Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction, and the Drama, Vol. 2: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's HandbookBrewer, Ebenezer Cobham
General
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction, and the Drama, Vol. 2: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook
Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
Allusions; Fiction -- Dictionaries; Literature -- Dictionaries
3. IRELAND (_Samuel William Henry_), published, in 1796, a series of
papers which he affirmed to be by Shakespeare, together with the tragedy
of _Lear_ and a part of _Hamlet_. Dr. Parr, Dr. Valpy, James Boswell,
Herbert Croft, and Pye, the laureate, signed a document certifying their
convictions that the collection was genuine; but Ireland subsequently
confessed the forgery. He also wrote a play entitled _Vortigern and
Rowena_, which he asserted was by Shakespeare; but Malone exposed the
imposition.
4. LAUDER (_William_), published, in 1751, false quotations from
Masenius, a Jesuit of Cologne, Taubman, a German, Staphorstius, a
learned Dutchman, and others, to “prove Milton a gross plagiarist.” Dr.
Douglas demonstrated that the citations were incorrect, and that often
several lines had been foisted in to make the parallels. Lauder
confessed the fact afterwards (1754).
5. MENTZ, who lived in the ninth century, published fifty-nine
decretals, which he ascribed to Isadore of Seville, who died in the
sixth century. The object of these letters was either to exalt the
papacy, or to enforce some law assuming such exaltation. Among them is
the decretal of St. Fabian, instituting the rite of the chrism, with the
decretals of St. Anaclētus, St. Alexander, St. Athanasius, and so on.
They have all been proved to be barefaced forgeries.
6. PEREIRA (_Colonel_), a Portuguese, professed to have discovered in
the convent of St. Maria de Merinhâo, nine books of Sanchoni´athon,
which he published in 1837. It was found that the paper of the MS. bore
the water-mark of the Osnabrück paper-mills.
7. PSALMANAZAR (_George_), who pretended to be a Japanese, published, in
1705, an _Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, an Island
belonging to the Empire of Japan_. He was an Englishman, born in London,
name unknown (died 1763).
8. SMITH (_Joseph_), professed that his _Book of Mormon_, published in
1830, was a direct revelation to him by the angel Mormon; but it was
really the work of a Rev. Solomon Spalding. Smith was murdered in
Carthage jail in 1844.
9. SURTEES (_Robert_), sent Sir Walter Scott several ballads, which were
inserted in good faith in the _Border Minstrelsy_, but were in fact
forgeries. For example, a ballad on _A Feud between the Ridleys and the
Featherstones_, said to be taken down from the mouth of an old woman on
Alston Moor (1806); _Lord Ewrie_, said to be taken down from the mouth
of Rosa Smith of Bishop Middleham, æt. 91 (1807); and _Barthram’s Dirge_
(1809).
The _Korân_ was said by Mahomet to be revealed to him by the angel
Gabriel, but it was in reality the work of a Persian Jew, a Jacobite and
a Nestorian. The detached parts of the _Korân_ were collected into a
volume by Abû Bekr in 634. Mahomet died in 632.
=Improvisators.=
ACCOLTI (_Bernardo_), of Arezzo, called the _Unico Areti´no_
(1465-1535).
AQUILANO (_Serafino_), born at Aquila (1466-1500).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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