This early work by Robert Barr was originally published in 1906 and we
are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. "The
Triumphs of Eugene Valmont" is a collection of the stories and exploits
of French detective turned rogue Eugene Valmont including parody of
Sherlock Holmes. Barr set the standard for the genre with an even mix of
light-hearted sardonics and cunning sleuth. Robert Barr was born on 16th
September 1849 in Glasgow, Scotland, but he and his parents emigrated to
Upper Canada when he was just four years old. He attended Toronto Normal
School to train as a teacher and this career path led him to become
headmaster of the Central School of Windsor, Ontario. During his time as
a headteacher he began to contribute short stories to the Detroit Free
Press, a publication for whom he left the teaching profession to become
a staff member in 1876. He wrote for them under the pseudonym "Luke
Sharp", a name he found amusing on a sign reading "Luke Sharpe,
Undertaker" that he used to pass on his daily commute to work. He
eventually rose to the position of news editor at the publication. In
1881 he left Canada for London to establish a weekly English edition of
the Detroit Free Press. He remained in England to found The Idler, a
monthly magazine he collaborated on with the popular humourist Jerome K.
Jerome. During the 1890's he began to increase his literary production,
writing mainly in the popular crime genre of the day. The success of his
contemporary, Arthur Conan Doyle, and his super sleuth, Sherlock Holmes,
inspired him to write the first Holmes parody "The Adventures of Sherlaw
Kombs". Despite this jibe Barr and Doyle remained on very good terms.
Robert Barr died from heart disease on October 21, 1912, at his home in
Woldingham, a small village to the south-east of London.
