Chapter 83 fake art

Finsan Starrett The most amusing account of forgery in literature--the meanest and most dangerous of arts--is that mentioned by Mr. Sherlock Holmes in the closing pages of The Six Napoleons. Veteran experts should remember the circumstances of that interjection, which led to the discovery of the famous Bolzi's black pearl... "Put the pearl in the safe, Watson," said the detective, when all was over, "and produce the papers concerning the Conker-Sington forgery. Good-bye, Listella. If you find any Small questions, as long as I can, I am very happy to contribute some of your opinions on the answer."

But that's all we know about the Konk-Singdon forgery.It's a pity that we know more about MacPherson and William Henry Ireland than Conker-Sington, and we don't know who he was or what he was forging.We don't even understand if he is one person or two?His name is somewhat like that of a commentator on Shakespeare. Old friend Watson!In his unsorted pile of notes there are countless cases of this kind which we have lost forever.Let us thank him for what we already know. But it is not difficult to understand Sherlock Holmes' interest in the papers in his safe.There was a magic of error in the question of a forgery; it was a pity he had never had the opportunity to inspect some of the astonishing frauds which had shaken the quiet of the literary world for so many years.Just the study of this part of Shakespeare will keep him busy for decades.Seminars on versions drove him crazy.

The most intriguing of modern literary forgeries are those uncovered by Carder-Porat in 1934; echoes of this revelation can still be found in any talk of bibliographies. is reflected in.Holmes also expresses his admiration for the work of John Card and Graham Porat.Their book, An Inquiry into the Character of Certain Nineteenth-Century Pamphlets, is arguably one of the most famous detective stories in the world.Among those fascinating volumes, some thirty or so pamphlets, all of which are considered rare among bibliophiles and sold at high prices, have all been pointed out to have been forged by a master forger. created.Many of the bibliographies of this batch of first editions are literary masterpieces, including Mrs. Browning's "Portuguese Tanka", a part of Ruskin's "Sesame and the Lily", Denison's "Death of the King of Assyria" , Stephenson's On the Influence of Temperature in Forests, Dickens's Evening Readings, and various minor works by Swinburne, Wordsworth, Lady Elliott, Morris, Rossetti, and others.In addition to this, there are more than two dozen other pamphlets which are also very suspicious.However, we should remember that there is nothing wrong with these works themselves; what are forged are the so-called "first editions".

A total of fifty-four booklets were analyzed, all by a time-consuming and labor-intensive inspection procedure, with particular attention paid to details of manufacture, such as type and paper.The investigators' method of inquiry--the careful study of the materials of manufacture--was as novel as the method of the ingenious counterfeiter, and thus produced a book seldom seen in our time.It is a pity that it does not mention the name of the forger; but it seems that the two authors knew who this person was in their minds, and have left the reader of the book without doubt as to the object of his conjecture.

But we have to remember that these forgeries are exceptionally delicate.They were all produced under the direction of a man who was obviously trained in the science of bibliography; a man of culture, a scholar. Their investigative work requires in every respect patience and learning equal to that of the counterfeiter.But not all literary forgeries are the same.Nothing was so daring as the deceit perpetrated by Ferrern Lugas on that naive French mathematician, Michel Cheslis.The forger, whose full name should have been Fellarne-Dennis Lugars, was a man of little education, but of great boldness and self-confidence.His victim was one of the leading geometers of the time.For almost ten years, between 1861 and 1870, Lugars forged many letters of dead famous men and sold them to Cheslis as genuine.According to statistics, during those many years, this scholar has successively acquired as many as 27,000 documents produced by the same talented pen, at a cost of at least 150,000 francs.

These letters are—to put it mildly—extraordinary.Among them are twenty-seven letters from Shakespeare to several friends, and several hundred letters from Labble and Pascal; but these are the minor items in the collection.The real treasure, as Chesilis showed his friends, is the correspondence between the apostle Luke and Julius Caesar, and the letters of Sappho, Virgil, Plato, Pliny, etc., Alexander the Great and Pompey. Communication.But the splendor of the letters of these two is given to the more extraordinary Cleopatra's letter to Julius Caesar, speaking of their child Cecilian, a note from Nazareth to the apostle Peter, Mary ·The letter written by Magdalene to Emperor Tan Xiantian of Burgundy was concealed.All these letters are written in modern French, which may appear all the more attractive to their collectors.Really, it made it easier for him, at least, to like it.

I figured Lucas was going to sell the original manuscript of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount—in French—or something absurd like that, but that's when it got caught.But the obsessed mathematician defended to his death that his treasure was not a forgery. A likeness to Fellarne Lugars is Alexander Harlan Smith, called "Antique Smith," who once filled the Scottish market with forged manuscripts of the poet Burns; Twelve months of hard labor for the misuse of cleverness. It seems appropriate here to mention, in passing, a largely unknown story, but of a different nature.It involved an Irishman named Maulegan—James Maulegan of Cornduke, who had served as Consul General of the United States in Samoa during the same period as Rob Louise Stephenson. The island lived during the same period.Mulligan once devoured a book by Jack Browne for being a friend and admirer of the Scottish novelist, who was Tommy Hatton himself in "The Broken Thieves."This book, signed by the author, was exactly half of the books in Brown's library; the Consul General borrowed the book and never made up his mind to return it.A few months later, its owner asked him to return it so that it could be given to a casual acquaintance.

The rest of the story is left to Mauregan himself. "He made me restless," the Consul General recounted this interjection. "I said I had lost it. But he refused to believe me, and insisted on returning it. At this time, thanks to his lover, a beautiful A half-destroyed girl named Lisey Johnston, who is passionate about collecting famous ink, said she would like twelve autographs of President Cleveland; Jack proposed that if I could supply them, he could Give up claiming the book, and keep it with me. Of course, Maulegan ends the narration, "and I gave him the autograph."

It would be a bit distasteful to comment on this amusing anecdote: the point of the matter, I hope, is clear enough. Apart from Carder-Porat's revelation, the most widely discussed forgery cases in recent years are probably those related to the name of Mrs. Cheng Dongmu. These characters are like living Balzacs. Like coming out of a book. For more than a year, this famous case excited book lovers, and it finally went to the British court in December 1926.The work involved is a play, "For the Love of the Emperor", published by the British bookstore Museum, which is said to have been written by Oscar Wilde, but this is assumed to be by Christopher Milla, an expert on Wilde's works. Terry vehemently denies it.The original manuscript on which the book is based comes from Mrs. Ching Dongm, the widow of a Burmese lawyer, and according to him the play was written especially for her by the Irish dramatist in 1894.This curious figure, originally named Mabe Cosgrove, was called Mrs. Udhaus Beers in the suit, and she claimed to have been engaged for a time to Wilde's eldest brother "William", And has known Wilde's family in Ireland for many years.When she married Cheng Dongmu, she lived for a while in Burma; according to her own confession, it was these "local scenes" she sent Wilde that drove him to write this Burmese fairy tale play "For the Emperor's Love".

Mrs. Cheng Dongmu's appearance is just as amazing as her experience.She is a well-known figure in Dublin, London, and Paris literary and artistic circles. Her tall figure, wearing a broad black robe, and a high black collar at the back of her neck, immediately attract people's attention wherever she goes. Notice.In order to make others pay more attention to her, whenever she goes out, she always carries a brilliant emerald green parrot on her shoulder or on her bent arm.This wonderful bird is said to be able to converse with astonishing proficiency in English and French; in Paris, Mrs. Cheng Dongmu was once known as "Mrs. Parrot".Her demeanor was always sympathetic, her grace and wit were noteworthy, and she had many friends and acquaintances.

The play was published in October 1922 by Muse's Books after it had been published in British and American magazines.Wilde expert Meerut, better known by his pseudonym Stuart Masson, became involved in the case in the summer of 1925.Mrs. Ching Dom, now known as Mrs. Udhaus Beers, was trying to sell six "very interesting letters of Oscar Wilde" to Meerut at a low price.These letters, after examination, Meerut declared that they were all forgeries; and suspecting that "For the Love of the Emperor" was something similar, he approached the publisher of this book, asking permission to examine the original manuscript .It turned out that the original manuscript was a typewritten manuscript, with corrections said to be from Wilde's own hand; but Meerut declared the work to be a total forgery.He even accused Mrs. Madhaus Beers of making those amendments.Afterwards he wrote many letters on the subject to several London papers, which refused to publish them, and he later collected them in a pamphlet and distributed them.Throughout all this, he carefully expressed his confidence that the publisher's actions were innocent but that he had been deceived.But later, some unfortunate phrases in the posters he distributed to the bookstores caused controversy, and Mussam's Bookstore sued him for defamation.On the witness stand, novelist F. V. Lugas confessed that he had reviewed the manuscript for the bookstore, and he still believes it is genuine. Another plaintiff's witness recalled the first time Mrs. Cheng Dongmu brought the original manuscript, saying, "She seemed a bit weird", and he admitted that "she had a parrot on her shoulder".The plaintiff's lawyer paid Meerut a compliment, acknowledging his reputation as an expert on Wilde, but insisting that his repeated objections to the play were prejudicial, and that there was no evidence sufficient to establish that it was a forgery.In the end, the court sentenced the plaintiff, Dezhi Meerut, to a fine for his reckless words and deeds.He died not long after this, in a state of mind which his friends attributed to the verdict. The woman who was repeatedly accused of forgery never took any action against Meerut.At the height of Meerut's denunciation and subsequent defamation case, attempts were made to locate her, but she was not found for a long time; it was later discovered that she was in prison, serving a sentence for theft. Two classic examples of forgeries, without which an essay on the subject would be complete, are Chatterton and Pralmanazaar; the latter gentleman's There are many different spellings of the daimyo, but since it's not his real name at all, it doesn't really make a difference if there's one more A or one less.The Chatterton case was a tragic one, and much has been written about it.Emotional people say he was a "brilliant boy" and look for evidence of genius in his poems - which is certainly possible - but perhaps because of his youthful suicide he appears in people's eyes to be more important than he is. It's actually more touching. Thomas Chatterton, the unfortunate posthumous son of an unfortunate and impoverished schoolteacher, began his wretched career at the age of fourteen, attempting to establish forged documents that a certain tinsmith in Bristol was of noble birth. .He completed the work with colored inks and some ancient parchment; the tinsmith was so pleased with the forged genealogy of the coats-of-arms that he gave him five shillings as a reward.It was 1766 at this time.Later on, while apprenticed to a local solicitor, he took the time to concoct astonishing documents, pretending to be about the history of ancient Brestol, and to deceive the archaeologists of this part of England.Henceforth, from time to time, he brought out some poems, all written in ancient languages, which he pretended to be the work of a medieval priest named Thomas Laurel; Said to have been found in an old church chest long forgotten in a small room above the church.Among those who were temporarily deceived by this discovery was the famous Horace Walpole; but in the end the "brilliant boy" was discredited.He went to London, tried his hand at a literary life, failed, and at last - broke, hopeless, starving - committed suicide by poisoning himself in a room he had rented from a Lady Angel.He was not yet eighteen at the time. For Thomas Chatterton, there was really nothing but sympathy to be had.Although until the end, he still insisted that he was not the author of the poems of "Lorai", but this fact is no longer in doubt.It is said that his original intention was that when the world unanimously praised these poems, he would come out and remove the mask used to attract people's attention, which may be true.But Walpole's condemnation made it impossible to continue this venture, forcing him to restore his face, and to a tragic end.His cheerfully gallant and lying letters to his mother and sister, to whom he himself sent presents when he had no bread in London, are indeed the most moving documents in literature.Although he pointed out the forgery, Waller was not very popular in this case; What's the catch.He is too harsh, saying of Chatterton's "skill of imitation of style and hand. May, I believe, have tempted him towards the forgery of simpler prose, money bills".These words are exaggerated, for the man who said them was himself the author of the famous "Otlandoland Castle", which stated in the preface that this work was found in "the library of an old Catholic family in the north of England. Building, printed in bold letters at Naples, 1529". Georges Passama Rashar, as he was generally called, was still a mysterious man of letters. One of his books, A Historical and Geographical Account of Formosa, an Island Subject to the Emperor of Japan, published in London in 1704, brought him to considerable attention.Then he published "Conversations between a Japanese and a Taiwanese"; and when he died in 1763, at the age of eighty-four, he left a memoir, which can be described as It's as absurd to say as anything he's written before. According to this book, he must have been born somewhere in the south of France, about 1679, and was educated in a Domerican monastery, from which he fled because of irregularities. come out. To remain an anonymous European was troublesome and insecure at the same time, the memoir says, and that's why it was whimsical that he ended up publishing his completely fabricated history of Taiwan. It appears that a man named William Innis, an army chaplain and well-known rascal, seemed to have been involved in this development.At least it was because of Innes' persuasion that Passama Rashar was baptized and seduced into claiming to be a naturalized Taiwanese, and it was also with Innes' assistance that he arrived in London where he was able to imbibe his intelligence. Continuing to show off his skills, in order to complete his risky behavior, this liar actually created a Taiwanese dialect, with grammar rules and twenty letters attached.In order to use his island language.He actually printed the so-called "Common Prayer", "Apostles' Creed" and "Ten Commandments" in Taiwanese, but they were all spelled out in Latin alphabet.He even published a small glossary as a reference for those interested in visiting this mysterious island. It was all nonsense; but he himself was compelled to remember it all by the curiosity of his supporters and the skepticism of his opponents, who grilled him harshly.From time to time he had to answer questions that would have stumped a man of a lesser mind. The book's illustrations are also excellent; this includes the altar and the grill, on which, according to the book, eighteen thousand children's hearts were needed to roast children's hearts in a year's ritual; and The altars of the sun, the moon, and the stars; villages on the water, funeral processions, royal attire; how.Much of the history and geography of the book has been copied from other works; but for the most part it is pure fiction, often very well.It may be added, in addition, that Passama Rashar has invented some entirely new cosmographies. It was an almost unbelievable situation, and the genius of the forger, as well as his memory, must have been severely tested at times.But he was able to muddle through for some time. There was even a fundraising campaign for him; funded by the Bishop of Compton and others in the church, he spent six months at Oxford teaching "Taiwanese" to aspiring missionary students.In the end, of course, he was unmasked, and for a time a mocking arrow. Later, he lived in seclusion in obscurity, and it seems that he wrote the memoirs published after his death.In his old age, Dr. Johnson used to sit and talk with him in a tavern in Old Street; The obedience and forbearance which he showed, and the execution of an exemplary death, strengthened the deep impression of his character on the mind of the Doctor. His last contribution to the literary world of his time has a very humble title. : "My Last Comments and Instructions, of a Poor and Insignificant Person Commonly Known as Georges Passama Rashar," in which his forgery--"that vile deceit"-- —and ask God and the world to forgive him for writing this. In fact, the world is not very harsh on his judgment. The great Doctor was less forgiving of another fraudster's opinion.Much has been written about MacPherson and the Osian deception; but perhaps none more fascinating than the Doctor's opinion of James MacPherson. It was in 1761—two years before the death of the model of Passama Lasalle—that an epic poem titled "Fingal" was published, which sparked a more violent debate than the Taiwan lie.This poem was followed by others, all purportedly translated from the Celtic original by the ancient poet Osian, by a James MacPherson.After publication it aroused great suspicion, and in the eyes of many the poems were regarded as shallow and negligent forgeries.MacPherson at the time, a very pompous egoist, was furious and threatened his critics, but his refusal to produce the original text only confirmed the common suspicions.In fact, he never presented the original text; so this kind of debate continued from the end of the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century.Perhaps the question will never be settled satisfactorily to everyone's satisfaction; but the general tendency of opinion is as against MacPherson today as it was then.The general opinion is that he may have acquired by chance a few fragments of the original text, on the basis of which he forged the public deceptions. Johnson, who never hesitated to say what he had to say, publicly accused MacPherson of being a fraud, and immediately got an answer to the challenge from the belligerent poet.But this duel was never carried out.Johnson simply bought a thick oak cane just in case, and responded to the invitation with a letter that is still quoted today: "Mr. James MacPherson: I have received your stupid and reckless letter.Whatever insults are thrown at me, I will do my best to return them, and the law will do what I can do for myself.Far from being intimidated by a villain, I suspend my detection of what I consider to be a deceit. You want me to undo.What can I undo?I have considered your work a deception from the very beginning.As I thought about it, I became more and more certain that it was a deception.For this reason, I make public what I know, and I don't think you will be able to contradict it. But however much I despise you, I respect truth.If you can prove that your work is real, I can accept it.I despise your wrath.As for your abilities, since your writings are not very admirable, and what I have heard about your character, I will not care what you have to say, but only what you can prove. You can post this if you like. Samuel Johnson. " This letter, according to Johnson in a letter to Boswell, "put an end to our correspondence," a perhaps understandable development. Later, as late as 1810, a report was published disclosing the results of the inquiries made by the Scotch Society to investigate the origin and authenticity of alleged Osian poetry; at this time some fragments of the alleged original text appeared.But the best the committee could explain was that MacPherson made a collection—a patchwork—of old songs and stories, interspersed with his own extravagance.From today's point of view, too much ink has been spent on both sides for this old bastard, and it is so strange that this fellow is lying in Westminster Abbey, and the famous priest who threatened to denounce him Ci's house is only a few feet away. There are quite a few forgeries connected with the great names of Shakespeare; it would take almost a large book to talk about them, and indeed, for the curious, such a book already exists—indeed, all There are several kinds.Of all the fine pseudo-Shakespeare, however, the most daring are those of the two Irishmen, Father and Son, and John Penny Collier.Coincidentally, the age of Irish deception coincided with the same harvest in which we found forgeries by Chatterton, Passama Lassal, and MacPherson; The second half of the century was a plump era for bastards big and small. It was 1796, and Samuel William Henry Ireland published a volume, supposedly a forgery, of Shakespeare's life; but they'd been buzzing about the stuff before the picture came out.In fact, as early as 1790, they had already appeared, and by 1794 they appeared in endless numbers-deeds, letters, signatures, folded lines, love poems, contracts-making them in Norfolk. The fair on the Rue de la Croix was an incredible success.Crowds flocked to see such a vast collection, and leading contemporary archaeologists signed papers acknowledging the authenticity of these documents.Among those who signed a certificate, Boswell also signed his name. Before he signed, he knelt down and thanked God for enabling him to witness such a discovery, "I can rest in peace now", in Under the carnival, he shouted. But Malone, the eminent contemporary authority on Shakespeare, whose theories of the existence of Shakespeare's writings and manuscripts, were somewhat aided in Ireland's forgery scheme, and when those collections were printed, their deceit was exposed; and later, The young Irishman finally admitted it himself.In his confession he tried to exonerate his father, the editor of the book, who had been complicit in the deception.However, amidst the uproar, the forgery did not affect business, and a very bad play, Voltigenm, according to Irishman Shakespeare, was written by Heleton and Kembey. The two played in Diu Weilang. John Penny Currier's forgery was even more ingenious, and more perplexing to Shakespeare scholars, for Currier was a talented and authoritative Elizabethan scholar. His production - stretching from 1835 to 1849, which included revisions of the manuscript written in a second edition of Shakespeare - is very much to be applauded, backed up by his illustrious reputation .If he had been pleased to regard these things as his own inferences and conclusions drawn from false editions, many of which would seem to have been accepted and would have become standard commentary, but he has not done so, and his reputation is thus damaged. He did a great deal of damage, and the impact of this interruption has discredited many of his important works. Lewis Theobout and George Stephens are also on that long list of Shakespeare experts whose zeal for their task has driven them over all Dangerous signal, at least approaching the edge of criminal fantasy. Obviously, the motives of literary forgery are sometimes too complex to be understood; but in Currier's case, and in the case of several other eminent scholars who have stumbled, there seems to be an unnatural devotion—at least The limit is worship - they should be held accountable for this behavior.Plus, of course, a fair amount of egoism.Sometimes sheer cunning plays its part; or even framing, for scholars have never been sympathetic to each other.There are many examples, though, and the motives are not hard to come by. The explanation seems credible, namely, that the young Irishman—a boy of nineteen, with less than half Chatterton's talents—started his activities in a spirit of ironic teasing, trying to The search for antiquities, to what extent presumptuous credulity can go; and Chatterton's case is even more obvious: he wanted attention to be paid to his poetry which, if published as his own, would go unnoticed.Generally speaking, greed is the basic motive of most literary frauds, just like all other forgery. The motive of devotion, however, should not be neglected; its best example may be seen in some of the early forgery of document records: forgeries, denominations, or dogmas, carefully crafted. . The Chronicles, the Gospels, the Acts, the Revelation, and the Epistles of the New Testament, which are indistinguishable from authenticity, are an astonishingly important collection of documents; but on final analysis they are all forgeries ; It is impossible to describe in detail here; there are already a lot of books on the study of this issue.But we shall quote at least one of those letters.The average scripture reader, perhaps reading it for the first time now.It will be a pity to have to consign these lovely passages to the hell of false testimony.The verse quoted below is said to be a translation of part of an ancient manuscript, and is a letter written by Pubilius Langturus, governor of Jerusalem, to the Roman council at the beginning of the birth and preaching of Christianity: "In these recent times there arose, and continues to exist, a mighty man named Jesus Christ, whom the common people called the Prophet of the Truth, but whose disciples also called him the Son of God Son, able to raise the dead and heal the sick, was a man of middle height, well-groomed, and possessed a countenance so awe-inspiring that those who beheld him loved and feared him; the color of his hair was an unripe hazel. Solid color, straight to the ear, but curved from below the ear, and darker and brighter in curls, falling to his shoulders; hair parted in the middle of the head, in the Nazarene manner; Brows are bright and serene, a face without any wrinkle or blemish, a little color (red) makes him very beautiful; nose and mouth are also without any defect; has a beard of the same color as his hair, but not very long , slightly divergent at the chin; expression is simple and warm, eyes gray, shining and clear; menacing when reprimanding, lovingly admonishing, cheerful but dignified; he sometimes cries, but never laughs , tall and slender, with soft and lovely hands and arms; serious, reserved and humble in speech (for he is rightly called the prophets), more sweet and lovely than men's children". There are several other surviving texts of this type, which vary considerably from each other, but are all clearly based on the commonly-told face of Jesus. "There is no doubt," said Dr. M. R. James, "that it must have been written facing such a portrait."Dr. James ascribes this pious invention to the thirteenth century, and thinks it was fabricated in Italy.Dr. Chalmer, an earlier expert, puts the forgery at the hands of a French Lavalier named Houat. Among the other indisputably authentic epistles of the faithful, which are known to and condemned by scholars, are those purportedly of the correspondence of Jesus and some of his contemporaries, and of Seneca Correspondence with the Apostle Saul.In the wider field of historical and political deceit, those forged letters and documents, and similar writings designed to deceive a person or a nation, often his descendants, are It cannot be counted and cannot be exposed.Purely literary forgery constitutes a tiny corner of this vast branch of deceit.Sometimes, however, the two merge into one, and the collector's shelf is augmented by a work like the famous Ikon Basinaki, distributed by the Royalists in To arouse the public's regret for Charles I of England. (Translator's note: "Eikon Baislike" [Eikon Baislike] is translated as "Emperor's Image", which was published by Dr. Gaudin after the murder of Charles I. It is said that it is Charles' reflections in prison. Published Later, it was quite believed by the people at that time, and it was published to the forty-seventh edition, so that Congress had to write an article to refute this fake book.) Rarely has a literary event sparked so much discussion and debate.The emperor was sentenced to death on January 30, 1649, but the next day—in extreme secrecy—the book appeared before the people of the country.It claims to have been written by Charles I himself, and is a faithful representation of his reflections on the important events of his reign, and of the reverent thoughts evoked by recollections during his captivity.The purpose of the circulation of this book was to form a kind of sympathy for this noble sufferer, and it did achieve this effect.Fifty editions of the book were printed in its first year!And it has been translated into many languages, including Latin. People shed tears for this book, and it is eagerly read and debated everywhere.Who actually wrote the book is still a matter of debate, although after the "restoration of the kingship" a clergyman from Poking, Sussex, named John Godin, came forward and claimed to have written it.However, his request was made in considerable secrecy, and as a price for his continued secrecy he was awarded the bishopric of Exeter. Later, he complained that the area was too poor and was transferred to the more affluent Walstad area.But there is really no good reason to say that Gaudin is the author of "Ikon Basinaki"; on the contrary, there are good reasons to say that he is not the author of this book.也许，这位机警的上帝的牧人，听到机会来到他的门前，并且听到它的叩门声，他的要求酬报可说本身就是一种欺诈。 更有可能者，这书确如它的内容所示，是查理一世本人写的，但是密尔顿及其他等人都不赞同这见解。 不过，无论从那一方面说，这里面一定牵涉着一宗值得注意的欺骗行为。 在一大群骗子的名单中，还应该提到费特波的安尼奥斯的名字，他是多密立派的僧人，是亚历山大六世的神宫的主管人，他出版了十七册的古物研究，捏造发现了桑诃尼安拉、玛力梭、比洛斯奥斯等失传的作品；还有约翰·费拉，那个西西里的冒险家，他在十八世纪末年，宣称拥有失传的《利未记》共十七卷，系用亚拉伯文写的。在这一双例子上，十七这数字，似乎是一个用得很妙的数目。结果这两个人到底都被揭穿了，可惜安尼奥斯在不曾有机会自白之前便已逝世。至于那大胆的费拉，开始是满身荣誉，然后为自己的破绽所泄漏，终于受到监禁的处分。 但是赝造家的名单是写不完的。只有一位伟大的古典文艺学者，才有资格叙述关于古代文艺欺诈行为的复杂的历史。似乎不少古时有名的名字都曾经先后蒙上过云翳。荷马曾被人指为是一个妇人，是一种集体写作，是一部选集。《安拉贝塞斯》究竟是塞诺芬的作品，还是狄米斯托奇尼斯的作品呢？ 耶稣基督的历史的真实性，有一部分全依靠约瑟夫的一行书；但是这一行却有人认为是加添进去的赝造品。还有，究竟谁是的作者呢？ 要检查赝造的原稿，赝造的著作，以及过去著名作品中的赝造的章节和赝造的添注，是一种专门学术的工作；而这种搜寻工作的历史，可说是我们这时代的伟大侦探故事之一。也许一切都是可疑的。但是有一点却十分清晰。 文学中的赝造行为，几乎同文学本身同样的古老。也许它们彼此之间仅有一小时的距离。在创造的脚跟之后，紧接着就出现了模仿，然后便是赝造。而每一个莎士比亚都有他的捉刀人。