Product Description

a selection from the introductory:
TO THE EDITOR OF BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE. SIR,We have all heard of a Society for the Promotion of Vice, of the Hell-Fire Club, &c. At Brighton, I think it was, that a Society was formed for the Suppression of Virtue. That society was itself suppressed-but I am sorry to say that another exists in London, of a character still more atrocious. In tendency, it may be denominated a Society for the Encouragement of Murder; but, according to their own delicate [Greek here] it is styled-The Society of Connoisseurs in Murder. They profess to be curious in homicide; amateurs and dilettanti in the various modes of bloodshed; and, in short, Murder-Fanciers. Every fresh atrocity of that class, which the police annals of Europe bring up, they meet and criticise as they would a picture, statue, or other work of art. But I need not trouble myself with any attempt to describe the spirit of their proceedings, as you will collect that much better from one of the Monthly Lectures read before the society last year. This has fallen into my hands accidentally, in spite of all the vigilance exercised to keep their transactions from the public eye. The publication of it will alarm them; and my purpose is that it should. For I would much rather put them down quietly, by an appeal to public opinion through you, than by such an exposure of names as would follow an appeal to Bow Street; which last appeal, however, if this should fail, I must positively resort to. For it is scandalous that such things should go on in a Christian land. Even in a heathen land, the toleration of murder was felt by a Christian writer to be the most crying reproach of the public morals. This writer was Lactantius; and with his words, as singularly applicable to the present occasion, I shall conclude: Quid tam horribile,' says he, tam tetrum, quam hominis trucidatio? Ideo severissimis legibus vita nostra munitur; ideo bella execrabilia sunt. Invenit tamen consuetudo quatenus homicidium sine bello ac sine legibus faciat: et hoc sibi voluptas quod scelus vindicavit. Quod si interesse homicidio sceleris conscientia est,et eidem facinori spectator obstrictus est cui et admissor; ergo et in his gladiatorum cadibus non minus cruore profunditur qui spectat, quam ille qui facit: nec potest esse immunis a sanguine qui voluit effundi; aut videri non interfecisse, qui interfectori et favit et praemium postulavit.' 'Human life,' says he, 'is guarded by laws of the uttermost rigor, yet custom has devised a mode of evading them in behalf of murder; and the demands of taste (voluptas) are now become the same as those of abandoned guilt.' Let the Society of Gentlemen Amateurs consider this; and let me call their especial attention to the last sentence, which is so weighty, that I shall attempt to convey it in English: 'Now, if merely to be present at a murder fastens on a man the character of an accomplice; if barely to be a spectator involves us in one common guilt with the perpetrator; it follows of necessity, that, in these murders of the amphitheatre, the hand which inflicts the fatal blow is not more deeply imbrued in blood than his who sits and looks on: neither can he be clear of blood who has countenanced its shedding; nor that man seem other than a participator in murder who gives his applause to the murderer, and calls for prizes in his behalf.' The 'praemia postulavit' I have not yet heard charged upon the Gentlemen Amateurs of London, though undoubtedly their proceedings tend to that; but the 'interfectori favit' is implied in the very title of this association, and expressed in every line of the lecture which I send you.

I am, &c. X. Y. Z.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1962241 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 84 pages

Customer Reviews

A Great Work Ruined by a Poor Publisher
I don't want to ruin the delight of discovery for the reader of this marvelous satire. Its title alone prepares you well enough for its contents. Instead, I intend for this review to steer the unsuspecting victim away from this edition in particular, and away from Kissinger Publications in general. Kissinger prides itself on the preservation of rare and out-of-print books, offering these ugly, unsatisfying chapbooks as though they were faithful reproductions of great literature.

De Quincey's satire, at least as exemplary an instance of the genre as Swift's "A Modest Proposal," becomes a bundle of kindling in Kissinger's presentation. The book is thin, but the xerox-quality paper they choose is almost letter size, as uncomfortable in the hand as it is on the bookshelf. Its cover and binding offend the eye with their jaundice-yellow color. The spine bears no lettering to identify it next to others of its foul ilk. And that's just for the outside.

Inside, De Quincey's text is set in a blurring type. But the most criminal mutilation Kissinger commits is in its omissions. The original work contains numerous footnotes by the author elaborating on historical and biographical points. Kissinger deletes these entirely! Where De Quincey quotes directly from Greek authors, Kissinger doesn't even try to set the Greek type or even transliterate, but substitutes for the quotation the insulting annotation, [Greek text here]. Neither translation nor excuse is provided for these glaring ellipses, which make for a confusing, frustrating read.

In short, Kissinger has butchered one of the most undeservedly unknown masterpieces of English essay literature. If Kissinger's edition is to be the only easily accessible edition of De Quincey's greatest short piece, then it will certainly die out entirely. No renaissance of De Quincey will ever be sparked by this disaster. In short, it is impossible to be satisfied with this book. Don't buy it, and don't buy anything else by Kissinger Publications.

An admirable and penetrating essay!
The number of golden books written with such panache, distinction and touch of inimitable genius is not so abundant like it seems. De Qincey makes an admirable dissection, plenty of fine irony, elegant eloquence, intelligent humor and seductive charm around the crime, going far beyond the superficial causes and making a fabulous and delirious journey through the ethic, moral and customs with zealous intellectual rigor blended with that peculiar touch we use to perceive in Bernard Shaw, Thomas Carlyle or Oscar Wilde.

This is an impeccable exercise of erudition around this mysterious but always present enigmatic feature of the human soul, that transcends frontiers, socio cultural barriers or ancestral beliefs of any nature.

Absolutely recommended, without reserves.