The `Reverand Dott letter to Australia

[jason_c]

Hi jason_c,

What paper was used is irrelevant. Back then paper, and many other such like items, were not as freely available as stuff is today and people used what they could... dare i say, including the album for a diary
Ven
"Hiawatha didn't bother too much"

It is not irrelevant. It's one of a number of things document examiners look at in trying to detect the authenticity of a document. Sure, using incorrect paper does not prove it a forgery, but it is enough to increase an examiners suspicions.

[Ven]

ok, maybe i should rephrase... if the paper dates from that period it could still be valid, just because it "wasn't usually used for those purposes" doesn't make it invalid...just like the diary/photo album... people re purposed even back then but for different reasons as to why we do now.

[AndrewL]

Saying as much would be too good to be true, and would attract suspicion. Up till now, we have no contemporary (or near-contemporary) evidence that Kosminski was actually violent towards women, but this letter does just enough to provide such evidence, without setting off too many alarm-bells.

Yes, fair point. I always assume that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is - which is why I never took the diary seriously. In this case the letter is not all that exciting even if true, which means one of two things - either it's a relatively subtle forgery or completely genuine.

[Columbo]

I think as far as this letter is concerned, we should take it as a non-starter. The Maybrick Diary fiasco shows that even in 1990, 2020, 2019,2018 etc., people can fake documents from almost any time period. This is most likely a hoax.

As far as Kosminski as a suspect, I think he's a very possible candidate. He was named by contemporaries of the time (although not by a first name), he had a delusional mind that was muddled with voices and other issues, sad to say. And most important, as one poster put it, Kosminski wasn't a non-functioning imbecile who couldn't care for himself in 1888. I believe he had the prerequisites to be Jack.

Read Jack the Ripper, Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect for, what I consider, the best account of Kosminski as a suspect you'll find. I also found it a pretty neutral book as far as opinions are concerned.