new information: Arthur Mac Donald and the MJK scene photo

[mariab]

Fascinating if the source was Dr. Bond, which it already appears as if he might have been!
The letter I've located (as transcribed in the initial post of this thread) states that Mac Donald was already in possession of the MJK scene photograph on September 8, while in Italy (with Lombroso, who might have even known about it).

On 26 September 1892 he again called at the Home Office

Might I inquire when was the first time that Mac Donald called at the HO in 1892?

If this could not be allowed he wanted a letter to Dr. Bond asking that Bond could tell him what he could of the facts noted by him.

This looks to me like Mac Donald had possibly already talked to Dr. Bond prior to September 26, and that Dr. Bond had required “permission“ from the HO to reveal more details. Possibly.

I assume that Robert McLaughlin or Wolf Vanderlinden will know about the publishing series “American Blue Books“. As for the French scientific periodical, it was clearly Lacassagne's Archives d'anthropologie criminelle, as corroborated by Mac Donald's letter. This is the same periodical where Mac Donald later published his long article about the failed assailant of president Roosevelt.

There are no photographs or illustrations in MacDonald's book. If he had the information/photograph he may have been wary of where and when to publish it if he had obtained it confidentially from a source such as Bond.

Thank you so much for the information, and for corroborating my suspicion. That's possibly why Lacassagne let his doctoral candidate (Lamoureux) publish the MJK photo first. Possibly as a ballon d'essai? (A try to see if there would be legal consequences?)

As you can see my copy of MacDonald's book is inscribed by the author.

Wow. On first sighting I thought it was inscribed by you! Was it a second hand purchase (from an antiques store), or when did Arthur Mac Donald die? He can't have survived until the 1960s?
PS.: Oops. Just saw it. “Nelson Dingley, M.D.“.

[sleekviper]

Hello Maria,
Not really sure that it was an act of indiscretion. If he came about the photos by a less than ethical and legal fashion, is he likely to say that he has them in a letter, and give an address in the location where they are missing? Appears to me that freely giving the information through traditional channels is out, but fresh eyes viewing what had happened may reveal new insight, and the unofficial way for that to happen is Abberline, who is retired. I would think that it becomes important to conduct matters in this fashion if it is possible that extradition from America may occur. May become a question of a fair trial if a name is directly tied to the pictures before a trial, risking the ability of a suspect to be released to England since it would appear he would be going for the purpose to be hung rather than have a trial.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Maria,

Thank you for your marvellous efforts in taking the time out to travel to Lyon, search through all of these archives and pin down the information, and presenting them to us all. Also thanks to Rob Clack for his efforts in deciphering too. I look forward to the eventual 2nd edition of Robert McLaughlin's book as well.

kindly

Phil

[Archaic]

JTR Excerpts & C.V. From MacDonald's Work 'Criminology', 1893

Hi everyone.

Here are the pages in MacDonald's 1893 book which mention Jack the Ripper. As Stewart says, the mentions are very brief indeed.

I also attached the curriculum vitae MacDonald included in his book. I thought it might be of interest as it shows the dates he attended Harvard, received a fellowship in Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, studied in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and Zurich, etc.

Best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Thank you everyone. It's weird that the CV published in Mac Donald's book doesn't mention his time spent in Turin with Cesare Lombroso, who was definitely one of his mentors. Lombroso was appointed only in Turin, not elsewhere. Maybe Mac Donald was in Turin in a private, postdoctoral capacity...
First time ever I hear about Berlin too. At any rate, this guy was definitely resourceful and travelled a lot, which fits with him having managed to obtain the MJK scene photo.

[Penny_Dredfull]

Arthur Mac Donald and the MJK scene photo

Perhaps the reason that the CV doesn't mention Lombroso and Turin is that, although Lombroso was Professor of forensic medicine and hygeine there from 1873, it wasn't until later that he became Professor of psychiatry (1896) and criminal anthroplogy (1906). Lombroso's work wasn't translated into English until 1900, and he died in 1909.
Given that the CV's date is given as 1893, perhaps it was only later that he came into contact with Lombroso- say 1896 or later.

[Archaic]

Hi Penny_Dredfull, and welcome to Casebook!
(By the way, I like your user name. My friend has a daughter named Penny and I call her "Penny Dreadful" when she's naughty. )

MacDonald dedicated his 1893 book 'Criminology' to Lombroso, and Lombroso wrote the introduction, but you raise some excellent points and perhaps MacDonald studied in Turin at a later date.

Thanks and best regards,
Archaic

[mariab]

Thank you so much for the information, Ms. Dredfull.
Mac Donald was definitely in Turin with Lombroso in 1892, also corroborated by the letter I've found mentioning the MJK photo (written in Turin, in Sept. 8 1892). Plus Lombroso wrote the Preface in Mac Donald's book, published in 1893. But if Lombroso was Professor of forensic medicine and NOT yet of psychiatry and criminal anthropology, it makes sense that Mac Donald, who was a criminal anthropologist and not a medical doctor, could not have officially worked in Turin with Lombroso. Mac Donald had already his Dr. title in September 1892, though I'm not clear of where he completed his doctorate, as they called it at the time.

Lombroso was tight with Lacassagne, and I suspect that it might have even been Lombroso who directed Mac Donald towards Lyon.
Lombroso was invited in Lyon to examine Vacher's brain postmortem, and wrote extensively about this. He visited Lyon and Lacassagne on different professional and private occasions, and after Lombroso's death Lacassagne kept a correspondence with his widow. I went through those letters in Lyon, and they include pictures of them socializing.

[mariab]

Something else I've been thinking about:
Supposing it might have been Dr. Bond or someone else who provided Mac Donald with the MJK scene photo, behind the scenes. This obviously would have happened before Sept. 8, 1892. There is a possibility that the information about the leak became known somehow, and that the HO inofficially got wind of this. This would enhance the negative response of the HO on September 26, 1892.
Just trying to envision different scenarios.

[Penny_Dredfull]

Arthur Mac Donald and the MJK scene photo

Thanks for the welcome, much appreciated!

Do you have any idea if perhaps MacDonald came into contact with Alphonse Bertillon at any point, whether while in Paris or otherwise?
The reason I bring this up is that as far as crime-scene photos of the period go, that would have been Bertillon's field more than Lombroso's. Although both are associated with developments in criminal anthropometry and physiognomy, and thus with photographing criminals, only Bertillon widened his interest to the photographing and analysis of crime-scenes. For that reason, I would think that the MJK crime scene photo would be more Bertillon's cup of tea than Lombroso's.
What do you think?

[mariab]

Bertillon shot the picture of President Roosevelt's assailant, intercepted in Milwaukee on Sept. 12, 1912 when he shot Theodore Roosevelt while entering an automobile, and Mac Donald published a lenghty article on this case in Lacassagne's French periodical (Archives d'anthropologie criminelle), but this was much later than 1892.
I just tried uploading the Bertillon picture of President Roosevelt's assailant as a pdf file, but it's still not condensed enough for casebook and my software can't condense it further. I'll ask Rob Clack if he could post this pic from his computer.
Here are 2 old threads discussing the different players in this saga, including Bertillon:
- A French connection: http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=3563
- Arthur Mac Donald, 1893: http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=4146

I just checked my notes from Lyon and it appears that Mac Donald's book was published again in a second edition, Paris 1895. Some other cases he discusses in the book are Jesse Pomeroy and Piper the Brainer (whoever that was). It seems like Archaic owns Mac Donald's book, so she might know.

[sleekviper]

Piper the Brainer? Think he married Minnie the Moocher, and had two kids; Mack the Knife and Half Hanged Harding. Rowdy bunch those Brainers.

[mariab]

The Rowdy bunch (vs. the Brady bunch), Sleek. ;-)

[lynn cates]

nice

Hello Maria, Lovely work.

Best of luck in your further research.

Cheers.
LC

[mariab]

Hello, Lynn.
Must have been months! Can I email you in a few days? I'd very much like to do some research with you about something that might interest you, if you'd agree. I just need to prepare, as I've been neglecting this part of work, having been too busy with travelling and some deadlines.