BIBLIO-FRAUD

---

NOT the London, 1637 —

English Octavo Bible Printed at Oxford

Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.

•  An uncommon type of book sophistication: Considerable trouble has been taken to make this 1680 Oxford octavo Bible (the first complete English octavo Bible printed in that city) look like an earlier 1637 London Bible. The title-leaf and subsequent leaf from that Bible have been bound in at the beginning (the latter replicating the content found on f. [1] of this Bible) and the date on the New Testament sectional title has been all but completely erased. The charming binding supports the hoax, bearing a gilt “1637” on its spine.

This edition is printed in two unruled columns with shouldernotes, sidenotes (including dates), and italic headers. Acts 6:3 wrongly reads “ye may” for “we may.” Tables of kindred and affinity, weights and measures, money, and time are found on the last two pages. The New Testament sectional title has a woodcut vignette showing the arms of the University.

Binding: 19th-century black calf, elaborately tooled in blind in imaginative evocation of an “over the top” 17th-century binding, being horizontally, vertically, and diagonally ruled, foliate and floral devices within. Spine compartments tooled within, with gilt title in second one and gilt “Barker 1637” gilt at base. Red marbled endpapers. All edges gilt.



Provenance: 20th-century bookplate of C. ( or J.?) F. Weidmann, D.D. on front pastedown.

•  Herbert 757; Darlow & Moule 595; Wing (rev.) 2315; Loftie, A Century of Bibles, 354; ESTC R213033. (The title-page is from ESTC S90540 or S90541.) Binding as above, a little rubbed, and refurbished. Occasional light browning, soiling, and shallow bumping or chipping (not touching text). Lacking engraved title (replaced with title and preliminary leaf from another edition). A bibliophile’s delight, and warning.

A BiblioBlunder

N.T. Gospels. English (Middle English). Selections. Wycliffe. 1885.

Click the images for enlargements.

•  Number 204 of only 375 copies printed for distribution in America. This volume is a charmer, a curiosity, and a cautionary lesson, but is not truly a pauper's Bible and indeed is something of an embarrassment all around—except in its good intentions and careful execution. The38 delightful full-page illustrations are proudly printed from reduced reproductions of wood blocks that, although accepted in the 19th century as having been made about 1450, are now quite definitely proven to be frauds (cf. Schreiber, Handbuch der Holz- und Metallschnitte des XV. Jahrhunderts, bd. 6, pp. 87–89, and bd. 8, pp. 148–52). The printer's note reads, in part: “The originals . . . which have been used for the reductions which illustrate this volume [were exhibited, together with a volume of impressions, at the Caxton celebration held in London in 1877]. . . . This . . . series of original blocks were purchased about sixty years since at Nuremberg. . . . They cannot be recognized as belonging to any printed book, and the artist's mark, which appears on the 37th plate, is unknown to any bibliographer. . . . It is . . . probable that the blocks were thrown aside and never used . . . till a lapse of nearly four centuries. . . . “

The text here is taken from the Wycliffe version of the New Testament and is printed in English black-letter, contained within handsome 16th century–style woodcut borders, with the plates placed appropriately next to the relevant text. The work first appeared in England in 1877 as A New Biblia Pauperum in folio format and then was reissued in 1884 in this small format as A Smaller Biblia Pauperum; the final name change occurred with this American edition.

A suitable candidate for collections of Bibles, Victoriana, illustrated books, OR biblio-blunders!

•  Herbert 2008 (note).   Publisher's gold-stamped vellum with brass clasps, one missing the hasp; vellum dust-soiled and darkened, spine torn and repaired. All edges uncut. Ex-library with markings on endpapers only; a lesser but still a good, enjoyable copy.  (23639)

Why Believers Believed . . .

•  First edition of this response to Malone’s Inquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Miscellaneous Papers, an analysis of William Henry Ireland’s now-infamous Shakespearean forgeries. Chalmers, though reluctantly conceding the inauthenticity of the documents, here explains in detail why so many were taken in by the scam — providing much material of interest for both Shakespeare scholars and historians of literary frauds. The volume is illustrated with a facsimile of five Shakespeare signatures, engraved by I. Girtin. Single-click the image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.

•  ESTC T138271; Lowndes, II, 404; Allibone, 2036. Recent quarter morocco over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution; pages slightly age-toned, one with pencilled underlining/emphasis.

Why the Believers Believed — A Supplement

•  First edition of another entry in the debate over William Henry Ireland’s now-infamous Shakespearean forgeries: Chalmers’s final response to the numerous items published during the controversy, in which he reminds readers that he is in agreement regarding the inauthenticity of Ireland’s documents, but disagreement with the scholarship (and pugnacity) of Malone and others. Single-click the image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.

•  ESTCT61515; Allibone, 2036; Lowndes, II, 404. Recent quarter morocco over marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped decorations in compartments. Title-page and a few others stamped by a now-defunct institution; pages age-toned.

False Imprint

Click the interior images for enlargements.

•  First edition of these “Déclamations énergiques contre Louis XIV, à l'occasion des persécutions suscitées aux protestants” (Brunet), written by a Huguenot minister and theologian who fled France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The work was issued under the fictitious Marteau imprint, well known as a shelter for satirical, political, pirated, and otherwise questionable or potentially scandalous works; this is an early “Marteau” item, with the first such imprint having appeared in 1660.

Provenance: Howard Osgood.

•  Brunet, IV, 683.   Contemporary calf, spine elegantly gilt extra, board edges with gilt rolls; leather acid-pitted, edges and extremities a bit rubbed. Title-page with small inked owner's name and institutional pressure-stamp. Damp-spotting to first and last few pages; some leaves starting to separate, many with lower outer corners crumpled. Intermittent underlining and marks of emphasis in red pencil throughout. (20861)

On Forman & Wise

•  Well written and documented account of Wise & Buxton Forman and their now notorious forgeries of books by 19th-century writers like the Brownings, Tennyson, Swinburn, Ruskin, and Stevenson.

•  New, in dust jacket. (3248)

Eleutheropoli?

Click the interior image for an enlargement.

•  False imprint edition of Du Moulin's study of the episcopacy of the Church of England which dissects Joseph Hall's Episcopacy by Divine Right (1640). The final four leaves contains Omissa suo loco reponenda.”

A work of considerable significance for English canon law. There was another edition in 1641, without any place of printing specified, in 8vo format, and having 122 pages.

•  Removed from a nonce volume, semicircular area torn from lower portion of the title-page costing two letters of the imprint. Old ownership inscriptions on title-page. Library stamps in lower margin of last page.  (21014)

Bull-Baiting — Deaf Education — A Mother’s Horrible Crime

•  Collected issues of this monthly “literary journal,” which actually served as a catchall also for general news and very various items of interest—including articles on natural history and voyages or travels; wedding, bankruptcy, and death notices; remarks on pictures, or on theatrical and musical performances; and assorted free-floating anecdotes and witticisms, as well as original poetry and reviews of contemporary publications. The contents are indexed; among the items of interest in this particular volume are a brief, skeptical analysis of the Ossian poems signed by one “Meirion,” a report on education of the deaf and dumb, a letter to the editor protesting the sport of bull-baiting, and news of a pregnant wife and mother who, in the throes of depression (she had “evinced a disposition to be very low-spirited” during her previous pregnancies), drowned herself and three of her children, which act the writer considers a “most horrible example of a crime almost new to human nature.”

A preface to another volume in this series notes that “by means of some new literary connexions in america, we shall possess peculiar advantages in presenting to our Readers, accounts of the most interesting circumstances belonging to the United States”—and it was an American reader, in fact, who owned the present example.

Provenance: Front pastedown with inked ownership inscription of Joshua Gilpin, a Quaker from Philadelphia who established the first paper mill in Delaware, in 1787.

•  Disbound; marbled paper–covered boards much chipped and worn, with joints cracking and large portions of spine leather lost or worn down; sewing going, with some leaves separated. Some signatures uncut; page edges untrimmed and in some cases browned. Occasional edge chips. Volume now housed in a simple, acid-free phase box.

For more MONTHLY MAGAZINE
          volumes,  click here.

BIBLIO–BEDTIME READING — WOOLLY WHALE

•  First edition of one of the most substantial treatments of this famous and elaborate auction hoax. It includes bibliographical descriptions of the catalogue, its subsequent printings, and the literature on the affair. Limited to 200 copies, printed in Centaur types on rag paper, with a title-page decoration by Fritz Kredel.

The Fortsas hoax is legendary for having fooled many renowned collectors and dealers near the mid-point of the 19th century (1840, to be precise) into travelling to the small town of Biche, Belgium for an auction of unique books that were bibliographically unknown!

•  Publisher's quarter cloth and decorated boards; top edge gilt, fore-edges untrimmed. Map endpapers. Cloth clean and fresh, volume in original glassine dust wrapper; significant portion of wrapper chipped away at base of back cover.

For more WOOLLY WHALE,  click here.

A False Imprint?

•  Although he began his scholarly life as a Humanist, Ortwin Gratius (i.e., van Graes) soon found himself on the wrong side of several Renaissance "questions of the moment." Among his politically incorrect decisions were "opposing Hermann von dem Busche, who had attacked traditional authorities; . . . translating into Latin various books by Johann Pfefferkorn, who favored burning Jewish books; and . . . displaying hostility to Johann Reuchlin" (New Catholic Encyclopedia, VI, 709). The work at hand is Gratius's rejoinder to Crotus Rubeanus and Ulrich von Hutten's Epistolae obscurorum virorum (1515).

Wing fails to distinguish between two editions of 1689 that are separately listed in NUC Pre-1956; these have titles that differ significantly after the first three words, but are both 192 pages long. The poor printing of this piece, together with the strange quality of the paper, shout "surreptitious printing" and possibly "false imprint."

•  Wing (rev.) G1583A. Contemporary paste boards with green paper shelf-back, a third of which is perished; back cover detached. An uncut copy. Housed in a protective, acid-free phase box.

A False Imprint! — Early 17th-Century AMERICANA Interest

•  Imaginary voyages, such as that offered here, have occupied many writers throughout time, and have usually found a rich mix of gullible, pleased, and outraged readerships. Hall, the bishop of Norwich, found a very receptive audience for this satirical romance, as is demonstrated by the fact that there were three editions printed between 1605 and 1607 and several later editions in the post-1640 era. In his prefatory "Itineris occasio," Hall sets the frame of reference for his voyage by mentioning the feats of Columbus, Drake, and Magellan, and by discussing certain aspects of American explorations; among the maps, which are missing from this copy, are two that delineate the Americas.

In this edition, the title-page is in the state with the diagonal (not vertical) shading of the pedestal; and quires and D are without catchwords on the rectos (i.e., they were printed at Hanau), while all other quires have catchwords (i.e., they were printed in London). The title-page's claim to Frankfurt printing is simply specious.

•  STC (rev.) 12685.3; Shaaber, British Authors Printed Abroad, H49; Sabin 29819; Alden & Landis, European Americana, 606/61. For a detailed bibliographical study of the editions of this and their points, see: Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 74 (1980), pp. 1-12. On Hall, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, XXIV, 75-80. Old vellum, neatly recased and hinges strengthened. Lacks the maps, but the engraved title-page and engraved plate of "writing" are present. These have light, thumbnail-sized waterstains at their foremargins, being the only leaves so marked, all others being quite clean. Priced approximately $2300 less than the last complete copy to sell at auction.

For Books for the BUSTED
            BIBLIOPHILE,  click here.

Ossian with aRosenbach Connection

Macpherson, James.

•  First U.S. edition of this highly influential literary fraud. Macherson’s poems, which he claimed were translations of ancient Gaelic works, enjoyed wild success throughout Europe; even after they were discredited as genuine Scottish antiquities, their faux-primitive style, supernatural overtones, and pervasive melancholy had great romantic appeal.

The preface to this Philadelphia printing is dated 1773; the poems are followed by a dissertation on the era of Ossian and a lengthier essay on the pieces themselves.

Provenance: This copy bears a pencilled notation in one inner margin marking it as coming from the Rosenbach Company, Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach’s legendary Philadelphia-based bookselling operation. The back free endpaper also bears an early inked inscription reading “Lieut. A. Mordecai / Corps of Engineers.”

•  ESTC W27707; Evans 22633; NCBEL, II, 603. 19th-century speckled and treed sheep, worn and abraded, leather cracking over spine and rubbed over joints, gilt-stamped leather spine label cracking and chipped. Front free endpaper partially detached; back free endpaper with inscription as described above. Pages with moderate age-toning and spots/staining.

A False Imprint for Sure:  Actually Printed in theU.S.

•  Rafael D. Mérida (1762–1828) began his career as a bureaucrat in Caracas, participated in the early patriot movement, served as minister of Justice under Bolívar in 1813–14, but turned against the Liberator in 1816. In his Representación, Mérida recapitulates Bolívar's errors, military and political, in a finely honed philippic. He is no less kind to Miranda, whom he nearly accuses of treason.

Palau states that this piece was actually printed in the U.S., and the paper on which it is printed would certainly substantiate that claim, as does the fact that it is held by the Library Company of Philadelphia, famous for its collection of Spanish-language books printed in Philadelphia with false imprint information.

An extremely rare piece of Bolívariana. This copy belonged to one of Mérida's family.

•  Palau 165374; not in Shaw & Shoemaker; not in Shoemaker. Original wrappers, one chip; stains on rear wrapper and soil to front one. Once upon a time, folded as to fit in a pocket. Very Good condition.

Read by Rousseau & Voltaire

•  Scarce sole edition of these essays on science, philosophy, and religion, including some mystical prophecies regarding Christ's return. The author, a Swiss Protestant, is best known for the Lettres sur les Anglais et les Français; Voltaire was an admirer and referred to the “sage et ingénieux” Muralt in his Lettres anglaises.

Uncommon. A search of ESTC, OCLC, and NUC Pre-1956 finds only four U.S. holdings of this title. ESTC notes that this is a false imprint and that the work was likely printed in the Netherlands; one source suggests Lausanne.

•  ESTC T112988; Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes..., 7879.   Recent quarter calf with marbled paper–covered sides, spines with gilt-stamped titles. Title-pages each with inked ownership inscription dated 1804 in lower margin, name lined through; first page of preface with inked numeral in lower margin. Upper outer corners rounded, with most of these (and some margins) browned in vol. I. All edges speckled blue and brown.  (23261)

“Dublin's Turbulent Priest” Goes after
    the Archbishop of Canterbury

•  Second edition, following the first of 1696, with a false imprint — the work likely having been printed in London. The “divine of the Church of England” is the then-recently deceased John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose sermons were subsequently defended by Lewis Atterbury in a response to the Account. Click the interior image for an enlargement.

Nary, an Irish Roman Catholic priest, gained widespread fame as a controversialist following the publication of this rebuttal of Tillotson's arguments against Catholic doctrine. He later involved himself in politics with his influential Case of the Roman Catholics of Ireland, conducted a lengthy public religious debate with Archbishop Synge, and published a controversial, allegedly Jansenist translation of the New Testament.

Uncommon: ESTC and OCLC report only 10 U.S. holdings.

•  ESTC N5227; Blom 1929; Clancy 710.3 (for first ed.). On Nary, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Period-style mottled calf framed in blind, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binder's label of Starr Bookworks. One preliminary advertisement leaf and one final blank lacking. Title-page and last leaf institutionally pressure-stamped; faint inked ownership inscription in upper margin of title-page. Foxed, but not brittle.  (24330)

Keepsake . . .

•  From Governor Winthrop's journals we know that the "Oath of a Free-Man" was the first thing printed on the first press in what is now the U.S.  No copy of it is known to exist, but the notorious Mark Hoffman, a.k.a. "The Mormon Bomber," created what he attempted to palm off as the "recently discovered, only-known copy" of this literally legendary historical document. It was a convincing fabrication for many, but not all, and his inability to sell it led to the financial crisis that precipitated his bombing spree and led to the discovery of his many, many forgeries of historical autograph documents supposedly by mountain men, Alamo figures, Mormon founder Smith, and Emily Dickinson.

This is Keepsake no. 60 of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, although this copy does not include the laid-in sheet noting that detail. Important study by the head of the John Carter Brown Library on the Oath.

•  Publisher's cloth, front cover with printed paper label. Clean and fresh. (14191)

PRINCE OF FORGERS

•  First English language edition, translated from the French edition of 1870. Lucas, a self-educated provincial clerk, was so audacious in his astoundingly numerous forgeries that he attempted to sell letters (written in modern French) allegedly signed by such luminaries as Cleopatra and Alexander the Great.

•  Dust jacket and binding as new. (5948)

False Imprint — Gnostic Philosophy

•  Early edition with a false imprint, following the first of 1775, of an anonymously published treatise on gnostic philosophy. Saint-Martin, a.k.a. “le Philosophe inconnu,” was a mystic trained by Kabbalist Martínez de Pasquales; the present work was his first, andcondemned by the Roman Catholic Church.

•  Barbier, II, 171; Weller, Falsche Druckorte, II, 197.   19th-century boards covered with German mottled paper, spine with inked title-label; binding abraded, spine label darkened. Ex-library with lined-through call number label to spine, front pastedown with institutional bookplate, first text page with inked numeral in lower margin. Front free endpaper with inked inscription in Greek. A few instances of light foxing, pages mostly clean.  (19717)

“Authentic” Documents? — Probably NOT!

•  In this problematic early work on the origins of printing from moveable type in Europe, Schoepflin theorizes that Gutenberg began his experiments in Strasbourg in 1440 and later perfected his innovations in Mayence. He buttresses his arguments with documents here present in fine engraved facsimile. Later writers have had grave doubts about the origins and authenticity of the documents. The work was printed in Strasbourg.

•  Bigmore & Wyman, II, 318–319. German sprinkled brown paper over paste boards. Binding abraded and chipped. A library's blind pressure-stamps; properly deaccessioned with no additional stamps.

BIG FraudTexas Size!

•  Masterful account of the history of the plundering of Texas archives in the period 1950 to 1980 combined with the related story of the fabrication, beginning in the 1960s, of fake copies of important, early, printed Texas historical documents. Taylor names those implicated and tells of how the fakery was slowly discovered. A must read.

•  New; publisher's quarter cloth with paper sides with a reproduction of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

“Varieties of Deception”

•  Excellent compilation of papers by Lotte Hellinga ("`Less than the Whole Truth': False Statements in 15th-Century Colophons"), Michael Treadwell ("On False and Misleading Imprints in the London Book Trade, 1660–1750"), Michael Harris ("Paper Pirates: the Alternative Book Trade in Mid-18th-Century England"), Joseph M. Levine ("`Et tu Brute?': History and Forgery in 18th-Century England"), Nigel Ramsay ("Forgery and the Rise of the London Scrivener's Company"), Nicolas Barker ("Forgery of Printed Documents"), and Tom Davis ("Forged Handwriting"). The essays were presented at a conference in 1989.

•  New.

For more BOOKS ABOUT
         BOOKS,  click here.

PLACE AN ORDER   |   E-MAIL US   |   GO (BACK) TO TOPIC/INTEREST TABLE   |   PRB&M HOME

All material © 2008
The Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company