The Diary

[Carol]

Dear Everyone,
May I ask a question with regard to Steve Powell's 'Fame and Infamy' book on this thread? I would so much like us to discuss the book. I know the problems with a large part of the book and certain people, both dead and alive, being 'fingered' (but not named). My question is, is it possible for us to discuss at least the supposed origins of the Diary at the hands of Powell's friend? I'm not trying to make trouble or even excite reactions as to my 'naivety'. I genuinely want to discuss what I consider may well be the answer to nearly 20 years of uncertainty about the origins of the Diary.

Carol

[Abraham Lincoln]

i can honestly say that having almost completed my second reading of the diary that there is still that tingling thing in my mind which makes me think that no one could make that stuff up.....it just doesnt ring true that someone could sit there, especially in an age when the internet and research were known to but a few, and make that diary as contentious as it is almost 20 years on. If it is a fake then whoever wrote it deserves the Pulitzer Prize !!

You make some good points here Jason. I can't hand on heart say that the diary is a late 20th century forgery. Now I fully realise that that might make me seem gullible in some poster's eyes, but there's too much in the diary that makes you stop, ponder and wonder. I agree that the author deserves the Pulitzer Prize if it's eventually proved to be a hoax.
If the ripper did revel in playing games it's interesting to note that the first two letters combined with the last letters of Maybrick's name spell JACK. This has probably been pointed out before by someone.

kind regards,
Abe

[Casebook Wiki Editor]

You make some good points here Jason. I can't hand on heart say that the diary is a late 20th century forgery. Now I fully realise that that might make me seem gullible in some poster's eyes, but there's too much in the diary that makes you stop, ponder and wonder.

No one alive today knows who wrote it - of that I am convinced.

[Steven Russell]

No one alive today knows who wrote it - of that I am convinced.

Why?

Best wishes,
Steve.

[RavenDarkendale]

To my mind, the diary has to fall into the "questionable" category. When you have someone confess to forging a document, there has to be strong investigation into how they might have done it. Was it really impossible for Mike Barrett to forge the diary?

I'm reminded of an artist, Han van Meegeren, accused of selling a Vermeer to the Nazis. The Dutch authorities did not believe him when he said he sold no national treasure, that he forged the painting himself! He had to do a forgery right in the courtroom to prove he had the ability to forge the painting. They still found it hard to believe.

[Casebook Wiki Editor]

To my mind, the diary has to fall into the "questionable" category. When you have someone confess to forging a document, there has to be strong investigation into how they might have done it. Was it really impossible for Mike Barrett to forge the diary?

There's been investigations galore. There is no way from Hell...er...in Hell that Mike's got the skill to forge a Liverpool Library card application, let alone a 60+ page document.

[Sickert]

To my mind, the diary has to fall into the "questionable" category. When you have someone confess to forging a document, there has to be strong investigation into how they might have done it. Was it really impossible for Mike Barrett to forge the diary?

I'm reminded of an artist, Han van Meegeren, accused of selling a Vermeer to the Nazis. The Dutch authorities did not believe him when he said he sold no national treasure, that he forged the painting himself! He had to do a forgery right in the courtroom to prove he had the ability to forge the painting. They still found it hard to believe.

It is a fake from start to finish. There is nothing in there that Mike Barrett could not have found out with very little research.

[Kaz]

It is a fake from start to finish. There is nothing in there that Mike Barrett could not have found out with very little research.

Just out of interest, how do you think he managed to fool one of the top graphologists in the world (Hannah Koren), in her opinion its impossible to forge?

[Sally]

Here's a link:

http://www.islandconnections.eu/1000003/1000018/0/21610/features-article.html

I confess I don't entirely follow the logic here.

[Casebook Wiki Editor]

Just out of interest, how do you think he managed to fool one of the top graphologists in the world (Hannah Koren), in her opinion its impossible to forge?

I believe the Diary is old, perhaps even Victorian. So no need for MB to factor into the equation as author.

[Sickert]

Just out of interest, how do you think he managed to fool one of the top graphologists in the world in the world (Hannah Koren), in her opinion its impossible to forge?

top graphologists in her head, not the world. Most of the real top graphologists have stated that it is a fake.

[caz]

Ah, but I don't believe anyone with any real forgery expertise would bet good money on Mike Barrett either being its researcher, its author or its penman.

People really need to look beyond our Mike for their faker - assuming they'd like their views to count for something.

Mike as forger is the lazy thinker's answer.

Love,

Caz
X

[Kaz]

top graphologists in her head, not the world. Most of the real top graphologists have stated that it is a fake.

I have never read this, have you got a link to those claims?

[Jason]

I have never read this, have you got a link to those claims?

the words "most of the top graphologists" could be looked at in another way......"some of the top graphologists do believe its true "......might they also consider themselves as being top of their game in their own heads ?

[lynn cates]

distinction

Hello Sickert, Kaz, Jason. I wonder if it's possible that you refer to forensic document examiners rather than graphologists? Graphologists are not widely respected as capable of definitively linking writers with documents; the former, are.

Cheers.
LC