Forger's Shadow by Nick Groom
Whilst defining the very meaning of forgery Nick Groom ranges effortlessly from the economic forgery of the eighteenth century, where the forgery of a £100 banknote could mean death by hanging, to the formation of literary copyright which was established not in order to protect the nation's authors but rather as a way of censoring them. At the centre of Groom's fascinating book are the figures of literary forgery that have haunted both our literature and our imaginations for years. There is Chatterton: the fatal model for the Romantic perceived as a mad, unrecognized, and suicidal genius but one whose supposedly tragic life was as much a myth as the fifteenth century monk he invented. Or there is Macpherson: constantly at war with Samuel Johnson who edited (or wrote, or indeed forged) the lost epics of a third-century Celtic bard; there is the forger William Henry Ireland who not only wrote two new and disastrous Shakespeare plays but also forged a legal document to make sure he benefited from the royalties; and finally there is the famous Wainewright who was a supreme forger in practically every sphere whose effect on literature from Dickens to Wilde to the present day cannot be underestimated.
Nick Groom took a double first in English at Oxford, worked unsuccessfully as a rock musician, wrote a doctoral thesis on eighteenth-century ballads, and since then has published widely on literature, music, and contemporary art. He lives on Dartmoor and in London, and spends his spare time drinking bitter in Devon pubs, and red wine in his Soho club.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780330374330 |
| ISBN 10 | 0330374338 |
| Title | Forger's Shadow |
| Author | Nick Groom |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Pan Macmillan |
| Year published | 2003-07-04 |
| Number of pages | 368 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |