Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1910-02-17
LITERARY FORGER|ES
Versatility and cIeverness Of a
ShreWd Scotch Lad.
FOOLED THE coNNolssEURs.
He Poured Forth His Extraordinary
Documents In Profusien to supply
the Demand and Was Finally Ex.
posed BY q simpls Little Slip.

posed BY Simple Little Slip.
From the days OF Isidor Mercater,
who forged letters OF the bishops OF
Rome with such skill and success that
they were treasured for centuries In
the Roman archives. to the days OF
Ireland, the notorious forger OF Shake
spearean plays and letters. and Chat
terton. the clever and Ill fated boy
who died miserably In his attic, there
have never been wanting unprincipled
men who could forge ancient manu-
scripts so cleverly that leading experts
have been deceived.
But for versatility and cleverness
none Of these forgers OF past centuries
could approach the cleyerness Of a
young Scotchman who years ago pro-
duced long succession OF forged man.
uscripts which completely batlied the
connoisseurs of the world. The true
and full story of these remarkable
forgeries Is almost unknown and is SO
extraordinary that IT may well be told.
1t was in Edinburgh that this In
comparable forger practiccd his arts,
and 1t was by an accident that he was
tempted to embark on a career which,
after spell OF great success, involved
him In disaster. One day the princi-
pal of an Edinburgh firm of lawyers
told one of his clerks TO clear out sew
eral boxes full of old documents, the
accumulation Of many years. Among
them were several documents and au-
tographs the value of which the clerk
was quick to recognize, and he had no
difficulty in finding purchasers for
them. AS the supply was limited and
the demand constantly increasing II
occurred to him to supplement the gen
uine documents With others OF his
own manufacture, and as he developed |
a remarkable skill in forging and had |
already won the confidence of a large |
of collectors he found 1t easy !
to dispose Of as many forgeries as he |
could produce at very profitable prices.
Many of them were sold to collectors |
In different parts Of the world, others |
were disposed Of by auction, and the
were pawned and sold as
pledges. These forgeries |
covered very wide range and includ-
ed autographs and letters by Crom-
well, Mary. queen of Scots; James VI,
Prince Charlie, John Knox, Rob Roy, /
Burns. Scott, Thackeray. Carlyle, Sails
bury. Gladstone, Lord Nelson and
many other men Of note as well as
Tast quantities Of Jacobite correspond
,nce
So cleverly were the forgeries exc
,uted that the largest purchaser Of
Scotia letters was gentleman who
Is a boy had carried most of the great
Iuthor's manuscripts from Abbotsford
o his Edinburgh publishers and was
Is familiar with Scott's handwriting
Is his own, and the head of the irm
hat published Lord Byron's works
purchased forty-seven letters purport=
ng TO be Lord Byron's for the sum Of
125 rs. Cd. A very large collection Of
hese manuscripts was purchased for
he LenoI library, New York, where
hey were for some time regarded with
everence as the chief treasure Of the
Ibrary, and another collection was
resented to the city of Edinburgh.
Although these forgeries were pour
d on the market In such profusion, no
uspicion seems to have been aroused.
hey were accepted without question
y the experts and found ready pur-
hasers at large prices. Whether the
orger's success made him careless or
Thether It was due to one Of those re-
oversights to which the most
<illful criminals seem liable and
-hich bring their career to q close. the
orger was at last exposed through a
listake of which such a clever man
lould scarcely have been capable.
Among the many forgeries be pro-
uced poem signed by Robert Burns.
, was called ''The Poor Mans Pray.
~ ard nnaoad with fhiS Stonza.