Editing Sweeney Todd (section)

==Alleged historical basis==
The original story of Sweeney Todd is from an older legend that may contain motifs from even earlier stories. Possibly the oldest reference to the story in its present form is found in the journal of the Swedish traveller Pehr Lindeström. In his diary, dating from the middle of the 17th century, the story is set in Calais, which is also where the author heard the story. The story includes all the details of the legend, except for the name of the character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elorganillero.com/blog/2006/11/13/the-demon-barber-of-calais-a-17th-century-sweeney-todd/|title = The demon barber of Calais, a 17th century Sweeney Todd|date = 13 November 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kuragehistoria.com/2018/09/17/sweeney-todd-pehr-lindestrom-och-myten-om-den-mordiska-barberaren/|title = Sweeney Todd, Pehr Lindeström och myten om den mordiska barberaren|date = 17 September 2018}}</ref> Another version relates to a supposed 1800 narrative of events in the [[Rue de la Harpe#Criminal associations|rue de la Harpe]], Paris, which appeared in an English version in ''Tell-Tale Magazine'' (London) under the title "A Terrific Story of the Rue de la Harpe".

In [[Charles Dickens]]' ''[[Pickwick Papers]]'' (1836–1837), the servant [[Sam Weller (character)|Sam Weller]] says that a pieman used cats "for beefsteak, veal, and kidney, 'cording to the demand", and recommends that people should buy pies only "when you know the lady as made it, and is quite sure it ain't kitten."<ref>{{cite book |last=Dickens |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Dickens |title=[[The Pickwick Papers]] |publisher=Oxford Classics |location=Oxfordshire, England |year=1837 |isbn=978-0140436112 |pages=278, 335}}</ref> Dickens then developed this in ''[[Martin Chuzzlewit]]'' (1843–1844), published two years before the appearance of Sweeney Todd in ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–1847), with a character named Tom Pinch who is grateful that his own "evil genius did not lead him into the dens of any of those preparers of cannibalic pastry, who are represented in many country legends as doing a lively retail business in the metropolis".<ref>{{cite book |first=Charles |last=Dickens |author-link=Charles Dickens |title=[[Martin Chuzzlewit]] |date=26 March 2009 |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |location=Oxfordshire, England |isbn=978-0199554003 |page=495}}</ref>

Claims that Sweeney Todd was a real person were first made in the introduction to the 1850 (expanded) edition of ''The String of Pearls'' and have persisted to the present.<ref name="Mack-2007">{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Mack |year=2007 |chapter=Introduction |title=Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street}}</ref> In two books,<ref name=Haining79>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Haining |title=The Mystery and Horrible Murders of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |publisher=The Book Service Ltd. |location=London, England |year=1979 |isbn=0-584-10425-1}}</ref><ref name=Haining93>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Haining |title=Sweeney Todd: The real story of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street |publisher=Boxtree |location=London, England |year=1993 |isbn=1-85283-442-0}}</ref> [[Peter Haining (author)|Peter Haining]] argued that Sweeney Todd was a historical person who committed his crimes around 1800. Nevertheless, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations do not find anything in these sources to verify Haining's claims.<ref name="pressreleases2005"/><ref name="duff2006"/><ref name="demonbarber2001"/>