The Express.
London, England, 1852-03-10 00:00:00

FORGERY OF AUTOGRAPHS

(From the Atdenim")
The "Shelley Letters," published by Mr. ?ileum, and re-
viewed in our paper a fortnight since, are, it turns out, with
but one or two exceptions, forgeries. It is proper tosay at once
that Mr. Motion has been deceived, and that no gentleman
from the moment of the discovery could have acted more
straightforwardly and promptly than he has done in this
transaction. As soon as he was convinced that he had been
the means (the innocent means) of gi,ving to the public a
false finch., he did his best to repair his mistake. He has
suppressed the book, and has called in the copies delivered
to the trade. The discovery was made in quite an accidental
manner. Mr. Moxon had sent • copy of the hook to Mr.
Tennyson. During a visit which Mr. Palgrave was
paying to Mr. Tennyson he dipped into the Shelley
volume, and lighted on a letter written front Florence to
Godwin—the better half of which he at once recognised
as part of an article on Florence written for the Quar-
terly Review so far back as 1810 by his father, Sir Francis
Palgrave. It is good to find a son so well versed in the
writing of his father as young Mr. Palgrave proved himself
to be on this occasion. He fat no time, as we may suppose,
in communicating his curious discover 7 to his father, and
Sir Francis, after comparing the printed letter with the
printed article, wrote at once to Mr. Meson, informing
him that the letter—by whomsoever written—was • "crib "
from an article which he had written for the Quarterly
Review. Startled at such intelligence, Mr. Moxou replied
that he had bought the letter at • public sale among other
letters also by Shelley, and that the passage of which Sir
Fraacis claimed the authorship was contained in a letter
written by Shelley, carrying upon it tho post•mark of the
period and other written signs which apparently marked
it to be genuine. The Deputy-Keeper of the Pub-
lic Records was, it may be readily imagined, equally
startled with Mr. Moxon at the announcement of such
a fact. He wanted to see the letter. The letter was pro-
duced. "It looks genuine; is it not genuine ?" "I am
the author of that passage, but not the writerof that letter,"
was the reply of Sir Francis. " But may not Sir Francis,"
it was urged to Mr. Moxon, "have seen this letter in the
noble collection of autographs belonging to his fatherin-
law, Mr. Dawson Turner?" a question which only added a
fresh difficulty to the solution sought. In this emergency
Mr. Maxon had recourse to the assistance of • gentleman
known to he conversant with autographs. The letters
were placed in his hands with a request that he would spare
no pains to ascertain the truth about them—and with this
information to guide him—that they had been shown to
some Post-office clerks at the General Post-office, who,
" to the best of their belief," pronounced them to be genuine.
The first step taken after this was to compare the
poet-marks with Byron's letters to Mr. Murray, posted
from the same cities in the same months and year, and to
the some city—London. Here they failed, and in this way.
Where " Ravenna " on • genuine letter was in a small
sharp type—in the Shelley letter it was in a large mut:nein
type ; and in the letters from Venice the post-mark of the
City of Palaces was stamped in an italic, and not, as in the
Shelley specimens, in a Roman letter. These were strong
facts ; but then the dates agreed with Shelley's sojourn at
the several places—the seals were correct. The handwriting
was marvellously Shelley-like—no hesitation about it—n
free accustomed band. ' Are they not genuine ?" From
whom did Mr. /dozen buy these letters ? They were
bought at Sotheby and Wilkinsoa's, at large prices.
From whom did Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson receive
them for sale? "We had them from Mr. White, the
bookseller in Poll-mall, over against the Reform Club."
Off runs the gentleman-detective. " From whom did you,
Mr. White, obtain these letters ?" " I bought them of two
women—l believed them to be genuine, and I paid large
prices for them in that belief." Such are the words sup-
posed to have been spoken by Mr. White. The two
women would appear to have been like the man in a
clergyman's band, but • lawyer's gown, who brought
Pope's letter to Curti. It would be impolitic at this stage
of an important inquiry to publish the whole of the parti-
culars placed at our service in elucidating the forgeries of
the letters. It is proper, however, to say thus early that
there has been of late years, as we are snared, • most
systematic and wholesale forgery of letters purporting to be
written by Byron, Shelley, and Keats—that these forgeries
carry upon them such marks of genuineness as have deceived
the entire body of London collectors that they are
executed with a skill to which the forgeries of Chat-
terton and Ireland tan lay no claim—that they have sold at
public auctions and by the hands of booksellers, to collec-
tors of experience and rank, and that the itnoosition has
extended to • large collection of book, bearing not only the
signature of Lord Byron, but notes by him in many of their
pages, the matter of the lettersbeing selected with a
thorough knowledge of Byron's life and feelings, and the
whole of the books chosen with the minutest knowledge of
his tastes and peculiarities. But the " marvel " of the
forgery is not yet told. At the same sale at which Mr.
Meson bought the Shelley letters were catalogued for sale
• series of (unpublished) letters from Shelley to his wife,
revealing the innermost secrets of his heart, and containing
facto, not only dishonourable facts to a father's memory, but
such as awn would wish toconceal. These letters were bought
in by the son of Shelley, the present Sir Percy Shelley—
and are now proven, we are told, to he forgeries. 'fo im-
pose on the credulity of a collector is a minor offence, com-
pared with the crime of forging evidence against the dead,
and still minor as in one instance against the fidelity of a
woman. The forgery of Chatterton injured no one but an
imaginary priest—the forgery of Ireland made a great poet
seem to write worse than Settle could have writtea—but
this forgery blackens the character of • great man, and
worse still, traduces female virtue. Mr. Moxon is not the
only publisher taken in. Mr. Murray has been a heavy
sufferer, though not to the same extent. Mr. Meson hes
Murray—wise through
einem.
P?triro.tMedulhoisn'thetznY example—will not not publish Lis Byron acqui-

SEIZURE OF AN ILLICIT STILL AT BRISTOL.—TIIO
officers ot ezeir at Bristol succeeded on Sunday in seizing
an illicit still, which was being worked in the underground
cellist of a house in Pipe-lane, Temple street. The still,
with several tubs of wash, some spirit-colouring matter,
&c , were all carried off and forfeited to the crown, and •
man named Madeo, who confessed to being the owner of
the property, was taken before the magistrates, and com-
mitted for three months to bard labour.

IN CON SEQUENCE OF TUE INDISPOSITION OF LORD
RatiuLasictis, we much fear (says the !paunch !Noma°
that his lordship will not be induced to offer himself *gain
as one of the representatives of the county, in the event of
a dissolution. We have reason, however, to know that on
such an event a strong protestant and protectionist candi-
date connected with the county will present himself to the
constituency.