Forgeries, Facsimiles & Sophisticated Copies (Online)

Course Description

This course offers an introduction to the technologies historically and currently used to produce typographical forgeries and facsimiles, as well as tools for their detection. It is designed for individuals already familiar with the hand-press book, but who would like to develop their sense of the changes—especially those done to deceive—which have been wrought upon books over the course of their lives.

Drawing from the RBS teaching collections and other materials, students will examine the various means—typographical, photomechanical, handwritten, &c.—by which the effects of print have been imitated. Students will look for the signs that reveal evidence of tampering, repairing, disguising or forging, and think through the ways these processes might be made reliably to show themselves. Every aspect of the material book, from paper to bindings, will be considered in order to develop methodologies and sensibilities to detect non-original parts.

Of the facsimile, Carter says, “It figures frequently in the nightmares of collectors, causes booksellers more trouble than almost any other factor in their business, and has been known to upset the studious equanimity of librarians.” (“Facsimiles and Fakes,” ABC for Book Collectors). This course aims to help identify, if not eradicate, such bibliographical monsters.

Course G-65 is intended for collectors, librarians, booksellers, and academics. In their personal statements, applicants should delineate their particular interests relating to the topics covered in this course, and should describe their experience with and knowledge of hand-press books.

Faculty

Nick Wilding

Nick Wilding is Professor of History at Georgia State University, where he teaches early modern history, the history of science, and the history of the book. He is the author …

Advance Reading List

Preliminary Advices

Familiarity with the Gaskell and Carter readings will be expected; be sure to have read the McKitterick text and viewed the Werner video prior to the course. Have a look at the Schweidler reading and the case studies if possible.

General:

Gaskell, Philip. A New Introduction to Bibliography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972; corrected edition 1974; several subsequent reprintings with minor corrections; paperback edition published in 1995 by Oak Knoll Press.

Carter, John. ABC for Book Collectors. London, 1952; 9th edition by Nicolas Barker and Simran Thadani. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2016.

McKitterick, David. Old Books, New Technologies: The Representation, Conservation and Transformation of Books since 1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Paper:

Schweidler, Max. The Restoration of Engravings, Drawings, Books, and Other Works on Paper. Translated and edited by Roy Perkinson. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 2006. Read especially the appendix (pp. 219–279).

Facsimiles:

Werner, Sarah. “Early Digital Facsimiles.” Pforzheimer Lecture, Harry Ransom Center (23 February 2018). Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/g3XXRpO7bBg.

Case Studies:

Barker, Nicolas. “A Scandal in America.” In Form and Meaning in the History of the Book, 332–353. London: British Library, 2003.

Carter, John and Graham Pollard. An Enquiry into The Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets. Second edition, edited by Nicolas Barker and John Collins. London & Berkeley: Scolar Press, 1983.

Taylor, Thomas W. Texfake. An Account of the Theft and Forgery of Early Texas Printed Documents. Austin: W. Thomas Taylor, 1991.

Wilding, Nick. “Forging the Moon.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 160:1 (March 2016): 37–72. Available online at live-amphil.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/2017-10/attachments/Wilding.pdf.

Course Evaluations

Course History