William Henry Ireland:
Holograph List of his Shakespearian
(sic) Library, ca. 1805
RLIN ID No.
NYGG02-A32
Main Entry
Ireland,
W. H. (William Henry), 1777-1835, collector.
Title
Ireland’s
Shakespearian (sic) library : list of titles offered for sale, [1805?]
.
Physical Description
1 item (5 p.)
Historical/Biographical
Note
William Henry Ireland was the son of author and engraver
Samuel Ireland. Before he was twenty, he had written several works that he
claimed were newly discovered Shakespearean documents, including a play Vortigern and Rowena, which was produced
by Richard Brinsley Sheridan at his theater in Drury
Lane in March 1796. He also purchased about eighty
late 16th and early 17th century books and tracts in
which he forged Shakespeare’s autograph and made notes purportedly in
Shakespeare’s hand. The Shakespeare scholar Edward Malone challenged the
authenticity of these supposed works in his Inquiry
into the Authorship of Certain Miscellaneous Papers (1795), and in May 1796
Ireland admitted
to the forgeries in An Authentic Account
of the Shakespearian Manuscripts (1796) and again in his Confessions (1805).
Scope and Contents
Note
Holograph list of the late 16th and early 17th
century English books purchased by William Henry Ireland that he claimed had
once been owned by Shakespeare. This “Shakespearian (sic) library” was sold in
1805, the same year in which Ireland
published his Confessions. This list
of titles, which includes the critical work by Edward Malone, was copied from
volume 11 of the Monthly Mirror (London,
1805) and includes the names of purchasers and prices realized.
General Note
The first part of the title is taken from the holograph
manuscript; the second part was supplied by the cataloger.
Names
Ireland,
W. H. (William Henry), 1777-1835.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Books and reading.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Forgeries.
Subjects
Literary forgeries and mystifications. England.
18th century.
Location
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th
Street, New York, N.Y.
10022-1098.