Ripper Notes: How the Newspapers Covered the Jack the Ripper Murders [Paperback]

Dan Norder (Author), Wolf Vanderlinden (Author), Stewart P. Evans (Author), Alan Sharp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2005

"Ripper Notes: How the Newspapers Covered the Jack the Ripper Murders" is a collection of essays about press reports of the notorious Whitechapel serial killer as well as other related topics. "When the People Were in Terror" by Norman Hastings republishes for the first time a comprehensive series of early 20th century articles about the impact the Whitechapel murders had on society, from the police investigation of the crimes to the fear that gripped the public. "The Murder in Cartin's Court" by Don Souden looks at how the early newspaper reports seriously bungled the facts of the death of Mary Jane Kelly, the fifth (and last) of the canonical five Ripper victims. "The London Police: The View from the Irish Press" by Alan Sharp examines how journalists reacted to the police investigation, concentrating on reports printed in Ireland. Other contents include Stewart P. Evans with new information on the legends that psychic Robert Lees solved the case, Wolf Vanderlinden looking for the meaning behind several contemporary newspaper reports, and several other short pieces. Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Inklings Press (January 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975912925
• ISBN-13: 978-0975912928
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,163,093 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the Newspapers Covered The J t R Murders, June 5, 2005

By 

Judy Janes (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ripper Notes: How the Newspapers Covered the Jack the Ripper Murders (Paperback)

Incredible writings that left the boring fill-in uninteresting notes to one side.
Very informative,well written that both the layperson and the well-versed JtR person can relate to.
I don't know what words I can use to describe Ripper Notes, other than the most informative, factual and demonstrative magazine I have ever read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ripper Notes #21, April 18, 2007

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ripper Notes: How the Newspapers Covered the Jack the Ripper Murders (Paperback)

January 2005 edition of Ripper Notes #21: How the Newspapers Covered Jack the Ripper. Quite an interesting look into how news sources of the time covered the murders and whom they did and didn't count as victims, suspects, and the gross errors they made or assumed in the covering of the cases.

1. Next day edition coverage of the death of Mary Jane Kelly. Wrong names, locales, and means of death abounded throughout.

2. How the Irish press covered the JtR murders. Very critical of the police force, Charles Warren and Mr. Matthews in particular.

3. Snippets involving Frances Tumblety as a politician in Montreal, Carrie Brown murder in NYC involving a request for the Lusk Letter from JtR, and Superintendent Arnold inadvertently 'eliminates' four suspects with an article about JtR still being at large in London.

4. Here's the real meat of the issue, covering 54 pages of the book. It's a reprinting of the Norman Hastings news accounts written in 1929 between September and November. Many now known myths/stories are included as facts in Hastings' lengthy presentations including 'Marie Jeanette Kelly', ghostly visitations, shiny farthings, and suspects. Hastings claims many more than the "Canonical 5" as victims of JtR including Emma Smith, Martha Tabram, Francis Coles, and even the Whitehall torso. Also extends JtR career prior to just 1888 into a six year reign of terror with a focus on James Sadler and a shipboard cattleman as main suspects. Very interesting but now known to be quite unreliable.

5. Another article on psychic R.J. Lees

6. The Ghost Club and a JtR conference regarding paranormal aspects.

7. The Cloak and Dagger Club Christmas party.

This magazine usually carries 9-10 articles but with the length of Part Four, it reduces the amount of entries. That fourth chapter starts to drag on a bit but is still very interesting for any JtR enthusiast. Parts 6&7 were really pretty worthless and detracts from the rest of the magazine. Could have been done more wisely by combining them into one chapter and giving us another article on the newspapers instead. Virtually no mention of Det. Abberline in this issue. Still worth having for your collection.