Robert Barr (1850-1912) was a British novelist, born at Glasgow, Scotland. He was educated at the Normal School of Toronto, Canada, was headmaster of the Central School, Windsor, Ontario, and in 1876 became a member of the staff of the Detroit Free Press, in which his contributions appeared under the signature "Luke Sharp. " In 1881 he removed to London, to establish there the weekly English edition of the Free Press, and in 1892 founded The Idler magazine, choosing Jerome K. Jerome as his collaborator (wanting, as Jerome said, "a popular name"). He retired from the coeditorship in 1895. Among his most famous works are: The Face and the Mask (1894), From Whose Bourne (1896), In a Steamer Chair and Other Stories (1892) and Jennie Baxter, Journalist (1899).