Ripper Notes #28 - "The Legend Continues"

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks for that Magpie. Just haven't been able to write anything in recent months. Either I'm out of time or out of steam, always one or the other. Ha ha. I'll probably have something in an upcoming issue, if Dan's kind enough to run more of my drivel. In the meantime, it will be nice to an enjoy an issue as a reader only, and read it from first page to last, instead of skipping right to my stuff to make sure it came out okay!

While we're ont he subject, magmeister, when are you going to write your follow up to the essay you published in Rip a year or so ago???

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Magpie]

I haven't received my copy yet but I'm anxious to do so because it's the first issue in a long time that I don't have anything in, thereby guaranteeing this issue increased quality and sales! Dan's 'Heartless" essay should be a classic.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

I was disappointed that you don't have an article in this issue. I was looking forward to it.

[Tom_Wescott]

The New Ripper Notes

There is room in the market for both Ripperologist and Ripper Notes and one would hope that the infighting will cease.

I would agree with both sentiments, though sometimes you can't win for losing. Praise a guy's work, say he's written the best editorial in a long time, and he still threatens to kick your butt.

As for the covers, Jane did a couple I thought were really terrific (the 'Madmen' one with Cream and others, and the the Nichols cover), but from what I see of the new one it's totally top notch.

I haven't received my copy yet but I'm anxious to do so because it's the first issue in a long time that I don't have anything in, thereby guaranteeing this issue increased quality and sales! Dan's 'Heartless" essay should be a classic.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[CraigInTwinCities]

Not just Ripperologist and Ripper Notes. I mean, even count in Ripperoo (Austrailia) and Whitechapel Society Journal (UK). That's only two journals for the UK and one each for the US and AUS....

Personally, I think the market could sustain more scholarly journals in this area... I guess some might think in-fighting increases sales, but personally I like to get my hands on as many sources of research and opinion as possible.

[Robert]

I got my first copy a day or two ago and was impressed.

There is room in the market for both Ripperologist and Ripper Notes and one would hope that the infighting will cease.

[CraigInTwinCities]

Looks like I may be the first to confirm this, but I received my contributor's copy today. (Sat., March 16)

I miss Jane doing cover art this time out, but otherwise a packed issue that looks great and that I plan to get right to work reading, to see what fine pieces my modest essay appears among.

Gets me motivated to start working toward completion on my next piece...

[Dan Norder]

Considering that Amazon.com already sent out emails to people who previously bought certain Jack the Ripper titles from them that Ripper Notes: The Legend Continues is out and available to purchase, I should post here to confirm that it is coming out this week.

I've got a shipping confirmation that all the American copies should be delivered to me today. They should all get mailed out today (and some tomorrow, depending upon how soon in the day they get to me).

The issues for Europe and rest of the world were also ordered and are printing. There's no delivery confirmation, but, based upon previous experience, they will probably be getting to Alan by the middle of the week.

[CraigInTwinCities]

As an author of one of the pieces, I wanted to say, love the cover. This is my first glimpse of it, and it looks great.

[Dan Norder]

Coral,

You still have one more issue on your subscription. We usually include a reminder to renew when your last issue is mailed out, though sometimes those get forgotten. After a subscription expires and the new issue is mailed out I also try to then email anyone who doesn't renew at that point. Often people renew once they hear good things from other readers about the next issue. Until someone misses an issue I feel like I should not be individually asking him or her for more money... perhaps that's an unorthodox way of doing things, but then I'm not doing this as a business but as a labor of love.

Also, if you have a question about your individual subscription it's best to email me at the address listed on the web site or in my signature below instead of posting here.


Hi Robert, Howard,

I typically post a notice to the thread when the issue has been mailed out. I hope to get the specially-printed one-off proof copy back this week so I can verify that the press didn't introduce problems when they print it that don't show up in my pre-press file verification software. You may remember that I had to toss out hundreds of issues last time around and have them all reprinted.

[Howard Brown]

Dan:

Has the issue been mailed out already?

Like Robert, I haven't recieved one either.

[Robert]

I'm still awaiting my issue.

[coral]

Dont know if my subscription is still active.

If my count up on pevious mags is correct then my subscriptions has expired - but no-one has bothered to ask me to re-subscribed
.
Coral

[Dan Norder]

Since the Casebook server crash erased this thread last time it was here, I'm combining several posts about Ripper Notes #28 into one long one.

Let's start with a view of the front and back cover:

[ATTACH]266[/ATTACH]
Ripper Notes #28 -- ISBN: 0-9789112-2-9
Cover art (clockwise from upper right): Detail of the 'Dear Fraser' letter;
color photo of 29 Hanbury Street, from The London of Jack the Ripper:
Then and Now by Robert Clack and Philip Hutchinson, courtesy Philip
Hutchinson/Margaret Whitby-Green; presentation from the 2007 Ripper
conference; slide with evidence from the Dr. Crippen case

Ripper Notes: The Legend Continues looks at the enduring mystery of the Jack the Ripper murders... including both the myths from the past that still survive today as well as the way modern enthusiasts keep the case alive.

•"Carl Ferdinand Feigenbaum: An Old Suspect Resurfaces": The idea that Jack the Ripper was killing women all around the world is an old one, but it's also one presented in some modern authors' books. Ripper Notes Editor Wolf Vanderlinden presents the full details on Carl Feigenbaum, a convicted murderer whose own lawyer thought he was Jack the Ripper, as well as the deaths of women in the United States and Europe that he was later accused of being responsible. The article includes not one but two contemporary illustrations of Feigenbaum never before seen in any modern publication as well as a rare photo of Lottie Morgan, a prostitute in northern Wisconsin whose gory murder made headlines across the country at the time but has since been largely forgotten.

[ATTACH]267[/ATTACH]
Sneak peak at some pages from Wolf Vanderlinden's article

•"The Myth of Jack the Ripper": Going along with our theme, John Bennett talks about top hats, black bags and the other aspects of the legend that continues on to this day.

•"Heartless: The Evidence for a Copycat Killer": The idea the Mary Kelly's killer may not have been responsible for any of the previous victims has gained a fair number of supporters in recent years. Ripper Notes Executive Editor Dan Norder takes a hard look at what may be the most compelling argument in favor of that position... and in the process discovers strong evidence that the Whitechapel murderer changed his methods to live up to his own legend.

•"Romanticizing Mary Jane Kelly": Craig Hansen explores the peculiar ways this most mysterious of the Whitechapel victims has been treated over the years.

•"Rail Service Between Blackheath and London in 1888: Does it Place Druitt Near the East End?": Andrew Spallek sets out to answer that very question and, in the process, looks into other aspects of the life of Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten's favorite suspect.

•"The Thomas Street Murder: The Return of the Ripper?": Bernard Brown looks at an 1894 killing and its connections to the earlier crimes in London's East End.

•"‘Another World and Another Judge’ - Do New Scientific Tests Clear Crippen?": Jonathan Menges dissects recent claims that DNA has proven this famous murderer to be innocent.

Plus:

•Full reports on a number of Ripper-related events.

•"The Vintage Art Vault" returns and spots Jack the Ripper at a Rhode Island pawn shop, of all places.

•Our reviewers tell you what you need to know about seven recent Ripper titles.

•Author Martin Fido posts a message to "The Whitechapel Letterbox."


In other news, I'm pleased to announce that both Wolf Vanderlinden and Alan Sharp have been promoted to full fledged Ripper Notes editors. I will still be an editor and also the publisher, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that both of them were doing far more work than would fall under an Associate Editor title. Related to that, Alan will be taking over the European and rest of world (i.e. non-American) mailings and subscriptions. If you are in that part of the world and pay online through our website at www.RipperNotes.com you should continue to do so, but if you mail your money in you should note the new address:

Alan Sharp, Ripper Notes editor, 62/4 Spottiswoode Street, Edinburgh, EH9 1DH, Scotland

My sincere thanks go to Debra Arif for having handled the mailings over there for the last couple of issues.

And I have to check a couple of things on the Canadian side regarding shipping costs, but Wolf Vanderlinden will probably be mailing out issues to subscribers in that country.

Once again I am honored that our subscribers have placed so much trust in me and have been understanding with the various problems causing delays in getting issues to print. If I ever wondered just how much support and good will we have earned over the years something like this sure demonstrates it.

Those of you who aren't subscribers can either go to our website and sign up, wait until this issue hits online bookstores like Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or contact me direct for single issue purchases. Those looking for sample articles from old issues can check out our web site or click the appropriate cover image on the Casebook index of Ripper Notes back issues. And don't forget the new Ripper Notes Extra, which is updated regularly with free Ripper-related content.