Jack the Ripper for Dummies

[John Bennett]

I think many of us are aware of the 'For Dummies' range of books. These cover a wide range of subjects from Ancient Egyptians to Adobe Photoshop, Neurolinguistic Programming to Catholicism. Even sex

Celesta mentioned on JTR forums (as an aside, I believe), whether we could do with a Jack the Ripper for Dummies. I did once contact a publisher with this idea about a year ago but got no reply.

As the JTR field is a complicated one, a simple to negotiate tome of facts sounds exciting to me. Eddleston's Encyclopedia comes close, but is peppered with inaccuracies and repetition.

Just as an elbow test in the bathwater of Ripperology, does anybody else here think that such a book would make a useful (if not valuable) addition to the Ripper non-fiction canon? Perhaps as a good starting point for those interested in the case who want to avoid the politics and potential distortions that can often riddle the field.

JB

[jmenges]

Hi John,

A little over a year ago I started working on a JtR 'For Beginners' book that I intended to serve up as a free pdf download. The 'For Beginners' series was different than and pre-dates the Dummies books. They were published by Writers and Readers and styled themselves 'Documentary Comic books'. They came out with a few dozen titles ranging from Karl Marx to Elvis, Peace, Darwin, Einstein, Jung, Orwell etc etc etc. Each volume was a few hundred pages of cartoons and text.

I designed the cover for a Ripper book, finished the introduction and a couple of the victims pages before I got side-tracked. It was going to be a full-color, heavily illustrated, bare bones just-the-facts sort of book.

As always, my intention was not to get the thing published or profit from it, but have it as a free download on Howard's site.

One of these days I may get around to finishing it. I agree that such a book would be good for people looking for an introduction to the case.

JM

[Celesta]

Hi Guys,


I was not kidding about a JTR for Dummies. The main drawback I can see is that we already have the A to Z and Sourcebook/Companion. However I think that a straightforward guide, like a dummies book, would be very useful, esp. if it dispelled certain myths. I think I used the example of the notorious black bag that people always associate with the Ripper. Not to mention the swirling black cape, for which we can provide no absolutely no evidence!

[Jenni Shelden]

John,

i think that you should write it - id by it

Jenni

ps what does that make me lol

[Mike Covell]

I've Made One!!

I took my A-Z, Letters From hell, Sourcebook, and Encyclopedia, stuck a big elastic band around them, and need a bright yellow and black cover and I have it!! It's just very heavy and not the easiest book to take off the shelf, still it's lighter than Alan Moore's From Hell.

[sdreid]

Hy Jon.

wen wil et bee owt?

[John Bennett]

Hi Guys,


I was not kidding about a JTR for Dummies. The main drawback I can see is that we already have the A to Z and Sourcebook/Companion. However I think that a straightforward guide, like a dummies book, would be very useful, esp. if it dispelled certain myths.

I like the way that the Dummies Books put little warnings and pointers in the margins. This format would work well with the innacuracies surrounding the case: as an example, when talking about the discovery of Mary Ann Nichols, one would naturally use the names CHARLES Cross and ROBERT Paul.
The margin note would be a good place to state that many early authors used the names George Cross and John Paul because all they had to go on were the press reports or each other's mistakes. Before folk got access to the original documents.

Set to one side, and not really interrupting the flow of the facts as we now know them.

No other murder series seems to attract such continual interest in the sites themselves either, so a decent section on that wouldn't go amiss.

Just an observation.

JB

[John Bennett]

Hy Jon.

wen wil et bee owt?

Maybe I should try contacting John Wiley Ltd again.

JB

[Monty]

John,

Seeing as Jack is now on the National Curriculum, I feel such a book would be a benefit.

All we need now is an idiot to write it. I here De Locksley is free.

Monty

[GRISTLE]

I've been called a dummy and I like JTR; therefore I'd buy it ... if that's any help.

[Celesta]

I like the way that the Dummies Books put little warnings and pointers in the margins. This format would work well with the innacuracies surrounding the case: as an example, when talking about the discovery of Mary Ann Nichols, one would naturally use the names CHARLES Cross and ROBERT Paul.
The margin note would be a good place to state that many early authors used the names George Cross and John Paul because all they had to go on were the press reports or each other's mistakes. Before folk got access to the original documents.

Set to one side, and not really interrupting the flow of the facts as we now know them.

No other murder series seems to attract such continual interest in the sites themselves either, so a decent section on that wouldn't go amiss.

Just an observation.

JB

I can tell you're warming to the idea, John. I've used several of these books and found them most useful. They are so straight forward. You don't have to weed through a lot to get to what you want to know.

What about doing a poll to see what the folks here think of the idea? One pertinent question would be, "Would you buy something like this?" Another might be "Do you think this would be useful" etc.

Celesta

[John Bennett]

Celesta:

I was warm to the idea a while ago! I've used a few of them too (I've got a good one about art) and it seems there are several books in the series that have more obscure subject matter than JTR, believe me.

I think it would be a good idea, personally.

Regardless of the A-Z, Sourcebook, Sugden etc, what do others think?

[Monty]

Monty,

Its 'hear' you idiot, not 'here'!

Geeze, maybe you should write it you imbecile!

Monty

[Brenda]

How would it be presented? Would it be the basic facts of the case summarized throughout the book and then maybe an index of suspects at the end?

I think its an excellent idea. When I first decided to check out the case, I just happened to get lucky and choose Sugden.

A-Z is great, but I don't think it can be appreciated properly by a beginner, who may not know anything about the case at all.

[Celesta]

Celesta:

I was warm to the idea a while ago! I've used a few of them too (I've got a good one about art) and it seems there are several books in the series that have more obscure subject matter than JTR, believe me.

I think it would be a good idea, personally.

Regardless of the A-Z, Sourcebook, Sugden etc, what do others think?

Yes, I know that. Do the poll!