Tuesday, September 30, 2003

18th Century Shakespeare forger The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington has a fascinating exhibition around William Henry Ireland, who for a couple of years in the 1790s produced a huge number of forged Shakespeare documents. At first his discoveries provoked a public sensation and he was feted by society and even the Royal Family. His downfall came when he produced a dreadful faked new play and he became a laughing stock. Rather puts one in mind of Thomas Chatterton, who produced similar faked mediaeval poetry around the same time

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