92 The Master Forger

The literary giants of the past have always been prey to clever forgers desiring wealth and borrowed fame. One of the most popular targets of forgers has been William Shakespeare. And probably the most successful of all Shakespeare forgers was an 18-year-old boy named William Henry Ireland.

Ireland, the son of a respected book dealer, perpetrated his hoax on the literary public in the late 18th century. The boy’s success rested on his astonishing skill both in imitating Shakespeare’s style and in producing documents with an appearance of age and authenticity.

Ireland claimed that the works he forged were written by Shakespeare. He based his claim on a deed, supposedly signed by Shakespeare, in which the bard bequeathed certain of his books and papers to a William Henry Ireland, whom young Ireland claimed as an ancestor. His inheritance, the boy revealed, consisted of letters by Shakespeare to his wife, two plays, and legal contracts and receipts signed by the playwright. Outstanding scholars, critics, and poets examined the “finds,” and, except for Edmund Malone, the leading Shakespearean expert of the day, all proclaimed them authentic. Richard Sheridan bought the play Vortigern and Rowena and produced its presentation cast at his Drury Lane theatre.

The play’s with a star helped Malone convince other skeptics of the hoax, and Ireland finally confessed. However, Ireland had the last laugh. The controversy created a market for his phony Shakespearean works, and Ireland seized the opportunity and did a brisk and profitable business making and selling imitations of his imitations.

92 顶级伪造者

过去的文学巨匠总是会被渴望财富和借名的聪明伪造者盯上。伪造者最热门的目标之一就是威廉·莎士比亚。而所有伪造莎士比亚作品的人中，最成功的或许是一个名叫威廉·亨利·爱尔兰的18岁男孩。

爱尔兰是一位受人尊敬的书商的儿子，他在18世纪末向文学界公众实施了他的骗局。这个男孩的成功源于他惊人的技艺：既能模仿莎士比亚的风格，又能制作出看起来年代久远、真实可信的文件。

爱尔兰声称他伪造的作品是莎士比亚写的。他的依据是一份据称由莎士比亚签署的契约，其中这位诗人将自己的某些书籍和文件遗赠给了威廉·亨利·爱尔兰——年轻的爱尔兰声称这是他的一位祖先。男孩透露，他继承的物品包括莎士比亚写给妻子的信件、两部戏剧，以及这位剧作家签署的法律合同和收据。杰出的学者、评论家和诗人都检查了这些“发现物”，除了当时顶尖的莎士比亚研究专家埃德蒙·马龙之外，所有人都宣称它们是真迹。理查德·谢里丹买下了《沃蒂根与罗伊娜》这部剧，并在他的德鲁里巷剧院安排了明星阵容进行演出。

这部剧的上演帮助马龙说服了其他对骗局持怀疑态度的人，爱尔兰最终认罪。不过，爱尔兰笑到了最后。这场争议为他伪造的莎士比亚作品创造了市场，他抓住机会，开始制作并销售自己仿制品的仿制品，生意兴隆且利润丰厚。