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** This is an archived, static copy of the Casebook messages boards dating from 1998 to 2003. These threads cannot be replied to here. If you want to participate in our current forums please go to https://forum.casebook.org **
Hvem var Jack the Ripper? (Muusmann)
Casebook Message Boards: Ripper Media: Specific Titles:
Non-Fiction:
Hvem var Jack the Ripper? (Muusmann)
Author: adam wood
Sunday, 14 March 1999 - 05:41 pm |        | Hvem Var Jack The Ripper?
by Carl Muusmann
Published in Copenhagen in 1908, Hvem Var Jack The Ripper? is one of the rarest books on the Whitechapel Murderer. It was the first book of the 20th century, and also the first to offer a solution - Alios Szemeredy.
It is now available to the general public in the form of a reproduction produced by Adam Wood.
The first part of the book is the original Danish text, followed by an English translation. An original illustration is included on the flypapers. The book is A5 200pp, ivy-green board cover (as per the original) and perfect-bound. Cost is £20.
Available in late April from 65 Rush Green Gardens, Romford, Essex RM7 0NR. email adam_wood@dialog.com |
Author: adam
Friday, 09 April 1999 - 02:36 pm | | I'm pleased to say that Hvem Var Jack the Ripper? is now available. Full details can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/7020/hvem_var.html
Adam |
Author: adam wood
Monday, 21 June 1999 - 06:06 pm | | Hi all
I'm following a number of leads thrown up by the translation of Hvem Var JTR, and wonder if anyone can shed any light on the following:
a) A small booklet by Leopold Linder called The Woman-murders in Whitechapel is mentioned. Has anyone heard of this before?
b) A former Assistant Chief Constable in Copenhagen called Kattrup wrote to the newspapers in 1892 to point the finger at Szemeredy: he was at that time Mayor of Soro. Is there anyone in Denmark who could find out anything on Kattrup?
Thanks, Adam |
Author: Stephen P. Ryder
Wednesday, 23 June 1999 - 06:57 pm | | | Brilliant work, Adam! A more in-depth review is forthcoming, but I couldn't help but post a short notice to anyone considering the purchase of this book... don't delay! It is by far the most handsome reprint I've ever seen on the market, well worth every penny. Having some experience in the reprint business, I can appreciate how much this must have cost him to publish. Highly recommended. |
Author: Caz
Thursday, 24 June 1999 - 04:56 am | | Yes, yes, all right Stephen.
I've already promised Adam I will be purchasing two copies from him when we next meet up. (I did mention buying him a few beers too, but I guess he won't hold me to it :-))
Love,
Caz |
Author: adam wood
Thursday, 24 June 1999 - 01:46 pm | | Thanks for the kind words, Stephen.
Anyone interested in ordering shold note that my address has changed to
5 Dereham Place
Collier Row
Essex
RM5 2PN
Adam |
Author: Stephen P. Ryder
Friday, 02 July 1999 - 11:34 pm | | (Review taken from Casebook Newsletter, 3 July 1999)
Hvem var Jack the Ripper?
Carl Muusmann, 1908. 103 pp.
[Reprinted by Adam Wood, 1999]
Having myself taken some steps in the “reprint business” through the Ripperological Preservation Society, I can truly appreciate the time, effort and financing that must have gone into Adam Wood’s latest project, a translated reprint of one of the oldest Ripper books known to exist. To be blunt: this reprint puts all of mine to shame!
Carl Muusmann’s “Hvem var Jack the Ripper” (Eng. “Who Was Jack the Ripper?”) was originally published in 1908 and is considered by many to be the first book-length treatment of the case (though I do believe “Leather Apron” [Sam’l E. Hudson, 1888], with just under 80 pages, can be considered a serious contender for that title). In any event, the contents of this early work have long remained a mystery to most enthusiasts, as, strangely enough, one of the first books about England’s most infamous serial killer was not written in English at all, but rather in Danish! It wasn’t until this year that the language barrier was finally broken, ninety-one years after the book’s original publication, thanks to the hard work of intrepid Ripper researcher Adam Wood.
This reprint edition contains two halves: the first, a faithful English translation comprising 75 pages, and the second, a facsimile of the original comprising 103 (the difference due mainly to the use of a smaller typeset in the English translation). The inclusion of both was a brilliant move on Adam’s part, and the strength of the reprint is only bolstered because of it. If there is one weakness in the work, it is the translation itself, which at times is somewhat awkward and brings the reader to pause momentarily to ponder the point that Muusmann had originally intended to make. But, as mentioned in a review recently published in Ripperologist, the occasional peculiarities within the translation do tend to add a certain charm to the work.
The book itself, as can only be expected, is riddled with factual errors. It introduces a suspect named Alois Szemeredy, accused of murdering a woman in “Ripper-like fashion” in Buenos Aires. The links between Alois and the Ripper are tenuous at best, but Muusmann does provide an in-depth review of Szemeredy’s case which is nearly as fascinating as the Ripper case itself.
Finally, I would be doing the work a mammoth injustice if I were not to make specific note of just how handsome a production it is. True to the original, Adam has spared no expense in outfitting the book in lovely green cardstock covers, with the original title page printed in white on the cover. The typesetting and pagination are also meticulously crafted, making for a very professional final product that any enthusiast would be proud to have in his or her collection.
Considering the costs in time and money for Adam to unearth this work, hire a translator, compile both versions and print the final copy with such high-grade materials, it is not surprising that the cost to the consumer is somewhat prohibitive. Nevertheless, the final product is worth every cent (or pence!). Adam is to be commended for printing what I feel is truly one of the finest reprints ever to grace my Ripper shelves.
Ordering Information
Hvem Var Jack the Ripper? costs £20/$50, incl. P&P, and is available from:
Adam Wood
5 Dereham Place
Collier Row
Essex
RM5 2PN
UK
Email inquiries: adam_wood@dialog.com |
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