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PRINCE OF FORGERS.
Rosenblum, Joseph.
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First English translation of the 1870 edition. On a cold, damp day in February 1870, the Correctional Tribunal of Paris sentenced Vrain-Denis Lucas to prison for forging and selling over 27,000 historical letters to many of France's leading collectors. The sensational trial exposed the most colossal literary fraud ever perpetrated. The trial revealed that for 19 years Lucas created fake literary masterpieces, mostly letters to and from famous or historical figures, and profited greatly from it.
At first, Lucas used quills, inks, papers, and styles of writing used by historical French authors. As the years passed and his forgeries were accepted into the foremost collections in the nation, his ego got the best of him. The versatility, industry, and knowledge displayed earlier by Lucas was beginning to enter the realm of incongruity. When he produced a host of letters written by Mary Magdelene to Lazarus, Cleopatra to Caesar, Pompey to Cato, in French no less, and boldly sold them to one of France's leading collectors, Lucas's shameless audacity reached new heights.
This edition is the first English translation of the rare French title, UNE FABRIQUE DE FAUX AUTOGRAPHES, OU RECIT DE L'AFFAIRE VRAN LUCAS (Paris 1870) by Henri Bordier and Emile Mabille. With a new introduction by Joseph Rosenblum, this fascinating book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of literary forgeries, manuscripts, autographs, and the drama of fools and scoundrels. This is truly an incredible story of the "Prince of Forgers." Illustrated.
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More On This Subject - -
> FORGERY
> FRANCE
> OAK KNOLL PRESS
> MANUSCRIPTS
> AUTOGRAPHS
> BORDIER, HENRI
> UNITED STATES
> NEW
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Books of related interests - -
> Gilreath, James (editor), THE JUDGMENT OF EXPERTS, ESSAYS AND DOCUMENTS ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FORGING OF THE OATH OF A FREEMAN.
> Knight, Stan, HISTORICAL SCRIPTS FROM CLASSICAL TIMES TO THE RENAISSANCE.
> Boucher, Philip P., LES NOUVELLES FRANCES, FRANCE IN AMERICA, 1500-1815, AN IMPERIAL PERSPECTIVE.
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THE ART OF INTAGLIO. PRODUCED ON A LETTERPRESS WITH A COL...
by Morris, Henry
Limited to 115 numbered copies. Engravings and etchings (intaglios) are printed on special presses which exert the far greater pressure needed for this kind of printing.
"I had been told that intaglio could not be printed satisfactorily on a letterpress, which is generally true. But in 2009 I tried my hand, printing two intaglio plates successfully by letterpress, albeit not very large ones. In this new book I have printed by letterpress, twelve intaglio plates, some as large as 5" x 6.5".
These images were made from Ambrose Heal's privately published 1925 London Tradesmen's Cards of the Eighteenth Century, which showed 101 collotype prints of old engravings advertising the wares, goods and services offered about 250 years ago. I have been attracted to these "cards"-they are really papers of differing sizes-ever since I got Heal's book fifteen years ago. Thanks to my recent introduction to intaglio, I have returned twelve of these prints to their original 18th century state: you can run your finger over the print and feel the image. Students and collectors of ephemera are acquainted with these cards, but for those who are not, some of Heal's comments may enlighten:
...To anyone with a liking for old things the Trade Card must make an irresistible appeal. It is so convincingly of its own time.
...The old signs that hung over the ship doors and are reproduced on the Traders' Cards are of great antiquity and interest. The names of the old streets, many of which have long since been swept away, such as 'Knaves' Acre,' 'Rosemary Lane,' 'Wendegaynlane,' take one's imagination quite apart from their historical or topographical connections.
...The lettering is invariably well drawn and well spaced and the designing of the devices, if sometimes crude, is always direct and interesting.
They reflect the art of the engraver through two centuries.
A foeword and texts on the Origin of Intaglio, The Process, and background information on Heal and his book, precede the twelve engravings.
But wait-There's More!
On an entirely unrelated subject, a 16-page addition relates an unforgettable event in the early life of Henry Morris, entitled Schlocker & The Fishes, thus making this book my first dos-a-dos binding. This brief account is illustraded with two full-page wood engravings by Wesley Bates. Such accounts generally become booklets but I dislike the impermanence of the booklet, and have long wanted to see this in print."
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