Arsène Lupin, the "Gentleman Burglar" of France, appeared from the pen of Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941) in 1905. In the words of a prominent critic, Leblanc brought to the character "the skill of Sherlock Holmes, the resourcefulness of Raffles, the refinement of a casuist, the epigrammatic nimbleness of La Rouchefoucauld and the gallantry of Du Guesclin."

Within the twenty-odd volumes of Lupin’s exploits are several delightful clashes with the pseudonymously disguised Sherlock Holmes. Two of these meetings are chronicled here, "The Fair Lady" and "The Jewish Lamp," in which Lupin outrageously tweaks the nose of his English conundrum, but with respect and savoire faire!

This volume (a facsimile copy of the 1909 Grant Richards edition from the Lilly Library at Indiana University) dubs Holmes as Holmlock Shears. In other English versions of Leblanc's works Holmes frequently appears as Herlock Sholmes.