George Cecil Ives

[lynn cates]

paper

Hello Supe. Thanks. His entry was September 10. I presume he was reading the paper at the time. I wonder which it was?

Phil Carter has pointed out to me that his handwriting becomes less legible around the murder dates. When I look closely, that seems the case. He was very sensitive and the murders seem to have upset him. His entry for September 1 (the day after the Nichols event) begins in his numerical code and he starts talking about death.

The best.
LC

[lynn cates]

day 2 at the library

Hello. Another day at the library.

I checked the dates of the canonicals. With only the possible exception of Chapman, he always goes up to London the day before a killing. Then he goes back to Bentworth Hall. Moreover, some of his worst jabberwocky takes place around the same times. (His digressions about bestiality and incest are a bit much to bear.)

There are strains of paranoia in his thinking. Hence he has a year's end inventory of friends and enemies. He notes that he hates no one and wishes to live in peace; but, he REMEMBERS what some have tried to do to him, so they'd better BEWARE.

Most annoying are his constant tirades against marriage. He is also quite interested in items like age of consent and consanguinity. Indeed, he spends some pages relating his findings on such laws in America.

I found a couple more references to the WCM, in particular Coles. Unfortunately, he leaves England just afterward to go to the south of France as he did right after the MJK murder.

All in all, a bizarre chap with FAR too much time on his hands--made worse by his frequent headaches and insomnia, for, subtracting the time that he cannot sleep, his days were long indeed.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

day 3 at the library

Hello. Today I had a go at Ives' correspondence. I found a letter from the Author's Club. The name Sir Walter Besant popped up. Sounds familiar but I cannot place it.

Found one urgent plea from a young lady urging him to renounce his new views and return to his old ones. (Seems he had officially adopted hedonism at the time. [Hedonism is the claim that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and all other goods are instrumental.])

Another missive contained some rather urgent questions posed--including his views on sodomy and "solitary vice" and whether the former were not superior to the latter.

He also received some correspondence regarding the "Church Army." This seems to be a sectary institution dedicated to helping "prisoners, unfortunates, inebriates, and the worthy poor." They had a branch office at 104 Whitechapel Road. It seems he was interested in something like an "adopt a prisoner" program

He also had a lengthy correspondence with sexologist Havelock Ellis. Unfortunately, Professor Ellis' handwriting is nearly illegible.

Cheers.
LC

[lynn cates]

day 4 at the library

Hello. Another day at the library looking over Ives’ diaries. Now I know that he hates barristers and, in his fantasies places them before Christ’s seat at the judgment. He spends several pages denouncing their unjust sentences. I have gone through Jan 1892 and he is preparing himself for the “great cause”—referring to gay liberation.

Interesting were his remarks about Cambridge University—it had nothing to offer him save good chess.

His speeches went off as well as his failed poetry. He saved a press clipping:

“Mr. Ives wandered along the paths of history and oxymoron, speaking of Rome, tenets untenable and creeds incredible and crinolines, till he was called to order by the President.” (heh-heh)

He was genuinely moved over the sickness and death of Prince Eddie and he mourned the loss of his dearest friend—the Comtesse de Chambrun (anyone know her?). He refers also to the death of Cardinal Manning along with a diatribe about his distaste for RC’s.

Quite self-important and with a good deal of time on his hands having only his chess and cricket to help keep him occupied.

On a side note, I have NEVER seen an individual whose hand writing varied as much from one day to the next. Incredible.

Cheers.
LC