The Great Shakespeare Fraud: The Strange, True Story of William-Henry Ireland - Hardcover

Pierce, Patricia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0750933933 ISBN 13: 9780750933933

Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

William-Henry Ireland, at only nineteen, perpetrated the greatest Shakespeare forgery ever attempted. In this true crime history, Patricia Pierce uncovers drama, pathos, scandal and ultimately tragedy, in a tale which began with a 'dull-witted' youth longing for his father's love and grew to involve a host of famous names from the playwright Sheridan to the Prince of Wales, Mrs. Siddons and James Boswell.

Brought up in late eighteenth-century London, William-Henry was the son of Samuel Ireland, a collector and dealer in engravings. Fed on a daily diet of Shakespeare - whom Samuel regarded as 'a divinity' - William-Henry fell upon a unique method for winning his father's love and approval - forgery. Beginning with a deed 'signed' by Shakespeare, William-Henry followed this with a rapid succession of poems, letters and even an entirely new play, Vortigern. His success was phenomenal. James Boswell knelt to kiss 'the relics of Shakespeare', eminent clergyman Dr. Joseph Warton proclaimed 'Shakespeare's Profession of Faith' to be better than anything in either the church service or the litany, and Sheridan agreed to stage Vortigern.

Yet the play marked the beginning of the end for the great Shakespeare forger. Staged two days after the expert Edmond Malone irrefutably exposed the forgeries, the esteemed actors were greeted with hoots of derision during Vortigern's single performance.

About this title

About the Author:

Pat Pierce is the author of Old London Bridge which was Waterstones' Book of the month. She has also edited a series of anthologies and reviews for History Today and other magazines. A Canadian, Pat lives in Walton on Thames, Surrey.

About this edition

• Publisher: Sutton Pub Ltd
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0750933933
• ISBN 13: 9780750933933
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 273