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Practice to Deceive



Dear ARCHIVES members,

An excellent new book on forgery entitled - "Practice to Deceive: The
Amazing Stories of Literary Forgery's Most Notorious Practitioners" by
Joseph Rosenblum is being published by Oak Knoll Press, a scholarly publisher.
This work is a fascinating account of some of the most famous scoundrels in
the history of Western Literature. Each story not only enlightens the reader
about the cunning, skill and techniques of the chosen forgers, but explores
their personalities and varied motives.

Here is the Press Release:

                                   PRACTICE TO DECEIVE
The Amazing Stories of Literary Forgery's Most Notorious Practitioners
                                      by Joseph Rosenblum


"Practice to Deceive" offers a unique window into the forger's shadowy
world. Each story enlightens the reader about the cunning, skill and
techniques of the chosen forgers, as well as explores their personalities
and varied motives.

   The reader will find many motives in these stories. For most forgers, it
was simply a quick way to easy money, with the added benefits of momentary
fame, admiration or status among peers. However, with some of these fallen
gentlemen, more subtle motives lurk just below the surface. The more
discerning reader will find some of the sinister forgeries of Mark Hofmann
were designed to attack the very foundations of the Mormon Church. Did
religious demagoguery have some part in Hofmann's deadly crimes? And what
was really behind the motive of the eighteen-year old William Henry Ireland
who found a "lost" Shakespearean play and pulled off one of the greatest
hoaxes in British theatrical history.
   It's probably the sheer audacity of these literary rouges and the
gullibility of so-called "experts" and collectors that is most interesting.
As in the medieval passion plays and American Western dramas, truth and
reason ultimately win out. Most of our colorful villains are discovered and
exposed when they meet their match among literature's great defenders.
Usually through their technical carelessness, disdain for credibility, or
their vanity, they seemed to plant the seeds of their own exposure.

   In this intriguing work,  Professor Rosenblum gives his readers a
profound look into the ingenious, if not a bit melodramatic world of the
literary forger, and captures all the frailties of the human condition with
humor, suspense and well-written prose.

2000, hardcover, 6" x 9", illustrated, 370 pages
ISBN 1-58456-010-X / Order No. 57365-EM / Price $39.95
Publication Date: March 2000

Available from:
Oak Knoll Press, 310 Delaware Street, New Castle DE 19720 USA
Phone: (302) 328-7232 / Toll-free 1-800-996-2556 / Fax: (302) 328-7274
Email: oakknoll@oakknoll.com / Web: www.oakknoll.com
Michael Guessford
Publicity & Marketing Director
__________________________________________________________________
Oak Knoll Books (ABAA and ILAB) / Oak Knoll Press / St. Paul's Bibliographies
310 Delaware Street / New Castle DE 19720
Phone (302) 328-7232 / Toll-free 1-800-996-2556 / Fax (302) 328-7274
Email: oakknoll@oakknoll.com / Web: http://www.oakknoll.com

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