History is replete with fakes and forgeries. Dr. Abbott's areas of specialization includes bibliography, textual studies, and twentieth-century American poetry. While focused mostly on fakes and forgeries in literature, Dr. Abbott reminded the audience that fakes are not limited to literature, but can also be found in other fields, such as, science and archaeology. They can also be found where least expected, for example, while Gutenberg's invention of movable type holds enormous significance in the history of printing and communication, the Gutenberg Bible is a facsimile, or fake, of the original scriptorium edition. While documents may look original, many are reprints, with some being quite old and valuable in themselves.
Travel is often an area of deception where much hyperbole and conjecture are found.
For example, George Psalmanazar forged a fake travel guide to Formosa in the early eighteenth century. The guide included a fake Formosan alphabet, sketches of inhabitants, complete with fake costumes, and a fake language created out of gibberish. Considering that few, if any, traveled to Formosa during this time, the book was believed and became widely popular. The book was a fabrication and the author confessed to making up the text. There are many other examples of fakes and forgeries, especially that found in plagiarized text.