Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1908-02-05

'S '"SS"'SeS FdohS~NOn NOmpleteiT
Fooled the Savants and 4bIiophiles
of Europe and Was the Literary Sen
sation of Its Day.
When Z. T. Barnum cynically re-
marked that the American people
loved to be fooled be might Just rs
well have left out the adjective. for
that Americans are much mere gull
bic than natives of other lands can
very readily be called into question by
anybody at all familiar with the his
tory of hoaxdOm suppose that for
pure effrontery and ingenious brazen-
ness the FOrtsas Catalogue stands in
the front rank OF deception. Yet this
pamphlet was foisted not upon the
American public. but upon the savants
and bibliOphiles OF Europe-men skill
ed in the art Of books and in the detec-
ton Of forgery. SO cleverly was this
fraud conceived and executed that It
deserves to stand in the front rank Of
any consideration. however brief, OF
clever receptions.
The FOrtsas Catalogue was publish
ed in lSi0-a small book purporting to
be the catalogue Of the private library
OF certain Count J. y. y. de Fortsas
Of Binche. in Belgium. Although the
book consisted OF but fourteen pages
and listed only ffty-two titles. ii
stirred up veritable teapot tempest
among the wise heads The reason
was not far to seek-not one Of the
books mentioned i'm the catalogue was
TO be found in any other library or
I publishers list, They wtre all abso-
I lutely sole surviving copies OF In
/ tenSely interesting works. In the
/ words Of the catalogue itself "the
count pitilessly expelled from his
/ shelves books for which he had paid
+ their weight in gold-as soon as be
learned that a work up to that time
unknown had been mentioned In any
catalogue" Each new research OF
learned investigators into the bool
lore Of antiquity. ii was claimed. "had
thinned still further the already dec
imated ranks OF the counts sacred
battalion" Weary OF his tremendou!
and self imposed task OF collectin,
only unique specimens. the count wa
stated to have died on Sept. I. 1899
and his library was now offered 70
sale. Apparently the fraudulent char
acter OF such master foolery was Quit
patent Yet the high brows Bit en-
Enthusiastically. and there resulted on
OF the most amusing incidents Of th
decade
For instantly the learned book lover
were up in arms. each trying 70 outd
his rival and secure for himself tn
most precious OF the treasures at th
sale which was advertised. Order
poured in from all over Europe on th
behalf OF scholarly societies. libraries
royal families and literary eDicures
One bookseller came all the way from
Amsterdam just TO see No. -. til
Corpus Juris Civilis." The Princes
de Ligne for the honor OF her fam
"" ordered No IS ut any price to SUI
press II on account OF certain discret
liable family episodes il was suppose
TO contain. Many other prominent pc
: sons and institutions clamored for
chance at the collection. Men r,
membered having seen books that ne'
|, er existed" says William Shepar,
The foreman in Casteman's printiu
office at Tourney had distinct recolle
: tons OF bogus volume credited TO h
press"
I, Unfortunately the advertised sa
never came of. On the 9th OF Al
t, gust the day before il was 10 have b
gun, the Brussels papers announce
that the town OF Binche had determl,
=, ed to keep the collection intact by pu
chasing il with public funds. tt
amusing part Of this statement w.
that Binche was most insiCnifcar
village. quite unable 10 purchase niue
OF anything. let alone universally 4
sired library. Still, even that STAY
. ment was believed.
: The truth eventually transpired II.
4 the Count de FortsaS, his miraculo,
library and the catalogue were all q
creations OF an ingenious fellow name
Rene Chalons, living in Belgium II
Q catalogue begOt rather extensive i
erature Of its own. which has sin,
2 been collected and published under q
, title Documents ct PartiCulariteS H
$ toriques sur lie Comte de Fortsas"
? copy OF the original catalogue no
rests in the Congressional library
, Washington. - Cincinnati Commerce
= Tribune
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