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An extraordinary Victorian letter linked to Aaron Kosminski, one of the principal historical suspects in the Jack the Ripper murders, will be offered for sale by Aubreys Auctioneers on 24 September 2026.
The handwritten letter, dated 1889, was discovered hidden inside an antique theological book bought through eBay. Since its rediscovery it has attracted sustained interest from historians and researchers because of its apparent reference to Kosminski, long regarded as one of the Metropolitan Police's leading suspects in the Whitechapel murders.
Written by Reverend William Patrick Dott, the fourteen line letter recounts an incident in which Kosminski is said to have pursued a woman with a pair of scissors, before the writer remarks, "It's a wonder he hasn't hung for what he did to those poor girls." The document predates almost all of the later theorising around the Ripper investigation, and it offers a rare contemporary account connecting Kosminski with violent behaviour.
The letter does not prove Kosminski's involvement in the murders and should not be read as doing so. What it does provide is a genuine piece of Victorian social history, and an unusually direct glimpse of how one East End clergyman spoke about a neighbour in the months after the killings stopped. The identity of Jack the Ripper remains one of the great unsolved cases in British criminal history, and contemporary documents of this kind very rarely reach the open market.
Kosminski was a Polish barber who had settled in Whitechapel with his siblings some years before the murders of 1888. He was named by senior officers, among them Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, as one of the small group of men the police considered most likely to have been responsible. He was later committed to asylum care and died at Leavesden in 1919. Much of the scepticism about his candidacy has rested on the absence of any record of violence, which is precisely what makes the Dott letter of interest to researchers.
The document underwent scientific analysis at the University of Liverpool, where it was examined using a range of non destructive analytical techniques to assess the paper, the ink and other material characteristics. The findings are consistent with the letter's purported late nineteenth century date.
The methodology and results have also been documented on film, explaining the technology used, the examination process and the conclusions in greater detail. Watch the analysis.
The letter is among the most intriguing Jack the Ripper related documents to come to market in recent years, and it is expected to draw interest from private collectors, museums, institutions and students of Victorian history and true crime. It will be offered at Aubreys on 24 September 2026, catalogued by our Books and Letters department, with full lot details published in our auction calendar ahead of the sale. Viewing is available at our Guildford saleroom by appointment, and the sale will be streamed live online.
Manuscript material of real significance turns up far more often than people expect, usually in a box of family papers, a bureau drawer or, as here, tucked inside a book. If you have letters, diaries, autograph material or family archives you would like assessed, our specialists offer a free, no obligation valuation at our Guildford saleroom, at our Mayfair office, or by home visit across Surrey, London and the South East.
For further information about the letter, or to arrange a viewing, please contact us on 01483 963250 or at adawson@aubreys.com.
