William Henry Ireland’s Shakespeare forgeries

The Schøyen Collection comprises major works and rarities by Shakespeare and Goethe — as well as copies of notorious Shakespeare forgeries. Specialist Sophie Hopkins recounts the colourful story of an 18th-century literary scandal.
One of the most bizarre stories of the late 18th century is that of the celebrated forger William Henry Ireland (1775-1835), who, at the precocious age of 17, managed to con fashionable literary London into accepting bogus papers and signatures as having been written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

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