Has anyone read the account of James Maybrick and his so-called "Ripper" diaries?
I don't know what to think. The discovery of this diary seems spurious, but the writer's knowledge of the details about the murders presents evidence. Still, they might be little more than a record of a rich and lurid fantasy life of a man who feels betrayed by his wife.
Do they rely too heavily upon linking the diary to the contested Ripper letters?
I don't know what to think. The discovery of this diary seems spurious, but the writer's knowledge of the details about the murders presents evidence. Still, they might be little more than a record of a rich and lurid fantasy life of a man who feels betrayed by his wife.
Do they rely too heavily upon linking the diary to the contested Ripper letters?
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Illinois
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Unsu...
Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Mon, August 30, 2004 - 12:17 PMI have that book. At the end they are kind enough to tell you it's a hoax in the afterword. -
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Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Sat, November 13, 2004 - 6:37 PMThis is the smack on the knuckles I deserve for skimming the book. O dear.
My excuse was that I was moving across at the time, and didn't have time to read carefully.
O dopey, dopey me.
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Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Sat, September 4, 2004 - 5:59 AM"Do they rely too heavily upon linking the diary to the contested Ripper letters?"
Yeah, up to a point. As Kaydie said, at the end they give you reports by experts for and against the authenticity of the diary. The most convincing argument, for me, was the one against the diary. One very annoying thing about the book is that a good chunk of it is about the arrest, trial and conviction of his wife for Maybrick's murder. -
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Unsu...
Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Thu, October 14, 2004 - 3:16 PMI read a confession from both the man and his wife who were involved in the hoax...seems he found this empty 1800's diary at a yardsale or something and well...poof...a hoax was born. -
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Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Mon, July 31, 2006 - 10:19 AMI believe the diary to be a hoax and probably a modern-day hoax. In the diary there are many factual errors. One main error is the reference to The Poste House. This is the name of a pub in Cumberland Street in Liverpool, about 7 miles away from his home at Battlecrease Mansion in Aigburth, Liverpool, and just some minutes away from his cotton business in Liverpool city centre. In the diary Maybrick writes "I decided to take refreshment at The Poste House" ( I think this is the quote, if not it's something very similar but with a definite reference to The Poste House). The Poste House, as I stated earlier, exists today in Cumberland Street in Liverpool city centre. The problem with this is that in 1888 when the murders took place The Poste House was not known by that name. In 1888 it was called The Muck Midden. I don't think The Poste House name came about until the 1960s. Some people suggest that The Poste House is a generic term for a building dealing with mail, or where coaches stopped to deliver mail etc. This I think is false because the diarist used capital letters and the "e" at the end of "Poste" - a distinct way of capitalisation and spelling.The diarist seems to be referring to a specific place called The Poste House i.e the pub on Cumberland Street that is called that today but was not known by that name in 1888, and not a general place called the post house. The capital letters and the unusual spelling of "Poste" that happens to be the name of a pub in Liverpool today but not in 1888. There is a wooden plaque (or was until recently) on the wall of the pub stating the history and previous name of the pub. I believe the diarist made a simple but crucial mistake here. As well as this there a many other textual discrepancies in the diary. The Ripper Casebook archive gives many views of thought on this subject and there are detailed views of thought on Maybrick as a suspect. This along with a lack of provenance and other textual errors in the diay seem to me to indicate it being a modern-day hoax.
Steve, Liverpool.
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Re: Maybrick's "Ripper Diary"
Sun, March 25, 2007 - 11:15 PMYes, I read that one. It was an interesting fantasy, but the numerous errors weighed heavily against it. Most experts consider it an amusing piece of fiction.
