock Holmes arrives too late! ?
Conan Doyle then knew an extraordinary vogue thanks to the publication, in France, of the adventures of his hero Sherlock Holmes in the Femina library, in 1902. The author protested vigorously: how a French colleague, who also knows a very great success, can he use a character as famous as Sherlock Holmes but who does not belong to him?
Maurice Leblanc must bow. He will employ a ploy worthy of his hero Arsène Lupine by now calling his enemy the British detective Herlock Sholmès! This one will appear in two stories from the series The new adventures of Arsène Lupine: The blonde lady, and The Jewish lamp. They are published in the journal Je sais tout before coming out in a volume which appeared in 1908, entitled Arsène Lupine contre Herlock Sholmès. It will be a great success.
A hateful Sherlock Holmes
Maurice Leblanc hates the character of Sherlock Holmes. So her character Herlock Sholmès is absolutely hateful! The British detective, with rigorous detections, representative of order, cold and reasoning, is, of course, the opposite of Arsène Lupine, with a very French spirit, rebellious and sentimental. Two worlds, two universes in total opposition. We will find Herlock Sholmès in the very famous novel L'Aiguille creuse which ends with a tragic confrontation of the two men.
Pitting the misogynist, maniacal Sherlock Holmes clone against the flamboyant gentleman burglar, was obviously tempting. Maurice Leblanc dared to do it. Conan Doyle didn't like it at all. But was it not for him a new consecration and a tribute to his talent?
Readers appreciated Sherlock Holmes as much as Arsène Lupine. They liked their rivalry. The success of one did not overshadow that of the other. After all, wasn't Maurice Leblanc nicknamed the "French Conan Doyle"?
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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast
Author and presentation: Jean des Cars
Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli
Realization: Laurent Sirguy and Guillaume Vasseau
Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier
Graphics: Europe 1 Studio
Bibliography: "Les Aventures de Sherlock Holmes" (French edition, Robert Laffont, 1957)