The Great Shakespearean Hoax

[Dave U. Random]

(NPR) - In the winter of 1795 a young, talented and cheeky man
named William-Henry Ireland signed the bottom of a tattered piece
of paper "Wm Shakespeare." It was the first of hundreds of notes,
poems and plays that Ireland forged and passed off as William
Shakespeare originals.

The world was so desperate to read more of the Bard's work that the
trick actually worked — for a time.

In "The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare - A Tale of Forgery and Folly
(Amazon: http://xrl.us/BoyShakespeare ), author Doug Stewart
recounts the rise, fall and daddy issues of William-Henry Ireland.

Stewart tells NPR's Guy Raz that William-Henry Ireland wanted to
impress his pompous, emotionally chilly father, Samuel Ireland. So,
knowing his father was a collector who more than anything wanted to
own something signed by Shakespeare, William-Henry Ireland brought
him his forgery — a deed he had written on an old piece of
parchment using watered-down ink to make it look old — which he
claimed to have found in the mansion of a wealthy friend.

After having a friend look at the deed and the particularly
convincing seal William-Henry Ireland had placed on it, Samuel
Ireland was convinced his son had given him a genuine Shakespeare
artifact...

Continued: http://sn.im/BoyShakespeare

[Melanie Sands]

Post by Dave U. Random
(NPR) - In the winter of 1795 a young, talented and cheeky man
named William-Henry Ireland signed the bottom of a tattered piece
of paper "Wm Shakespeare." It was the first of hundreds of notes,
poems and plays that Ireland forged and passed off as William
Shakespeare originals.
The world was so desperate to read more of the Bard's work that the
trick actually worked for a time.
In "The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare - A Tale of Forgery and Folly
(Amazon:http://xrl.us/BoyShakespeare), author Doug Stewart
recounts the rise, fall and daddy issues of William-Henry Ireland.
Stewart tells NPR's Guy Raz that William-Henry Ireland wanted to
impress his pompous, emotionally chilly father, Samuel Ireland. So,
knowing his father was a collector who more than anything wanted to
own something signed by Shakespeare, William-Henry Ireland brought
him his forgery a deed he had written on an old piece of
parchment using watered-down ink to make it look old which he
claimed to have found in the mansion of a wealthy friend.
After having a friend look at the deed and the particularly
convincing seal William-Henry Ireland had placed on it, Samuel
Ireland was convinced his son had given him a genuine Shakespeare
artifact...
Continued:http://sn.im/BoyShakespeare

William Henry Ireland was discussed a few times here,
like a year ago.

The trouble with forgers, they discredit all the real evidence and
the truth.
So in the end, nobody knows wot's wot.

And anti-Strats can abound like weeds with their concocted
rubbish.

Melanie

[Paul Crowley]

William Henry Ireland was discussed a few times here, like a
year ago.
The trouble with forgers, they discredit all the real evidence
and the truth. So in the end, nobody knows wot's wot.

Forgers are few to non-existent for
EVERY other author.

Why (yet again) is Shake-speare special?

Answer: there was no real evidence.
It all had to be made up.


Paul.

[Bob Grumman]

Post by Paul Crowley

William Henry Ireland was discussed a few times here, like a
year ago.
The trouble with forgers, they discredit all the real evidence
and the truth. So in the end, nobody knows wot's wot.

Forgers are few to non-existent for
EVERY other author.
Why (yet again) is Shake-speare special?
Answer:  there was no real evidence.
It all had to be made up.
Paul.

Paul, would that be the ONLY reason? Don't you
think it possible that another reason might be that
bardolatry caused people to want anything they
could get connected to their God, the same way
medieval Catholics salivated over the bones of their
saints.

What do you say about all the forgeries of paintings,
by the way?

We know very little about Marlowe. Why hasn't anyone
forged evidence for him? Where's the forged evidence
for Homer?

--Bob

[Dominic Hughes]

Post by Paul Crowley

William Henry Ireland was discussed a few times here, like a
year ago.
The trouble with forgers, they discredit all the real evidence
and the truth. So in the end, nobody knows wot's wot.

Forgers are few to non-existent for
EVERY other author.
Why (yet again) is Shake-speare special?
Answer:  there was no real evidence.
It all had to be made up.
Paul.

Crowley logic:

1. Some Shakespeare documents were forged by William Henry Ireland.
2. Therefore, all Shakespeare documents are forgeries.
3. Therefore, there is no real evidence.

Do you believe that William Henry Ireland was privy to THE SECRET
KNOWLEDGE and, in 1794-1796, was carrying on the work of the
conspiracy to hide the true author of the works? If he HAD to make up
evidence, as you say, what other reason could he possibly have for
doing so?

Dom

[Melanie Sands]

Post by Paul Crowley

William Henry Ireland was discussed a few times here, like a
year ago.
The trouble with forgers, they discredit all the real evidence
and the truth. So in the end, nobody knows wot's wot.

Forgers are few to non-existent for
EVERY other author.
Why (yet again) is Shake-speare special?
Answer:  there was no real evidence.
It all had to be made up.
Paul.

1.) How many forgers are there for Shakespeare?
2.) How many forgers are there for other authors?
3.) How many alternative authors have been suggested
for famous writers?
or rather
4.) How many famous writers are there who have NOT been
accused of
a) stealing some or all of their ideas/plot/lines from someone
else
b) serving as a front for another, true author
5.) How many authors are there whose original letters and/or
manuscripts
have been destroyed after their death?
6.) How many famous authors are out there about whom little or
nothing is known?

You're not seeing the big picture.
In the Lack-Of-Information-Department, Shakespeare is really not
special at all.

(For example, I've been trying to find out more about William Noel-
Hill,
3rd Lord Berwick, and why he did not marry at all - after breaking
off his brief engagement to pioneer traveller Lady Hester Stanhope,
he still failed to find a wife - as a politician, too!
It's like no-one knows or no-one will tell. And he died in 1841,
not 1616.)

I seem to recall someone forging Adolf Hitler's Diary.
Does this mean Hitler was NOT the Siegheil-SS guy,
and NOT the author of MEIN KAMPF?


Melanie