Box 141 contains manuscripts pertaining to Bentham's penal theory and theory of punishment, including the first two books of a work entitled the Rational of Punishment, published in 1830.

The Rationale of Punishment should be treated with caution. 'What would naturally occur,' notes Hugo Bedau, 'to anyone interested in Bentham's views on punishment would be to study the book titled Rationale of Punishment, attributed to Jeremy Bentham on the title page as sole author, published in 1830 in London and in English'.

The Rationale was, in fact, edited by one of Bentham's secreatries/acolytes called Richard Smith, and is a combination of unpublished manuscripts, and a translation into English of the Genevan Étienne Dumont's Théorie des peines et des recompenses, published in 1811. Dumont was not, however, merely a translator of Bentham: he edited his source material into a form which he would be thought more easily comprehended and digested by the general public. There is then a significant question as to how much of the Rationale of Punishment' is authentically Bentham, how much is Smith, and how much is Dumont.

Further reading:

• H. Bedau, 'Bentham's Theory of Punishment: Origin and Content', Journal of Bentham Studies, vol. 7.
• A. Draper, 'An Introduction to Jeremy Bentham's Theory of Punishment', Journal of Bentham Studies, vol. 5.

The material is arranged as follows:

• Folios 1 to 44 : Rational of Punishment - Book I, mostly in Richard Smith's hand [1775, c.1826]
• Folios 45 to 92 : Rationale of Punishment - Book II, Of Corporal Punishments, mostly in Richard Smith's hand, some sheets by Bentham [c.1775, c. 1826]
• Folios 93 to 122 : Punishment analysed [c.1775, c. 1826]
• Folios 123 to 125 : Transportation [c.1826]
• Folios 126 to 130 : Panopticon, Book V ch. 3 [c.1826]
• Folio 131 : Punishment, forfeiture of protection, outlawry [c.1775]
• Folios 132 to 136 : Punishment, of subsidiary punishments [c.1775]
• Folios 137 to 147 : Punishment, inn alienam personam [c.1775]

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