The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Author:Simon Winchester
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9789085241522
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 1998-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

It was at about this time that there came two developments, one of which by chance led indirectly to the other. The first stemmed from a factor that is not uncommon among those who commit appalling crimes: Minor became truly remorseful for what he had done, and resolved to try and make some kind of amends. It was with this in mind that he took the bold step of writing to his victim’s widow, via the American Embassy, which he knew had helped raise a fund for her in the months immediately following the tragedy.

He explained to Eliza Merrett how immeasurably sorry he was for what he had done, and he offered to try to help in any way he could—perhaps by settling money on her or her children. Already Minor’s stepmother, Judith, had contributed: Now, perhaps, and if Mrs. Merrett would only be so gracious as to accept, he could do rather more.

The letter seems to have worked a small miracle: Not only did Mrs. Merrett agree to accept financial help from Minor—she also asked if it might be possible to visit him. It was an unprecedented request, that an incarcerated murderer be allowed to spend time with a relative of his victim; but the Home Office, after discussing the matter with Doctor Orange, agreed to one experimental supervised visit. Accordingly, sometime during late 1879, Mrs. Eliza Merrett traveled up from Lambeth to Broadmoor and first met the man who had ended her husband’s life seven years before, and who had so drastically changed her own life and the lives of her seven children.

The meeting, according to Doctor Orange’s notes, was at first tense, but it progressed well, and by its end Mrs. Merrett had agreed to come again. Before long she was making monthly ventures down to Crowthorne, eager to talk with interested sympathy to this now seemingly harmless American. And though the conversations apparently stopped short of developing into any real friendship, it is believed that she made Minor an offer that was to lead to the second of the major developments of this period of his life. She agreed, it seems, to bring parcels of books to Minor from the antiquarian dealers in London.

Eliza Merrett knew very little of books—indeed, she was barely literate. But when she saw how keenly Doctor Minor collected and cherished his old volumes, and when she listened to his querulous remarks about the delays and costs of the postal service between London and Crowthorne, she made an offer to collect his orders for him, and bring them down on her visits. And so it happened that, month after month, Mrs. Merrett began delivering packages, wrapped in brown paper and sealed with twine and wax, from the West End’s great book emporiums, like Maggs, Bernard Quaritch, and Hatchards.

The delivery system, such as it was, probably remained in place for only a few months—Mrs. Merrett eventually took to drink and apparently lost all interest in the curious and eccentric unfortunate. But the system

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.