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Faked Editions

Faked Editions

<p>For forty years, Thomas James Wise made a fortune forging copies of books that had never existed, sometimes even convincing their authors they were the real deal. Despite a damning exposé by amateur detectives in the 1930s, Wise never confessed or faced legal repercussions, and his fakes have become collectors’ pieces in their own right. Gill Partington joins Tom to explain Wise’s success and final undoing, and to discuss the value of forgeries, hoaxes and reproductions as art.</p><br><p>Find further reading on the episode page: <a href="https://lrb.me/wisepod" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lrb.me/wisepod</a></p><p>Find out more about the Royal Literary Fund: <a href="https://rlf.org.uk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://rlf.org.uk</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The LRB Podcast · The London Review of Books

June 26, 202442m 55s

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Show Notes

For forty years, Thomas James Wise made a fortune forging copies of books that had never existed, sometimes even convincing their authors they were the real deal. Despite a damning exposé by amateur detectives in the 1930s, Wise never confessed or faced legal repercussions, and his fakes have become collectors’ pieces in their own right. Gill Partington joins Tom to explain Wise’s success and final undoing, and to discuss the value of forgeries, hoaxes and reproductions as art.


Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/wisepod

Find out more about the Royal Literary Fund: https://rlf.org.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.