Fakes are an incurable plague for the art market and though counter-measure techniques have been increasingly modernised since the second half of the 20th Century forgers have probably some more good years ahead of them.
Antiquarian booklist
FAKES and FORGERY
(Barry) Hickey, Neil. The Gentleman was a Thief. The Colourful Story of Arthur Barry, a Rogue of the 1920s. London; Frederick Muller Ltd.:1961. A "Social Register" robber, heisting jewels at parties and other ne'er-do-well derring-do. 5.5"x8", 200 pages, b&w illustrations, soiled dj. [22270] $25.00
(Becker) Hill, Sir George F. Becker the Counterfeiter. London; Spink and Son:1955. A reprint of the 1924 and 1925 editions of this biography of an early 19th century counterfeiter of ancient coins. 7"x9.5", 111 pages plus 19 b&w plates. [22271] $65.00
(Bidwell) Bidwell, George. Forging His Chains. The Autobiography of George Bidwell. Hartford; S.S. Scranton & Company:1888. "An authentic account of his unexampled career in America and Europe, with the story of his connection with the so-called L1,000,000 Forgery of the Bank of England, and a complete account of his arrest, trial, conviction, and confinement for fourteen years in English prisons." 6.5"x9", 560 pages, portrait frontispiece and woodcuts in the text. [22229] $50.00
Burroughs, Alan. Art Criticism from a Laboratory. Boston; Little, Brown and Company:1938. Alan Burroughs was a pioneer in the field of using x-rays to examine paintings, and this was the first full-length study ever published on the subject. Burroughs explains how x-rays may be used to detect hidden paintings, forgery, fraud, restorations, the true identities of artists, etc. 8"x10", 277 pages, b&w illustrations, lightly torn dj. [27891] $150.00
Chambers, Edmund K. The History and Motives of Literary Forgeries. Being the Chancellor's English Essay for 1891; by Edmund Kerchever Chambers. New York; Burt Franklin:1970. A reprint of the 1891 edition. 5.5"x9", 37 pages. [22239] $35.00
(Chatterton) Gregory, G. The Life of Thomas Chatterton, with Criticisms on his Genius and Writings, and a concise view of the Controversy concerning Rowley's Poems. London; G. Kearsley:1789. "The following pages were composed at the request of the respectable editor of the Biographia Britannica, in order to be inserted in that valuable work. The author, however, requested leave to print off a small edition, in a separate state, for the accommodation and satisfaction of a few friends..." 5.5"x8.5", v + 263 pages, bound in nice 18th or early 19th century full leather with raised bands, floral gilt decorations on the spine, and a quilted design with gilt rules blindstamped on the front and rear boards; armorial bookplate; a fairly clean copy with sporadic light foxing and nice wide margins. [22240] $250.00
(Chatterton) Kaplan, Louis J. The Family Romance of the Imposter-Poet Thomas Chatterton. New York; Atheneum:1988. A psychoanalytic study which examines Chatterton's personality and motives.6"x9", 301 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22242] $35.00
(Chatterton) Mason, David. Chatterton. A Biography. New York; Dodd, Mead and Company:nd (1899). 2nd edition, revised.Originally issued in 1856. 5.5"x8", 320 pages, an ex-library copy, stamped, perforated and with the front hinge taped. [22243] $35.00
(Chatterton) Meyerstein, E.H.W. A Life of Thomas Chatterton. New York; Charles Scribner's Sons:1930. Meyerstein provides a new evaluation of Chatterton's poetry from a literary standpoint, and also goes back to the 18th century view of Chatterton as a genius on the one hand, but a fairly unpleasant person on the other (opposing the 19th century romantic "tragic" boy persona favored by others, including Ingram). 6"x9", 584 pages, several b&w plates; light spotting on the cover. [22244] $50.00
(Chatterton) Tyrwhitt, Thomas (ed.). Poems, Supposed to have been written at Bristol, by Thomas Rowley, and others, in the Fifteenth Century. Cambridge; printed by B. Fowler for the Editor:1794. 5th edition.With introductory material including an account of how each piece initially appeared. 5.5"x8", 329 pages; bound in old 3/4 gilt decorated leather with marbled boards; a handsome binding with gilt-impressed leaf designs on the spine; a very nice copy. [22246] $275.00
Cohen, Maurice. La Seringue Spirituelle pour les ames constipees en devotion. Recherches d'un bibliophile. Cahors; printed for the author by F. Delperier:1882. "The Spiritual Enema for the Constipated Friends of Devotion" is the title of a supposed 16th century devotional. The author doubts the existence of the original and sets out to prove it is a hoax, with only middling results. As my friend Bill Goring, who sold us this piece, pointed out, you never know with 16th century French religious books, and such a title might actually have existed. 5.5"x9", 22 pages, softcover; a very good copy of a fragile piece. [22247] $85.00
Counterfeiting- A small collection of books on counterfeiting and counterfeiters, consisting of-
Bloom, Murray Teigh. Money of Their Own. The Stories of the World's Greatest Counterfeiters. London:1957, dj;
Bloom, Murray Teigh. The Man Who Stole Portugal. London:1967. A Portuguese businessman planned to having fake bank notes printed by the same English printer who printed real Portuguese notes, using the same paper, plates and ink. Worn dj;
Counterfeit Detection. A reprint from The Numismatist, Vol. II. Colorado Springs:1988, b&w illustrations, softcover;
Lagrange, Francis & William Murray. Flag on Devil's Island. The autobiography of one of the great counterfeiters and art forgers of modern times. New York:1961, worn dj;
Pirie, Anthony. Operation Bernhard. New York:1962. The Nazi plan to ruin the British economy with fake English bank notes during World War II. Dj remnant;
Whittemore, Hank. Find the Magician! The Counterfeiting Crime of the Century. New York:1980. Dj; The 6 books- [27949] $100.00
[end Counterfeiting]
Crawley, W. Is It Genuine? A Guide to the Identification of Eighteenth Century English Furniture. London; Eyre & Spottiswoode:1971. An exceedingly helpful book which examines various parts of a piece of furniture and their construction, as well as various types of pieces. Crawley explains what to look for in both genuine and questionable pieces. "an eye-opening book that can be ignored only at the reader's peril. ... Rewarding, if sobering, reading" (Ames & Ward). 7.5"x10", 156 pages, 86 b&w illustrations. [22249] $60.00
(Crowhurst) Tomalin, Nicholas & Ron Hall. The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. New York; Stein and Day: 1970. The strange tale of a round the world cruise which turned out to be a hoax.6.5"x10", 317 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22354] $40.00
Dana, Joseph C. & Henry W. Kent (Edmund L. Pearson). The Old Librarian's Almanack. A very rare pamphlet first published in New Haven Connecticut in 1773 and now reprinted for the first time. Woodstock; Elm Tree Press:1909. A clever and innocently-intentioned hoax which ballooned when some people took it seriously. 6"x9", about 34 pages; frontispiece of the title page of the "original" almanac. Original decorative marbled boards with title label and cloth spine. [22421] $100.00
Dance, Peter. Animal Fakes & Frauds. Berkshire; Sampson Low, Berkshire House:1976. A fascinating study of fake animals from ancient times through the 19th century, including illustrations of actual specimens, some from period books, some still existing. 7.5"x10", 128 pages, color and b&w illustrations, dj. [22250] $75.00
Earee, Rev. R.B. Album Weeds; or, How to Detect Forged Stamps. London; Stanley Gibbons, Ltd.:1905. 3rd edition. A magnificently comprehensive survey, country by country, of forged stamps, with complete descriptions of the original stamps and explanations as to how the forgeries differ. Numbingly detailed in a thoroughly Edwardian way. 2 volumes; 6"x8.5", 587 + 709 pages, b&w stamp facsimiles throughout; a nice clean set, with a little dustiness to the covers and bindings which are a bit dry, but overall very nice. [21874] $300.00
(Edwards) (Jenkins, John H.) The Celebrated and Extraordinary Trial of Col. Monroe Edwards for Forgery and Swindling... Austin; Pemberton Press/Jenkins Publishing Co.:1970. Edwards was a trickster, swindler, and forger who was finally tried in 1842; he was whipped to death in prison in 1847. John Jenkins printed facsimiles of the very rare 1842 pamphlet concerning his trial, and issued it with a new introduction. 10"x14", 16 pages, portrait frontispiece, softcover; with a bookmark presenting this as a keepsake of the 1970 Christmas Season; in the original manila mailing envelope. [27819] $125.00
Facsimiles and Forgeries. A Guide to a Timely Exhibition in the William L. Clements Library. Ann Arbor:1950. 5"x8.5", 26 pages, softcover. [22254] $35.00
Ford, Worthington Chauncey. The Spurious Letters Attributed to Washington. With a Bibliographical Note by Worthington Chauncey Ford. Brooklyn; privately printed:1889. "In May or June 1777, there appeared in London a pamphlet, bearing the imprint of a bookseller in Paternoster Row, purporting to contain certain letters of Washington written in 1776, to his friends and relatives in Virginia". These letters showed GW to be discouraged, having no sympathy for the Revolution and longing for reconciliation with England. 7"x9.5", 166 pages, unopened; softcover, a few chips but a very good copy of a fragile item. [22257] $125.00
GHOSTS- Two books. vp. Including:
Gettings, Fred. Ghosts in Photographs. The Extraordinary Story of Spirit Photography. Harmony Books/Optimum Books:1978. A vast array of Victorian spirit photography. 11"x8", 152 pages, b&w illustrations, dj;
Goran, Morris. Fact, Fraud, and Fantasy. The An examination of various pseudosciences and their practicioners. 6"x8.5", 189 pages, dj. The pair- [27950] $75.00
[end Ghosts]
Glaser, Lynn. Counterfeiting in America. The History of an American Way to Wealth. New York; Clarkson Potter: 1968. 6"x8.5", 274 pages, b&w illustrations. [22259] $40.00
Hamilton Charles. Scribblers & Scoundrels. New York; Paul S. Eriksson:1968. 5.5"x8.5", 282 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22262] $35.00
Hamilton, Charles. Great Forgers and Famous Fakes. The Manuscript Forgers of America and How They Duped the Experts. New York; Crown Publishers:1980. 7.5"x9.5", 278 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22261] $35.00
Hammond, Dorothy. Confusing Collectibles. A Guide to the Identification of Reproductions. Leon; Mid-American Book Co.:1969. A guide to new productions of antique styles in glass, metalware, ceramics, furniture, etc. 8.5"x11", 221 pages, color and b&w illustrations, dj. [20963] $60.00
Harpending, Asbury. The Great Diamond Hoax and Other Stirring Incidents in the Life of Asbury Harpending. San Francisco; The James H. Barry Co.:1913. Edited by James H. Wilkins.Asbury Harpending was an interesting, resourceful and total unscrupulous character. From humble beginnings auctioneering bananas and oranges aboard a ship packed with starving emigrants on the way to California, Harpending went to Mexico and made a fortune in mines, returned to California and in 1860 took part in a plan to secede the territory from the Union. When that failed he became a Confederate courier. He then hatched a plan to steal the government's California gold shipments and was arrested and convicted of treason. Upon receiving amnesty at the end of the war he once again speculated in mines, stocks and real estate, amassing another fortune, and finally became involved in the Great Diamond Hoax, one of the most fabulous con- schemes of the 19th century. Harpending and his confederates salted a worthless piece of land with diamonds and other gems, hired and noted but gullible expert to appraise it, and then swindled a number of prominent and well-heeled and greedy investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The audacity and care with which they carried out their scheme was as amazing as the fact that anyone was fooled for a moment by the silly story. An interesting tale of a life-long schemer with much interesting information on Western mining. 6"x8", 283 pages, b&w plates; light cover soil; tips worn. [22263] $100.00
Heller, David. In Search of VOC Glass. Capetown; Maskew Miller Limited; nd (1954). "VOC" were the initials used by the Dutch East India Company, and when a stylized VOC monogram began to turn up on a variety of real and supposed 18th century glassware, David Heller decided to investigate. 8"x10", 103 pages, 22 b&w plates, worn dj. [22531] $125.00
Helms, Richard H. Communist Forgeries. Hearing before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and other internal Security Laws...Testimony of Richard Helms, Assistant Director, Central Intelligence Agency. June 2, 1961. Washington; GPO:1961. Alleged forgeries of documents, newspaper stories, information, etc., to discredit the U.S. government. 6"x9", 121 pages, b&w document reproductions, self-wrappers. [22269] $50.00
(Hogarth) (HOGARTH") A fascinating forged Hogarth sepia watercolor. Supposedly the design by Hogarth for the title page of "A Catalogue of the Intire Collection belonging to Sir James Thornhill, Late Principal History-Painter to His Majesty, &c. consisting of several very Capital PICTURES... on Monday and Tuesday, the 24th and 25th of this instant Febr. 1734-5. A nicely executed sepia watercolor on laid paper, with the lettering neatly sketched and a central vignette of three sorrowful Muses standing near a grove of trees, engaged in draping a bust on a tall plinth in mourning drapery. Signed "W. Hogarth fect" in the margin. A contemporaneous copy or forgery -I suppose the difference lies in the intent. 8.5"x11.5" (trimmed size) with nice margins around the design; very light soil, but overall in nice condition. [22274] $125.00
(Ireland) Chalmers, George. A Supplemental Apology for The Believers in the Shakspeare-Papers, being a reply to Mr. Malone's Answer, which was early announced, but never published; with a Dedication to George Stevens, F.R.S.S.A. and a Postscript to T.J. Mathias... London; Thomas Egerton:1799. 5.5"x8.5", viii + 654 pages plus the errata sheet bound in at the rear; some spotting to the endpapers and title page, slight marginal dampstain; a copy with nice, wide margins, rebacked and bound in new boards with hand-marbled paper covers. [22278] $275.00
(Ireland) Malone, Edmond. An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments, published Dec. 24, MDCCXCV. and attributed to Shakspeare, Queen Elizabeth, and Henry, Earl of Southampton: illustrated by fac-similes of the genuine hand-writing of that nobleman, and of her Majesty; a new fac-simile of the hand-writing of Shakspeare, never before exhibited; and other authentick documents... London; printed by H. Baldwin for T. Cadell Jr. and W. Davies:1796.The Ireland forgeries exposed. 6"x9", 424 pages, plus 3 folding engraved plates; bound in old quarter leather with elaborate gilt spine decorations; marbled boards. [22282] $375.00
Jackson, William Alexander. Counterfeit Printing in Jacobean Times (in) Records of a Bibliographer, Selected Papers of William Alexander Jackson. Cambridge; The Belknap Press:1967. An article on forged imprints in this anthology of articles by the noted bibliographer. 8"x11", 236 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22284] $60.00
Jenkins, John H. Audubon and Other Capers. Confessions of a Texas Bookmaker. Austin; Pemberton Press:1976. 8.5"x11", 120 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22285] $65.00
(Jenkins) Fifty Texas Rarities. Selected from the Library of Mr. Everett D. Graff... Austin; Jenkins Publishing Co.:1982. A reprint of the 1946 William Clements Library catalog. 5"x7.5", 40 pages, softcover. [22287] $30.00
(Jenkins) Jenkins, John H. Printer in Three Republics. A Bibliography of Samuel Bangs, First Printer in Texas, and First Printer West of the Louisiana Purchase. Austin; Jenkins Publishing Company:1981. Inscribed by Jenkins. 6"x9", 190 pages, b&w frontispiece. [22289] $75.00
(Jenkins) Taylor, W. Thomas. Texfake. An Account of the Theft and Forgery of Early Texas Printed Documents. Austin; W. Thomas Taylor:1991. The best source of information on the John Jenkins Affair. With an introduction by Larry McMurtry. 7"x10", 158 pages, b&w illustrations. [20710] $40.00
Joni, Icilio Federico (attributed to). A pair of forged Renaissance-type "tavolette" wooden book covers. Sienna: ca 1900-1910. An ingenious, prolific and outspokenly candid artist, art restorer and forger, Joni forged a variety of paintings and other objects, including some book bindings, often in Renaissance styles. His 1936 autobiography "The Affairs of a Painter" recounts many of the high points of his varied careers, and tells, in at least some detail, the tricks of the forger's trade. Joni got the idea for forging "tavolette" covers, the wooden book boards used to hold Sienese tax accounts in the 13th-17th centuries, after reading a description of them in a pamphlet. Interestingly, the imaginative forger had never actually seen an example, and his creations far exceeded the plainly-decorated wooden covers of the genuine articles. Joni backed his covers with gold foil, adorned by a punch-work pattern, and then decorated them with coats of arms and mottoes. He used bronze bosses at the corners which he aged by bathing them in ammonia, and filled in the remaining space with elaborate floral and leaf decorations. As Otto Kurz ("Fakes -A Handbook for Students and Collectors") points out, Joni's creations are distinctive and identifiable because "nothing like these painted wooden bindings ever existed before Joni, neither in Sienna nor anywhere else... (the Sienese original's covers) were single boards, not bindings backed with leather, like Joni's. Joni, who was proud never to have gone to look at the originals, made a fanciful but successful invention." 8"x11" (single cover); 17.5"x11" (opened). A pair of wooden covers, front and rear, joined by a leather spine, decorated in a vaguely Renaissance style. The edges are beveled, with bronze bosses at the corners; the cover decorations begin with a 1" gilt border which frames the main design; the border is decorated with a punchwork pattern between ruled lines. In the center of each cover is a pair of semi-circles framed in gold, with red grounds and an elaborate leafwork pattern in gold, on which are set a pair of shields which are slightly raised from the cover; the shields are painted with arms -on one cover is a shield with a black, red and white series of triangles with crosses, and a dark green shield with the word "Libertas"; on the other cover is a black and white striped shield with alternating horseshoes and stars, and a shield half green and half white, with a large black eagle or falcon; the remainder of the background outside the semicircles and inside the outer borders is deep green with an elaborate pattern of swirling leaves in gold; the overall condition is quite good, with possibly a spot of inpainting here and there, and a few small chips on one shield. The whole is mounted on a velvet background and framed. [22163] $3000.00
Kaye, Myrna. Fake, Fraud or Genuine? Identifying Authentic American Antique Furniture. Boston; Little, Brown:1987. One of the best studies ever written on this subject. 9"x11", 214 pages, b&w illustrations, dj. [22294] $35.00
Klein, Alexander (ed.). The Double Dealers. Adventures in Grand Deception. Philadelphia; J.B. Lippincott Company:1958. An anthology of swindlers, fakers, cheaters and con artists. 5.5"x8.5", 381 pages, dj. [21430] $35.00
MacDougall, Curtis D. Hoaxes. New York; The Macmillan Company:1940. A serious and wide-ranging examination of hoaxes of all sorts. The first portion of the book is a probing and wide-ranging examination and analysis of the many reasons different types of hoaxes are believed; the second portion shows and analyzes exactly how different types of hoaxes are constructed in different fields such as science, government, religion, the arts, journalism, literature, etc. An important study which goes far beyond a simple recitation of dates and names. 6.5"x9.5", 336 pages, b&w illustrations. [22302] $50.00
Mallon, Thomas. Stolen Words. Forays into the Origins and Ravages of Plagiarism. New York; Ticknor & Fields:1989. An anecdotal relating of various literary plagiarisms from Charles Reade to the fight over Falcon Crest. 5.5"x8.5", 300 pages, dj. [22303] $35.00
Mannix, William Francis. Memoirs of Li Hung Chang. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company:1913. The supposed memoirs of a great Chinese Viceroy. However... a note penned on the endpaper says it best- "This book is "Faked" from start to finish and the publishers have since discovered the fact thro' the disclosures of Ralph D. Paine who was a filibuster with Mannix "in various situations round the world". It fooled the Orientalists of Cambridge Univ. to whom it was submitted and also John W. Foster the diplomat as indicated by the introduction..." 6"x9", 298 pages, frontispiece of Li with two British Lords. Some cover soil, etc. [27827] $50.00
Menen, Aubrey. Art & Money. An irreverent history. New York; McGraw Hill:1980. Art and money have always made for queer doings. 6"x8", 226 pages, dj. [22311] $30.00
Miscellaneous- a bit of this and that, not all very serious, consisting of-
Abel, Alan. The Confessions of a Hoaxer. The hilarious true story of America's Crown Prince of the Put-On... Macmillan:1970. Dj;
Allison, Dean & Bruce B. Henderson. Empire of Deceit. Inside the Biggest Sports and Bank Scandal in U.S. History. Doubleday:1985. The story of Harold Smith, a flashy sports promoter whose lies and manipulations resulted in the biggest computer-embezzlements in American history. Rubbed dj;
Costain, Thomas B. The Mississippi Bubble. The fantastic swindle that turned France upside down but lent magic to a new land beyond the sea. Random House:1955. A children's "Landmark" series book about the "boom"/swindle in early 18th century New Orleans real estate that fleeced Paris shareholders out of everything. dj;
Drummond, A.M. & Robert E. Gard. The Cardiff Giant. With- The Cardiff Giant: A Chapter in the History of Human Folly, 1869-1870 by Andrew D. White. Ithica; Cornell University Press:1949. A play based on the hoax, with an historical note by White. Dj;
Hamilton, Ian. No Stone Unturned. The Story of the Stone of Destiny. Funk & Wagnalls:1952. "The chief culprit of the most unbelievable, outrageous prank of modern times confesses how and why he stole a block of sacred sandstone from under England's hallowed Coronation Chair and set a whole country by the ears." Dj;
Kallet, Arthur. Counterfeit -not your money, but what it buys. New York; The Vanguard Press:1935, 4th printing. Misleading and deceptive advertising, consumer fraud by manufacturers and retailers, etc. Ex-library, somewhat worn and soiled. The six books- [27951] $60.00
[end Miscellaneous]
NE'ER DO-WELLS. A small collection of books-
Abagnale, Frank W. Jr. & Stan Redding. Catch Me if You Can. Grosset & Dunlap:1980. "The true story of Frank Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, alias Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo- for five years the world's most hunted forger, fraudulent check writer, impostor, and con man extraordinaire." Dj;
Barnum, P.T. Humbugs of the World. Elm Grove; The Hamilton Press:nd (1970s?). A facsimile of the 1865 book on hoaxes, quacks and humbugs. Softcover;
Carson, Gerald. The Roguish World of Doctor Brinkley. Rinehart:1960. "Dr. John R. Brinkley stood among the common tent-show medical quacks as an eagle among sparrows; he was the most fabulously successful twilight zone "doctor' that the U.S. ever saw." Dj;
Connell, Jon & Douglas Sutherland. Fraud. The Amazing Career of Dr. Savundra, the Biggest Business Swindler of the Twentieth Century. Stein & Day:1978. Soiled dj;
Hoyt, Edwin. Spectacular Rogue: Gaston P. Means. /emBobbs Merrill:1963. Means "fluent tongue and dimpled smile beguiled even the most sophisticated" even while he was being charged with forgery, theft, conspiracy, extortion and murder. He was the author of a highly dubious and muckraking book about the death of President Harding, based on conversations he said he had with people who had subsequently died; was a WWI double-agent for Britain and Germany; attempted to extort $100,000 from the Linderberghs in return for information on the kidnapping of their baby, and on and on and on. Dj;
Hynd, Alan. Professors of Perfidy. Barnes:1963. "A fascinating excursion into the annals of fraud, featuring such notables as John Ernest, Worrell Keely, Harry Reichenbach, William F. Miller, Painless Parker, and Stanley Clifford Weyman. Dj;
Miller, Nathan. The Founding Finaglers and other scoundrels in a Fascinating History of Corruption in America from Jamestown to Teapot Dome. New York; David McKay Company:1976. Dj;
Phelan, James. Scandals, Scamps and Scoundrels. The Case-book of an Investigative Reporter. Random House:1982. Clifford Irving, a California cure-all tonic, duplicate murder confessions, etc.;
Gibson, Walter S. (ed.). The Fine Art of Swindling. True Tales of Consumate Roguery. Grosset & Dunlap:1966. Confidence men and tricksters, from the tale of the Cardiff Giant to Charles Ponzi. Dj;
Klein, Alexander (ed.). The Double Dealers. Adventures in Grand Deception. Lippincott:1958. An anthology of swindlers, fakers, cheaters and con artists. Dj;
Mehling, Harold. The Scandalous Scamps. A Gallery of American Rogues. Holt:1959. Embezzlers, frauds, imposters, schemers and con-men. Soiled dj. The eleven books- [27952] $150.00
[end Ne'er Do Wells]
The Piltdown forgery. Two books-
Spencer, Frank. Piltdown. A Scientific Forgery. London; Oxford University Press:1990. 7"x10", 272 pages, b&w illustrations, dj;
Weiner, J.S. The Piltdown Forgery. London; Oxford University Press:1955. 5.5"x8.5", 214 pages, 9 b&w plates, errata slip, chipped dj. The pair- [27954] $35.00
[end Piltdown Forgery]
Nobili, Riccardo. The Gentle Art of Faking. A History of the Methods of Producing Imitations & Spurious Works of Art from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. London; Seeley Service & Co. Ltd.:1922. 6"x8", 318 pages, b&w plates; spine badly worn and rubbed, covers worn. [22322] $50.00
Osborn, Albert S. Questioned Documents. A Study of Questioned Documents with an Outline of Methods by Which the Facts May be Discovered and Shown. Rochester; The Lawyers Co-Operative Publishing Co.:1910. A detailed description of turn of the century methods for detecting forged handwriting, typewriting, and other forgeries. 7"x10", 501 pages, 202 illustrations including a color chart; hinges cracked. [22325] $200.00
Ossa, Mikko. Suomen postimerkkien vaarenteita. Forgeries of Finnish Postage Stamps. Hanko; Lauri Peltonen Ky:1977. Forgeries of both stamps and postmarks. With English summaries. 7.5"x10", 107 pages, b&w illustrations, rubbed dj. [22326] $40.00
(Ossian) Harvey, George. Ossian's Fingal; an Ancient Heroic Poem, in six books, Rendered into English Verse by George Harvey. London; A.J. Valpy:1814. 5.5"x8.5", xvi + 246 pages, sporadic light foxing, but nice wide margins.Bound in old quarter calf with raised bands and gilt spine chains; marbled boards; covers lightly worn, hinges worn a bit more; modern bookplate. [22327] $150.00
(Ossian) [Macpherson, James]. The Poems of Ossian, in the Original Gaelic, with a Literal Translation into Latin, by the late Robert Macfarlan. Together with a Dissertation on the Authenticity of the Poems, by Sir John Sinclair. London; printed by W. Bulmer and Co.:1807. 3 volumes. 7"x10.5", 278, 390, 576 pages, 1 engraved plate of "Ossianic Music" and a folding map; bound in contemporaneous full, gilt-stamped calf; covers worn, front board to Vol 1 and 3 detached; an old pencil note on an endpaper notes "large paper edition"; ex-institutional with bookplates. [22328] $225.00
(Ossian) Ossian und die Kunst um 1800. Munchen; Prestel Verlag:1974. Catalog to an exhibition at the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The discovery and publication in the late 18th century of the ancient Scottish poet Ossian and his epic, heroic verse by James MacPherson excited literary and artistic imaginations across Eu rope. This exhibition features artwork done to illustrate various editions of the poems, as well as works inspired by them. Too bad the poems themselves were a clever hoax... 9"x9.5", 143 pages, b&w and color illustrations, softcover. [27828] $65.00
PLUNDER. Three books-
Grant, Judith. A Pillage of Art. New York; Roy Publishers:1966. The plundering of art from ancient times. 6"x9", 224 pages, b&w plates, dj;
Meyer, Karl E. The Plundered Past. The story of the illegal international traffic in works of art. New York; Atheneum;1973. A study of the illegal trade in looted antiquities. 6"x9.5", 353 pages, b&w illustrations, worn dj;
Treue, Wilhelm. Art Plunder. The Fate of Works of Art in War and Unrest. New York; The John Day Company:1961. Historical tales of artistic plunder and booty. 6"x9", 264 pages, b&w illustrations, soiled dj. The three books- [27955] $50.00
[end Plunder]
Passeri, Fr. Giambattista. Lucernae Musei Passerii. Sumptibus Academiae Pisaurensis. Pisauri: 1739; 1743 & 1751. Giambattista Passeri, S.J., Abbate of Pesaro, was an enthusiastic 18th century collector of ancient Roman terra-cotta lamps, as well as a tireless author, antiquary, and promoter of his native city. Passeri eagerly bought a wide variety of unusual specimens from peddlers and "excavators" who soon learned to come to him first with anything really interesting, and assembled perhaps one of the greatest collections of ancient lamps ever made, with many unique and incredible examples. The gullible but enthusiastic cleric dreamed of establishing a classification system for ancient lamps based on his collection, and this dramatic three-volume catalog was the cornerstone of his efforts, but unfortunately... You see, the thing about terra-cotta is that it is very difficult to tell an old piece from a new piece which has been made to look old, especially if you are an overly credulous collector who thinks that he has stumbled onto a wide variety of new and unique forms. Scholars had always looked at the collection with some reserve, and by 1905 H.B. Walters, in his landmark study "History of Ancient Pottery. Greek, Etruscan and Roman", noted that "references to Passeri's work have been avoided, as it has been shown by Dr. Dressel that nearly all those published by him are false." What we are left with, however, is one of the most elaborate catalogs of fakes ever produced. As Otto Kurz (Fakes -A Handbook for Collectors and Students) says- "the Passeri Collection was one of the greatest assemblages of fakes ever brought together: every single one of the more ambitious pieces is false." This work is all the more interesting since most of the lamps were custom made with the intention of selling them to this one collector, who for decades constituted a market unto himself. There is some sort of distinction in that. 3 volumes, 10.5"x15", 92