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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 **
Facimiles of the Dear Boss letter
Casebook Message Boards: General Discussion: Research Issues / Philosophy:
Facimiles of the Dear Boss letter
Author: ASEGERDAL
Monday, 18 March 2002 - 04:14 am |        | | The police made facimiles of the "Dear Boss" letter sent to Central News and posted copies of it for display at all the police stations. But how was this done? Did they photograph the letter with a large plate camera and then what? Were the facimiles large posters? And if so, how was this done? In other words, technically speaking, how were facimiles made from the original letter? After all, in 1888 there was not the technical methods of reproduction that we have today. Any help on this would be most appreciated. With best regards, Alastair Segerdal |
Author: Christopher T George
Monday, 18 March 2002 - 08:58 am | | Hi, Alastair:
The facsimiles of the Dear Boss letter and envelope and the front and back of the Saucy Jacky postcard appeared on a police broadside headed "METROPOLITAN POLICE. Fac-simile of Letter and Post Card received by Central News Agency. . . . Any person recognising the handwriting is requested to communicate with the nearest Police Station. Metropolitan Police Office, 3rd October 1888." The broadside is pictured in Rumbelow's book. What is curious about the facsimiles is that the postage stamps do not appear on either the front of the postcard or the envelope of the Dear Boss letter, only the postmarks, though we know both bore stamps (e.g., see p. 17 of Evans and Skinner's Jack the Ripper Letters from Hell which shows that the 25 September Dear Boss letter bore a lilac one penny stamp). Thus, the method of reproduction that was utilized for the broadside was probably not photography but some other method that did not pick up the images of the stamps. I am curious myself what method was used. It is true that facsimiles of letters commonly appeared in books of the day, e.g., in McDougall's book on the Maybrick Case, and the reproduction method used to make those facsimiles may have been the same adopted to make the facsimile images of the Ripper correspondence for the police broadside of 3 October 1888.
Best regards
Chris George |
Author: Christopher T George
Monday, 18 March 2002 - 09:14 am | |  |
Author: Christopher T George
Monday, 18 March 2002 - 09:23 am | |  |
Author: John Savage
Monday, 18 March 2002 - 02:54 pm | | Hi Alistair.
Although I am no expert on Printing History, I would suggest that the facsimilies you are looking at could have been re produced by the photo lithography process, which I believe was invented in Europe in the 1850's. I cannot make out the name of the printer which is at bottom right corner, that would be a clue. Otherwise I can only refer you to The St Brides Printing Library, which I believe is still in Fleet Street, London EC4. |
Author: ASEGERDAL
Tuesday, 19 March 2002 - 04:13 am | | Hi John Savage. Thanks for your reply. I, too, was wondering if the facimiles were done via the photo-litho process. By the way, the reply and pictures from Chris George are interesting.
All the best, Alastair |
Author: ASEGERDAL
Tuesday, 19 March 2002 - 04:24 am | | Hi Chris George. Thanks for your reply re the facimiles of the "Dear Boss" letters. John Savage suggest that the photo-litho process may have been used. If so, this might not have picked up the image of the postage stamps due to their color in an otherwise black and white process. Your repro of the letters came out great on my iMac screen! Mind you, I'm still not sure if the original letter and postcard still exist.
With best regards, Alastair |
Author: Christopher T George
Tuesday, 19 March 2002 - 09:31 am | | Hi, Alastair:
Glad the images and information that I posted were of some use.
The original Dear Boss letter certainly does exist and was on display at Ripper convention September 28-October 1 last in Bournemouth, England, courtesy of the Public Record Office. The original Saucy Jacky postcard though is missing.
A facsimile image of the Dear Boss letter also appeared in the Daily Telegraph and is reproduced in Evans and Skinner's book on the JtR letters.
On the police broadside of 3 October showing the facsimiles of Dear Boss and the Saucy Jacky postcard, I believe the printer's name is McCorquedale & Co. Limited., "The Armory," Southwark. The same printer printed the notice "To the Occupier" at the end of September. In full the notice reads: "POLICE NOTICE. To the Occupier. On the mornings of Friday, 31st August, Saturday 8th, and Sunday, 30th September, 1888, Women were murdered in or near Whitechapel, supposed by some one residing in the immediate neighbourhood. Should you know of any person to whom suspicion is attached, you are earnestly requested to communicate at once with the nearest Police Station."
Best regards
Chris George |
Author: John Savage
Tuesday, 19 March 2002 - 08:08 pm | | Hi Alistair
I note your comments regarding the postage stamps, but please bear in mind that early photographs used Orthochromatic plates which never did pick up the colour red very well. Later black and white films used the Panchromatic process which did not have this problem.
From Chris George's post I think the firm of Mc Corquedale may still be in existance, if I have time tommorow I may check and see if I can gleen any further information.
Best Regards
John Savage |
Author: ASEGERDAL
Wednesday, 20 March 2002 - 03:49 am | | | Hi John and Chris: I thank both of you for your information on the Dear Boss facimiles. Glad to know the original Dear Boss letter is safe with the Public Records Office. Re the photo plates used at the time, I think you are right, John, that they were orthochromatic only and not pan film which came later. And yes, ortho would not pick up red, but I wonder what the color was of the stamp. Come to think of it, was it a penny or halfpenny stamp? Any info you can obtain, John, about Mc Corquedale would be most welcome. All the best, Alastair |
Author: ASEGERDAL
Wednesday, 20 March 2002 - 03:58 am | | | Hello again Chris and John: Just read your posting again and note that the Dear Boss letter had a lilac one penny stamp. So even an ortho emulsion would have picked up the non-red colors in lilac. The mystery deepens! Cheers, Alastair |
Author: Christopher T George
Wednesday, 20 March 2002 - 09:19 am | | Hi, All:
Actually I think the spelling of the name of the printers might be "McCorquadale." Here, interestingly, is a webpage on Victorian stamps in which the company was making pattern postage stamps for the British government, trying to wrest the contract from De La Rue, the company who seemed to have had the sole contract to supply stamps for the British Government throughout the Victorian period. Although this webpage also gives the printers name as "McCorquodale" I have seen other websites that offer for sale registered envelopes printed by the company where the name is rendered as "McCorquadale."
Best regards
Chris George |
Author: John Savage
Wednesday, 20 March 2002 - 02:22 pm | | Hi Alistair
I have had a litle time today to go to my local library and the following is the results of what I was able to find.
(1) Five Hundred Years of Printing, by S,H, Steinberg (Faber & Faber London 1959, page 204)
"Of a more general application was the invention of printing from the surface of a specially prepared stone, afterwards called lithography, which the Bavarian Alois Senefelder made at Munich in 1796-9 and for which he obtained an English patent in 1800. The use of photography (from 1840) expanded the use of lithography."
(2)The Art and Practice of Printing by Wm. Atkins, The New Era Publishing Co.Ltd London (no date)
George Meisenbach invented the half tone (screen) process in 1881. In 1883 Meisenbach locks were being printed in English journals and in 1884 Meisenbach Co. Ltd registered a patent in London. It was not until 1891 however, that a half tone block was first used in a daily paper, when the Daily Graphic of November 4th. printed a portrait of Mr. G. Lambert who was then standing as a candidate for Parliament. However the first daily newspaper half tone appeared in the New York Daily Graphic in 1880, the work of S.H. Hogan.
(3)
I also checked the Printing Trades Directory 2002 and as I suspected a firm of this mame is still extant, They are now called, McCorquodale Confidential Print Ltd, of Milton Keynes, Bucks. It appears that the company was established in 1878. If you need to contact them I have thier full postal address and telephone/fax numbers.
In regard to the colour lilac this would be made up mainly of blue and red, both colours that gave problems with ortho.
Sorry to go on, I do hope your not to bored with all this.
Best Regards, John Savage.
CHRIS.
McCorquodale have always been a large and long established company in the printing industry and I feel that however the spelling we are dealing with the same company, probably just a small mistake by an overworked compositor. But thanks anyway. |
Author: ASEGERDAL
Thursday, 21 March 2002 - 03:33 am | | Hi Chris and John: Thank you both for all the interesting information about the postage stamps etc. Yes, John, I'll take the McCorquodale address you offered, since I might write to them. Also, Chris, I'll try the "Victorian stamps" website and see what comes up. Amazing where all this Ripper stuff takes us, isn't it!!
All the best, Alastair |
Author: John Savage
Thursday, 21 March 2002 - 05:53 am | | Hi Alistair
McCorquodale Confidential Print Ltd.,
Commercial Printing Division,
Stratford Road,
Wolverton,
Milton Keynes,
Bucks, MK12 5LX
Tel. 44 (0)1908 577377
Fax. 44 (0)1908 577353 & 577364
Best of luck with it, do let me know how you get along.
Regards,
John |
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