Hard Cover with Dustjacket 86 pp.
ISBN
978-1-55246-941-5 @ $50.00
The E-book edition $8.00
This monograph by a well-known Sherlockian and student of mystery stories begins with a description of the victims, a list of the popular suspects and a biographical sketch of the English artist Walter Sickert. The author then examines the claim made by Patricia Cornwell in her book Portrait of a Killer that Sickert was Jack the Ripper and considers why the Ripper was not caught. Hartley then considers other popular theories as to the identity of Jack the Ripper. Anyone interested in the late Victorian era or in mysteries generally cannot avoid reading something about Jack the Ripper. There have been countless attempts to solve the brutal murders. After almost 125 years we are no closer to determining who he was. Due in part to the passage of time, the number of books that have appeared and ever-growing list of possible suspects, we may never know his identify but theories abound. The treatise pays homage to many of these theories, but does not purport to be a complete compendium of all of them nor does it strive to identify the perpetrator. It will be of particular interest to those persons who wish to be better informed about the Jack the Ripper phenomenon.
About the Author
Hartley R. Nathan is a senior partner at the Toronto law firm of Minden Gross LLP where he practices Corporate and Commercial Law. The recipient of the gold medal at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, he earned a Master of Laws degree with distinction at University College, London, England and was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1982. He is the author of two textbooks on the law of corporate meetings in Canada and a frequent lecturer on this topic. He is a founding member and former president of the Bootmakers of Toronto, the local Sherlock Holmes society, a member of the Baker Street Irregulars and an executive member of the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection at the Toronto Public Reference Library. Hartley frequently speaks at meetings of the Bootmakers and B.S.I., has authored and co-authored numerous papers and articles published in the Baker Street Journal and Canadian Holmes, and has won several awards for his presentations over the years. His passion for the Victorian era extends to famous criminal trials of the period, Jack the Ripper, the writings of Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle and the music of Gilbert and Sullivan. His interest in Jack the Ripper was further stimulated by the publication in 2002 of Patricia Cornwell’s Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper – Case Closed. He has since lectured on Jack the Ripper at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in London, England, at the University of Toronto and at charitable and other functions. He lives in Toronto with his wife Marilyn who together with his children Cindy (Michael) and Brad, and two grandchildren, Shawn and Erin have learned to tolerate his fascination with the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper.