Sherlock Holmes and the Whitechapel Murders

[Tom_Wescott]

Just this week I read Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians aka And Then There Were None. Although it's the best-selling mystery book of all time, I'd never read it before! It had me genuinely scared towards the end, which is more than I can say for most books I've read, and I've read mostly horror and mystery. The original title of this book was Ten Little N**gers. Good thing they changed it.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[mklhawley]

Mike, Jeff said he would try to get in touch.

Thank you Celesta!

Sincerely,

Mike

[Celesta]

Well said, Greg. The bit about the orangutan recalls The Speckled Band by Doyle. Remember the doctor had a cheetah and a wild ape patrolling the grounds of the estate at night?

[GregBaron]

Detective Fiction....

Like most things in life, the detective story followed an evolutionary
path. To see its genesis one must look at those some have already mentioned
including Wilkie Collins, E.T.A. Hoffman, Ann Radcliffe, Sheridan Le Fanu,
that French Vicocq fellow and others. But it's indisputed that its modern form was wholly outlined by Edgar Allan Poe in his tales
Murder in the Rue Morque and The Purloined Letter. He posited the brilliant
reclusive Detective, his trusty sidekick and the art of deduction. Doyle picked up on this and ran fast. One of the first if not the first Conan D. tale gives Edgar his props with a mention and brush off of his detective C. Auguste Dupin. Perhaps JTR read Rue Morgue and decided to slash his way to infamy a la the Orangutan.....




Greg

[Celesta]

Mike, Jeff said he would try to get in touch.

[Celesta]

I've done that, Mike. When I hear from him, I'll tell him people are interested. I haven't seen him here in awhile though.

[mklhawley]

Couldn't one of you PM Jeff or something? I'd love to read a response from him.

Sincerely,

Mike

[Tom_Wescott]

Yes, that's the book. And I didn't mention Mayering was Jeff because I figured he'd show up and do that if he wanted.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Archaic]

Hi Cel, I didn't realize Mayerling was Jeff, thanks for telling us. You are always good at knowing those things.

I think this might be the book Tom referred to:
'Who Was Jack the Ripper? A Collection of Present-Day Theories and Observations' by Camille Wolff
(London: Grey House Books, 1995)

Maybe Mayerling can tell us.

Thanks and best regards,
Archaic

[Supe]

Tom,

A better question would be 'Did Sherlock Holmes influence the Ripper'? As writer, Jeffrey Bloomfield, pointed out years ago, in a 'Study in Scarlet', appearing in 1887, Holmes investigates a strange, unintelligible graffiti upon a wall. Next year we get the Goulston Street graffito.

Aye, but even if the Ripper was influenced by Holmes it is worthless because as Jefferson Hope said to Holmes et al., he wrote RACHE (German for revenge) on the wall of the murder site imply to confuse the police. So the possibility gets us no further ahead.

Don.

[Celesta]

Good one, Matt. He did, didn't he?

[Celesta]

Hi Belinda, In light of the book I'm trying to finish, I would love to know the answer to that question. Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Murders by Dr John Watson. by Lyndsay Faye. I wonder how close Lyndsay got.

[mattwill]

A better question would be 'Did Sherlock Holmes influence the Ripper'? As writer, Jeffrey Bloomfield, pointed out years ago, in a 'Study in Scarlet', appearing in 1887, Holmes investigates a strange, unintelligible graffiti upon a wall. Next year we get the Goulston Street graffito.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

The Holmes Are The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing

(well, James Kelly did take up the violin)

[Celesta]

For those who are new to the site and may not know yet, Jeff is a member of the site and is known as Mayerling. He's a great one to ask about history, as Tom points out.

[Tom_Wescott]

Yes, Bloomfield wrote up a short piece in Camille Wolff's anthology of Ripper essays. The name completely skips me at the moment.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott