Jack the Ripper : Letters from Hell

by Evans, Stewart P.

• ISBN13: 9780750937702
• ISBN10: 075093770X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-31
• Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd

Summary

The name 'Jack the Ripper' is instantly recognised throughout the world, yet many people probably don't know that the famous nickname first appeared in a letter or that this was where the whole legend of Jack the Ripper really began. Addressed to 'Dear Boss' and dramatically written in red ink, it claimed to be from the killer and was signed 'Yours truly, Jack the Ripper'. The letters teased the efforts of the police to catch the killer and predicted further murders; many were apparently smeared with blood and one even arrived with a piece of human kidney - allegedly from one of the victims' mutilated bodies. The authors are the first to have read, examined and photographed every letter. An original and responsible look at a case which has been hackneyed by so many authors, the story of the Ripper letters ends by posing a controversial question: was 'Jack the Ripper' merely a press invention?

Author Biography

Stewart Evans is a retired police officer

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Introduction	xi
PART ONE
'Fifteen more and I give myself up'	1	(13)
'Yours truly, Jack the Ripper'	14	(9)
'The Writing on the Wall'	23	(6)
'Ripperism'	29	(16)
The `Enterprising' London Journalists	45	(9)
A Letter `From hell'	54	(18)
'Most unwomanly . . .'	72	(9)
'I will rip a few more'	81	(25)
'I'm still knocking about Down Whitechapel'	106	(24)
'Good Bye old fellow til i return'	130	(13)
'They summoned the spirit'	143	(6)
The City Letters	149	(11)
The Alienist	160	(9)
A View from Fleet Street	169	(8)
The Mysteries of McCormick	177	(10)
'A secret diary of Dr. Thomas Dutton'	187	(7)
'I'm Jack'	194	(6)
Suspects	200	(17)
PART TWO
The Letters	217	(82)
Bibliography	299	(2)
Acknowledgements	301	(1)
Index	302