Collection of autograph manuscript forgeries of William Shakespeare documents by William Henry Ireland. Contents include forgeries of Shakespeare signatures, receipts, promissory notes, letters, and poetry, as well as the forged signatures of contemporaries of Shakespeare, including Queen Elizabeth and John Heminges. Also included are samples of the writing of Ireland's parents and several printed items and illustrations. All manuscript items are mounted in album pages containing identification and commentary by William Henry Ireland. The volume opens with a preface by Joseph Haslewood discussing the history of the Ireland forgeries and of this collection of exemplars.
Description:
Binding: contemporary full calf; compartmented spine., Bound with: Miscellaneous papers and legal instruments under the hand and seal of William Shakespeare (London: Cooper & Graham, 1796)., Ex libris Joseph Haslewood. Purchased from Bernard Quaritch, Ltd. (Bonhams Stuart B. Schimmel forgery collection sale, London, 23 May 2012, lot 45) on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 2012., Spine tag: Pseudo-Shakespeare. MSS &c., and William Henry Ireland (1777-1835), literary forger, produced documents purportedly in the hand of William Shakepeare beginning in 1794. His forgeries included the play Vortigern, which was produced in 1796, but the forgeries were quickly identified as such, first by Joseph Ritson and later by Edmond Malone. Ireland published his Confessions in 1805, and produced collections of manuscript copies of his Shakespearian "productions."
Subject (Name):
Haslewood, Joseph, 1769-1833, Haslewood, Joseph, 1769-1833--Bookplate, and Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616--Forgeries
Subject (Topic):
Forgery of manuscripts--Great Britain and Literary forgeries and mystifications
