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Frank W. Tober collection on literary forgery
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Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Frank W. Tober (1919-1995) was a chemical engineer with a substantial personal interest in the study of literary forgery.
Frank W. Tober was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1919. As a youth, he was an avid reader who enjoyed history and literature, but he was particularly interested in the sciences. Following his graduation from high school in 1937, he enrolled at Michigan Technological University where he earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1941. He subsequently received a master's degree in chemical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1941 and a doctorate in physical chemistry from Yale University in 1948. Tober went on to have a long, successful career with the DuPont Company.
Dr. Tober maintained a wide range of book collecting interests, including the history of printing and publishing, the history of papermaking and the manufacture of paper, the era of Napoleon and the French Revolution, and contemporary fine printing and book arts. However, the cornerstone of Dr. Tober's personal library was his collection on literary forgery, which includes examples of forgeries from all periods.
Dr. Tober bequeathed his collection to the University of Delaware Library following his death on June 24, 1995. The Frank W. Tober collection comprises nearly four thousand books and periodicals, hundreds of manuscripts and papers, and a variety of other materials, including artwork and ephemera.
The Frank W. Tober collection on literary forgery comprises letters, books, pamphlets, galley proofs, etchings, photogravures, journals and journal articles, newspaper clippings, auction and exhibition catalogs, and other ephemera related to literary forgery. While Tober collected specimens of a variety of manuscript and printed forgeries, he was most interested in the literary forgeries of Thomas J. Wise and H. Buxton Forman.
Series I. Thomas J. Wise and the Wise-Forman Forgeries comprises the vast majority of Tober's collection. Tober collected numerous examples of the forgeries published by Wise, which have been cataloged in the print collection of Special Collections. Tober also acquired many original letters by Thomas J. Wise and H. Buxton Forman, including correspondence with Frederick Britten Austin, E. H. Coleridge, Richard Curle, Edmund Gosse, A. Edward Newton, John Payne, Gabriel Wells, and Gordon Wordsworth.
In addition to the original Wise-Forman material, Tober also amassed a comprehensive collection of letters, books, articles, auction and exhibition catalogs, and newspaper clippings about the discovery of Wise's involvement in the forgeries and its aftermath. He also obtained correspondence, notes, drafts, offprints, and publications related to authors who wrote about the Wise-Forman forgeries, including John Carter, John Collins, Wilfred Partington, Graham Pollard, Fannie Ratchford, William Todd, and Gabriel Wells. Tober even collected materials concerning other Wise collectors, such as Maurice Pariser, whose collection formed the basis for the 1967 exhibition,
Wise After the Event .Series II. Other Forgeries comprises individual specimens of forged manuscript documents acquired by Tober, including items purportedly by Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, Julia Ward Howe, Abraham Lincoln, John Milton, and Edgar Allan Poe. Also included is a Spanish forgery of an illuminated manuscript created circa 1910. Subseries II.A. focuses on American author and poet Frederic Prokosch and his so-called "Butterfly Books" forgeries. This subseries includes drafts and research for Tober's article about Prokosch, "A Local Forger," that appeared in the September 1989 newsletter of the Delaware Bibliophiles. Also included in this series are numerous articles, journals, and books Tober collected about literary forgery.
Series III. Miscellaneous letters and documents comprises a small group of apparently authentic materials collected by Tober that dates to the same period as his forgery collection. These include several letters related to Pre-Raphaelite artists, such as Edward Burne-Jones, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his brother William Rossetti; and also includes letters by art critic John Ruskin, Delaware senator and Civil War veteran H. A. "Colonel Henry" du Pont, May Morris (younger daughter of William Morris), and a letter on Cuala Press letterhead written by Elizabeth Yeats.
University of Delaware. Library.
Forging a Collection : The Frank W. Tober Collection on Literary Forgery : catalog of an exhibition, August 19, 1999-December 15, 1999 Newark, Del. : Special Collections, Hugh M. Morris Library, University of Delaware Library, 1999.- Boxes 1-4: Shelved in SPEC MSS record center cartons
- Box 5: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes
- Box 6: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (28 inches)
- Box 7: Shelved in SPEC MSS manuscript boxes (1 inch)
- Box 8: Shelved in SPEC MSS oversize boxes (18 inches)
Gift of Frank W. Tober estate, 1995.
Processed by Timothy D. Murray and Teresa K. Nevins, 2008-2009. Encoded by Teresa K. Nevins, October 2009. Updated by Dustin Frohlich, June 2014.
Several thousand titles from the Frank W. Tober collection are cataloged with imprints in Special Collections. These may be retrieved with a keyword search for "frank w tober" in DELCAT, the Library's online catalog.
People
- Tober, Frank W., 1919-1995
- Wise, Louise
- Wise, Thomas James, 1859-1937
- Forman, H. Buxton (Harry Buxton), 1842-1917
- Prokosch, Frederic, 1908-1989
- Fleck, Robert D., 1947-
- Todd, William B.
Organization
Subject
- Literary forgeries and mystifications
- Literary forgeries and mystifications--Exhibitions
- Literary forgeries and mystifications--Specimens
- Literary forgeries and mystifications--History--19th century
- Literary forgeries and mystifications--History--20th century
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2009 October 1
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce isrequired from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec
Collection Inventory
Comprises incoming and outgoing correspondence of Thomas J. Wise, including letters written on his behalf by Louise Wise, his wife, and a few letters authored by Louise. The letters originate from Hampstead unless otherwise noted, and the subseries is organized by individual correspondent.
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
Includes 2 letters with mailing envelopes, one from Wise per his wife, and one signed "Loie Wise."
Physical Description4 items
Three letters, including one from Wise per his wife and one from Louise Wise. A fourth letter is laid into Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57 todd420b. Also includes two pages from catalog describing books in Wise's collection that Austin wrote and inscribed, with autograph note by Wise on Austin poem.
Physical Description6 items
One letter from Aylward to Wise.
Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of letter. The original letter is tipped into vol. 3 of
The Browning Society's Papers . London: N. Trübner & Co., 1881-1891 (Spec. Coll. PR4229 .B76a). Physical Description2 items
Two letters written and signed by Louise Wise on behalf of her husband to the Philadelphia collector Moncure Biddle. The first letter is written five days after the publication of Carter and Pollard's
An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth-Century Pamphlets. Physical Description2 items
One letter from Binyon to an unknown recipient referencing Wise.
Physical Description1 items
Letter from Queen's Hotel, Hastings.
Physical Description1 item
Letter from Hampstead.
Physical Description1 item
Letter written on Shelley Society letterhead.
Physical Description1 item
Eleven letters (three per his wife) from Wise from Hampstead, the Queen's Hotel in Hastings, and Percival's Hotel, Worthing. Includes carbon copies of four letters from Chadwyck-Healey to Wise, correspondence between Chadwyck-Healey and the firm of Elkins Matthews, and corrected proof of the Byron section of
The Ashley Library with Wise's corrections.Three letters, including one from Wise per his wife.
Physical Description3 items
Three letters from Wise (two per his wife).
Physical Description3 items
Consists of one handwritten letter from Thomas Wise to E. H. Coleridge regarding the enclosed transcript of a letter from Wordsworth to Southey. The transcribed letter announces the death of Sara Hutchinson and mentions the death of Theodore Watts. Also included is a 1975 letter from Winfred A. Myers offering the Wise letter and transcript for sale.
Physical Description2 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
Consists of correspondence relating to the "Unpublished Letters of Byron," a collection of Major George Gordon de Luna Byron (alias de Gibler) forgeries originally edited by Henry Schultess-Young. Wise intended to include the letters in his Byron bibliography and insisted on their authenticity despite the skepticism of publishers Richard Bently and Sir John Murray. This folder includes galley proofs from Wise's
Bibiliography of Byron which include twenty pages of Wise's manuscript text, eleven letters written by Murray, and two letters and a postcard from Maurice Buxton Forman. Also included is a description by John Carter stating: "All the sets of galley proof except one carry Wise's notes, corrections, deletions and additions, many of them extensive and all of them illuminating; for it is possible to follow, in these successive sets of corrected proofs, the whole course of the protracted, three-cornered discussion on the status of the Schultess-Young volume which was being carried on between Wise, Sir John Murray, and Richard Bently."One letter to California bibliographer Myrtle A. Crummer regarding the publication of
An Enquiry.Two letters.
Physical Description2 items
Two letters (one is tipped into the presentation copy from Wise to Forman, Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57 Todd214a). A third letter dated 1916 establishes a clear link between Wise and Forman in their forgeries.
Physical Description3 items
One letter from Frederickson to Wise.
Physical Description1 item
One letter from Furnival to T. J. Wise.
Physical Description1 item
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
Thirty letters largely concerning the works of the Bronte family, on whom Hatfield was an authority.
Physical Description30 items
Five letters (one sent from Prince's Hotel, Brighton); also includes several prospectuses for Wise's publications.
Letter on The Shakespeare Head Bronte letterhead, with original mailing envelope.
Physical Description2 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
One postcard and three letters from Kingsland to Wise.
Physical Description4 items
Postcard and postal receipt.
Physical Description2 items
Letter per Louise Wise.
Physical Description1 item
Four letters, and an H. Rubeck, London postcard. Also includes Locock's handwritten queries to Wise, with Wise's autograph responses and a Wise stamped signature.
Physical Description6 items
Letter sent from Queen's Hotel, Hastings.
Physical Description1 item
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
One letter written on Shelley Society letterhead.
Physical Description1 item
Eleven letters and manuscript list of examples of forgeries in possession of Herbert E. Gorfin.
Physical Description12 items
Two letters from John Morgan to T. J. Wise.
Physical Description2 items
Two letters; includes photocopy of third letter, the original of which is mounted on free front endpaper of Newton's copy of
An Enquiry (Spec. Coll. Z1024 .C32x 1934 copy 2). Also includes Newton ephemera collected by Tober, with Tober's handwritten note cards and list. Physical Description13 items
One letter denouncing a forged copy Byron's
Euthanasia . Physical Description1 item
Six letters from Wise. Two letters from Louise Wise (one sent after Wise's funeral).
Physical Description8 items
One letter from Wise concerning Browning's essay on Shelley.
Physical Description8 items
Five letters, one from the Midland Hotel, Manchester.
Physical Description5 items
Thirteen letters, including three per Louise Wise sent from the Queen's Hotel, Hastings.
Physical Description13 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
Two letters, including letter sent from Royal Victoria Hotel.
Physical Description2 items
Four letters, three discussing a rare Shelley pamphlet.
Physical Description4 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
Four autograph letters discussing Wise's privately printed pamphlets, specifying prices to be charged, describing Swinburne's letters to John Nicol, thanking Thompson for a copy of Wordsworth's
Grace Darling , and alluding to Wrenn and Slater. Physical Description4 items
Three letters, including one per Louise Wise.
Physical Description3 items
One letter accompanied by a typed transcription.
Physical Description2 items
One letter sending a copy of the Shelley Society's latest publication,
The Masque of Anarchy , (not included). Wise expresses his desire to meet Algernon Charles Swinburne. Physical Description1 item
One letter sent from Hotel Metropole, Folkstone.
Physical Description1 item
Five letters from Wise, and four letters to "Saint-Gabriel" from Louise Wise, including letter about visit of Wilfred Partington to Louise.
Physical Description9 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
One letter from Wise. Also includes two additional letters to Wilkinson from others and a clipping, all related to Swinburne.
Physical Description4 items
Letter in which Wise gives short biography/resume; originally laid into a copy of
The Ashley Library inscribed by Wise to Dr. Williamson (Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57 todd420b copy 1). Physical Description1 item
Three letters to the grandson of William Wordsworth. Wise explains his discovery of an unpublished Wordsworth text.
Physical Description3 item
Includes letters to bookseller James Tregaskis, the editor of
The Times Literary Supplement , the Bodleian library, and two letters on Shakespeare Head Bronte letterhead to unnamed recipients. Also includes one letter originally laid into Spec. Coll. PR4231 .A3 1895, and another originally laid into Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57 todd52b. Physical Description13 items
Seven letters to Andrew Chatto, Thomas Hutchinson, Payne, [R.W.] Chapman, Argosy Book Stores, and Partridge. Also includes a photograph postcard of Thomas and Louise Wise.
Physical Description7 items
Collected correspondence to and from H. Buxton Forman, Wise's friend and co-conspirator in the forgery scandal.
Four letters from Joseph Knight and John C. Francis, editors of the
Athenaeum to Forman, one printed invitation and newspaper clippings, including obituaries for John Collins Francis and Joseph Knight.Three letters from British critic and author Arthur Compton-Rickett to Forman, two of the letters bear handwritten notes by Forman.
One letter from Forman. Includes photocopy of two brief biographical notes about Denham.
Physical Description1 item
An
Odd Volumes Sette printed invitation to Forman dated April 26, 1895 to attend a dinner meeting. Physical Description1 item
Fourteen letters to Forman, many with original mailing envelope.
Physical Description23 items
Original letter accompanied by Frank Tober's autograph transcription of the letter.
Physical Description2 items
Original letter and autograph manuscript poem, "Rondeau." Also includes Frank Tober's autograph transcription of the poem. "Rossetti" is probably William Michael Rossetti.
Physical Description3 items
One letter.
Physical Description1 item
One letter to Forman, accompanied by a newspaper clipping.
Physical Description2 items
One letter accompanied by Frank Tober's autograph transcript of the letter.
Physical Description2 items
One letter to Forman.
Physical Description1 item
Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other documents by Wise's contemporaries, as well as materials from those writing about Wise, Forman, and the forgery controversy.
Letter to Wise, accompanied by a copy of the auction catalog description and Frank Tober's autograph transcript of the letter with a brief biographical entry for Birrell taped to the reverse.
Physical Description4 items
Two letters from Curle to Alfred L. Rose of New York, and an autograph note from Wise on fragment of a letter from Richard Curle.
Physical Description3 items
One letter to Wise, and a typescript note from previous owner of letter
Physical Description2 items
Two letters to Hart, one from Daniel Berkeley Updike and the other from George Parker Winship, about Carter and Pollard's recently-published exposé. The letters were originally laid into a copy of
An Enquiry , suggesting that Hart sent both men copies of the book. Includes several newspaper clippings about the forgeries, all from 1934.One carbon-copy typescript letter to "My very dear old Freddy," possibly Frederick Page. Includes a dealer's description, and a letter from Nicolas Barker to Robert Fleck regarding the attribution to Kernahan.
Physical Description3 items
Letter to C.E. Brumwell.
Physical Description1
Includes correspondence, drafts of letters, clippings, and other materials related to the
Times Literary Supplement review of Partington's book, Thomas J. Wise in the Original Cloth , along with the subsequent exchange of letters published in TLS. Correspondents included Partington, Arthur Cook, A. Pryce Jones, and Arthur Kirkby. Also includes handlist of Partington items.Letter to William H. McCarthy, Library of the University of Texas, accompanied by mailing envelope and Christmas card inscribed to McCarthy.
Physical Description3 items
Two letters from Ratchford, including a mimeograph copy of Ratchford's letter to the editor of
Atlantic Monthly responding to an article by John Carter and a copy of that article. Also includes Ratchford's review of Partington's Thomas J. Wise in the Original Cloth Physical Description4 items
Includes letter and card from Partington to Alan Redway, two letters from Ernest to Alan Redway accompanied by draft letter to editor regarding George Redway's involvement in Swinburne blackmail scandal. Also includes two letters from John Carter to Alan Redway.
Physical Description10 items
Letters to Baron Ritchie of Dundee from John Carter and others, originally laid into Ritchie's copy of
The Gullible Papers . (Cataloged as Spec. Coll. Z1024 .J46x 1934). Physical Description7 items
Two typescript letters from Shorter on
The Sphere letterhead and two letters addressed to Shorter. Also includes newspaper clipping about Shorter's plan to give his collection to the British Museum. Physical Description5 items
One letter referring to Symons' unpublished work on Wise forgeries.
Physical Description1 item
Two letters concerning alleged collusion of Frank Taylor with Thomas Wise on purchase of Swinburne copyrights and manuscripts. Handwritten copy of letter to Frank Taylor accompanied letter to Mrs. Watts-Dunton.
Physical Description2 items
One letter to H. M. Schroeter with original mailing envelope.
Physical Description2 items
Seven letters, including a draft and revised letter from Frank Tober to John Collins, and a letter from P. Barrows of The Brick Row Print and Book Shop to Mrs. Henriette W. Roberts concerning Wise's edition of Spenser's
The Faerie Queene . Physical Description8 items
Frank Tober's handlists of Wise letters and auxiliary letters in his collection, including his handwritten transcriptions of the Wise letters. Also includes three spiral-bound stenographic notebooks with Tober's notes.
Articles and reviews about Thomas J. Wise and the Wise-Forman forgeries gathered by Frank Tober. These are arranged alphabetically by individual author.
"The Making of a Book Collector,"
Century 100 (July 1920): 319-326. Physical Description1 item
Photocopies of Barker's three-part article, "The New Enquiry: A Preview," that appeared in
The Book Collector (1982-1983). Also includes "A Scandal in America: The Forgeries of T. J. Wise and H. Buxton Forman," in Transactions of the XIVth Congress of the International Association of Bibliophiles . ed. Stephen Tabor, 1987, along with notice of Barker's 1980 lecture on this topic; and a photocopy of Chapter 2 (on Wise) from A Sequel to An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets by John Carter and Graham Pollard: The Forgeries of H. Buxton Forman and T. J. Wise Re-examined by Nicolas Barker and John Collins . London: Scolar Press; New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Books, 1992. Physical Description6 items
"The Peccancies of T. J. Wise, et al. Some Aftermaths of the Exposure,"
Columbia Library Columns 3 (May 1954): 12-28. Physical Description1 item
"T. J. Wise and Gordon Wordsworth,"
Bulletin of the New York Public Library 74 (November 1970): 577-586. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "Harry Buxton Forman and His Shelley Reprints,"
The Book Collector (Winter 1974). Physical Description1 item
"Wise and Ruskin I"
The Book Collector 18 (Spring 1969): 45-60. Physical Description1 item
"Wise and Ruskin II"
The Book Collector 18 (Summer 1969): 170-188. Physical Description1 item
"Wise and Ruskin III"
The Book Collector 18 (Autumn 1969): 318-339. Physical Description1 item
"The Firm of Charles Ottley, Landon & Co."
Nineteenth Century Fiction 4 (December 1949): 245. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of article and issue containing "Bertram Dobell and T. J. Wise,"
The Book Collector 19 (Autumn 1970): 348-355. Physical Description2 items
"The Wise-Shelley Letter,"
The Library 5 (5th ser., June 1950): 63-64. Physical Description1 item
"Thomas J. Wise: Aftermath,"
Gazette of the Grolier Club 26/27 (June/December 1977): 72-83. Physical Description1 item
Two copies of "The Proof that Forman Knew,"
The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas 2 (Fall 1946): 136-155. Physical Description2 items
Offprint of article, "William Michael Rossetti and the Wise-Forman Conspiracy,"
The Book Collector 36 (Spring 1987). Physical Description1 item
"Thomas J. Wise: Friend of Duke University Library,"
Library Notes 18 (July 1947): 3-15. Physical Description1 item
"The Carter and Pollard
Enquiry Fifty Years After," The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 78 (4th qtr. 1984): 447-460. Also includes a typescript and photocopy of the article. Physical Description3 items
1 item
"An Enquiry into
An Enquiry ," The Book Collector 16 (Summer 1967): 186-193. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "Type-Facsimiles,"
Modern Philology 44 (May 1947). Physical Description1 item
"When Forgery Becomes a Fine Art,"
Horizon 1 (March 1959): 105-109. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "The Story of a Lie: A Sequel to
A Sequel ," Review 7 (1985). Physical Description1 item
"Machinery of Detection,"
American Book Collector 16 (October 1965): 23-30. Physical Description1 item
"The Not-So-Gentle Art of Puffing: William G. Kingsland and Thomas J. Wise,"
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 62 (1st qtr. 1968): 25-37. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "The Not-So-Gentle Art of Puffing: William G. Kingsland and Thomas J. Wise,"
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 62 (1st qtr. 1968). Includes letter to Frank Tober from the author. Also includes offprint of article by Kendall and James T. Bratcher, "Two Further Footnotes to An Enquiry ," Texas Studies in Literature and Language 7 (Spring 1965) Physical Description3 items
"The Text of D. G. Rossetti's
Autumn Song ," The Book Collector 39 (Autumn 1990): 368-381. Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of typescript manuscript of "Thomas James Wise and the Trial Book Fallacy," 1992. Includes a letter from Scolar Press to Paul Wakeman at Oak Knoll Books.
Physical Description2 items
"Annals of Crime: the First Editions of T. J. Wise,"
The New Yorker 38 (10 November 1962): 168-205. Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of article, and one set of tearsheets of article.
Physical Description2 items
Article by unknown author, "A Note for Messrs. Carter and Pollard,"
The American Book Collector 6 (April 1935): 125-129. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of article and issue containing "T. J. Wise as Bibliographer,"
The Library , 5th ser., 24 (June 1969): 129-141. Physical Description2 items
Three copies of special Thomas J. Wise issue of the
Oak Knoll Messenger (August 1983). Physical Description3 items
Typed letter signed to John Carter with tearsheet of Parisier's review of
Thomas J. Wise: centenary studies (edited by William B. Todd) from The Manchester Review . Physical Description2 items
"Fannie Ratchford,"
The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas at Austin , n.s., 9 (circa 1976). Physical Description1 item
"The Wise Forgeries,"
Southwest Review 25 (1940): 363-377. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "Idylls of the Hearth: Wise's Forgery of
Enoch Arden ," Southwest Review 26 (Spring 1941); "Thomas J. Wise to John Henry Wrenn on Nineteenth-Century Bibliography," The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 36 (3rd qtr 1942): 215-228; "A Review of Reviews, Part I," The Library Chronicle 1 (Fall 1945): 3-32; "A Review of Reviews, Part II," The Library Chronicle 1 (Spring 1946): 21-55; and tearshet of Ratchford's review of Thomas J. Wise in the Original Cloth , which appeared in Southwest Review 33 (Summer 1948): 304-310. Physical Description5 items
"Living with Forgers,"
The University of Rochester Library Bulletin 32 (Winter 1979): 41-60. Physical Description1 item
"Living with Forgers,"
The University of Rochester Library Bulletin 32 (Winter 1979): 41-60. Physical Description1 item
"The Sheepfolds Matter,"
The Private Library , 2nd ser., 8 (Winter 1975): 154-163; and an offprint of "Note 191. A Unique Copy of The Runaway Slave ," The Book Collector 12 (Spring 1963). Physical Description2 items
"A Chapter in the Shelley Legend,"
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 38 (1944): 312-334. Physical Description1 item
"Cottle, Wise, and
Ms. Ashley 408 ," The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 68 (1974): 391-403. Physical Description1 item
Offprint and issue containing "The Nineteenth Century Forgeries,"
The Book Collector's Quarterly 15 (July-September 1934): 1-16; and tearsheets of "The Detection of a Bibliographical Forgery," an article from an unidentified periodical. Physical Description3 items
Two copies of "T. J. Wise at the Turnbull," an article from an unidentified periodical; and "
The Supplement : Thomas J. Wise: Centenary Studies," The Texas Quarterly 2 (Winter 1959), 129 pages with separate pagination; and reprint of "Swinburne Manuscripts at Texas," The Texas Quarterly 2 (Autumn 1959): 152-163. Physical Description4 items
"Some Wiseian Ascriptions in the Wrenn Catalogue,"
The Library 5th ser., 23 (June 1968): 96-107; offprint of "Review of The Ashley Library ," The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 67 (2nd qtr 1973): 203-205.; and "Unfamiliar Collections II: The Wrenn Library," The Library Chronicle of the University of Texas at Austin n.s. 8 (Fall 1974): 73-81. Physical Description3 items
"An International Episode [review of]
Letters of Thomas J. Wise to John Henry Wrenn ," The Nation (13 January 1945): 47-48. Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of chapter 10 on Wise from
This Solemn Mockery: The Art of Literary Forgery . London: Arlington Books, 1973. Physical Description1 item
"A New 'Curiosity of Literature': The Exploits of Thomas J. Wise,"
The New Yorker (23 December 1944): 54-58. Physical Description1 item
"The Compleat Collector,"
The Saturday Review 20 (30 September 1939): 18. Physical Description1 item
Includes "A Forgery Bombshell" by Anthony Powell published in
The Daily Telegraph , 1983 October 14; various forgery related correspondence and advertisements, particularly in regard to Carter and Pollard's Enquiry ; C. J. Hindle's 1934 receipt for Enquiry from Bernard Quaritch; and a copy of "The Wise Forgeries," published in The Southwest Review circa 1946. Physical Description10 items
Auction catalogs for individuals and books related to Thomas J. Wise and the Wise-Forman forgeries.
Includes original and partial photocopy of
English Literature Printed After 1700 and Associated Items . Also includes photocopy of book listed in catalog, Letters from John Ruskin to William Ward . London: Privately Printed, 1893, a two-volumes-in-one edited by Thomas Wise. Physical Description3 items
Includes catalogs of printed books for the sale of February 14-15, 1972 (Professor E. N. Da C. Andrade), and the sale of April 10, 1972 (Mrs. Madeleine Buxton Holmes).
Physical Description2 items
Includes catalog of printed books for the sale of June 26-27, 1972, that included property of Mrs. Madeleine Buxton Holmes.
Physical Description1 item
Includes catalogs of printed books for the sale of March 22-23, 1976 (Dr. A. N. L. Munby), and sale of April 5, 1976 (Dr. A. N. L. Munby).
Physical Description2 items
Includes catalog for sale of July 28-29, 1977, including property of Graham Pollard.
Physical Description1 item
Two copies of sales catalog for February 27, 1978, including property of T. A. Wise.
Physical Description2 items
Catalog of printed books for sale of July 3-4, 1978 (Graham Pollard).
Physical Description1 item
Correspondence sent to John Sullivan. Includes two letters from D. I. Colley and G. E. Haslam, curators of the exhibition; two handwritten letter from Maurice Pariser, along with reprint of article on Wise by Pariser inscribed to Sullivan ; and Autumn/Winter 1967 issue of
The Manchester Review containing Pariser's obituary. Physical Description6 items
Two proof copies of the catalog containing extensive note and revisions.
Physical Description2 items
Includes Frank Tober's copy of the catalog with his handwritten notes laid in, accompanied by a copy of the exhibition brochure. John Sullivan's copy of the deluxe edition of the catalog, inscribed to him by Maurice Pariser, was removed and cataloged (Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57x 1964 copy 3)
Physical Description2 items
Handwritten and typescript transcriptions of Thomas J. Wise letters to Edmund Gosse, prepared in conjunction with the exhibition. Also includes manuscript entries from the Ashley Library.
Physical Description37 pp.
Handwritten and typescript transcriptions of Thomas J. Wise letters to Edmund Gosse.
Physical Description82 pp.
Includes one letter to Pariser from W. D. Paden with original mailing envelope, accompanied by a reprint of Paden's 1965 article "Tennyson's
The Lover's Tale , R. H. Shepherd, and T. J. Wise," inscribed to Pariser. Also includes an offprint and original mailing envelope of "The Early Poems of George Crabbe and The Lady's Magazine ", inscribed to Pariser by Graham Pollard; and the 8th annual report of the Henry E. Huntington Library, 1934-1935, with note on Carter and Pollard An Enquiry and the library's holdings of Wise pamphlets. Physical Description6 items
Includes specially-bound copy of the invitation to the October 30, 1981 opening, and a bound collection of photographs of the installation with label text. A poster created for the exhibition was removed to oversize.
Physical Description3 items
Gabriel Wells was Wise's staunchest defender, publishing ,
The Carter-Pollard Disclosures , in 1934 to refute the accusations against Wise made by Carter and Pollard.Wells sent his pamphlet to many librarians, booksellers, collectors and other, receiving a variety of written responses from many of them, including Richard Curle, Estelle Doheny, Christian Gauss, Charles Heartman, Mitchell Kennerley, A. Edward Newton, Wilfred Partington, and Herbert Putnam. Also included is a 1926 issue of
The American Collector containing a profile of Gabriel Wells by Johan Carl Buettner. Physical Description54 letters
Two variant copies of the original publisher's prospectus with bookseller's stamps, and one broadside promotional flyer for Carter and Pollard,
An Enquire , all from 1934. Physical Description3 items
One letter from Carter and three letters from Pollard to Birbeck regarding typographical questions about
An Enquiry . Physical Description4 items
One letter from Carter regarding a recent catalog issued by Brimmell.
Physical Description1 item
Letter to Carter from John Murray, publisher of the book. Also includes letter from Adlai E. Stevenson accompanied by carbon copy of Carter's initial letter to Stevenson, and a letter to Carter from Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Physical Description4 items
Correspondence and other materials relating to a 1959 Grolier Club dinner. Includes three printed menus for the event.
Physical Description9 items
Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and editorial materials pertaining to the publication of Winston Churchill,
The Sinews of Peace (New York, 1965).Miscellaneous bibliographical information and correspondence between Carter and W. D. Paden concerning Paden's Tennyson research. Materials removed from Carter's copy of Thomas J. Wise,
A Bibliography of the Writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (London: [s.n.], 1908), cataloged as Spec. Coll. Z1024 .W57 todd407b.Four letters from Carter to Randall, including a copy of Carter's article, "Thomas J. Wise and His Forgeries," inscribed by author to Randall. Also includes three letters to Randall from other individuals, including Fannie Ratchford.
Physical Description8 items
Includes Carter's 1958 Christmas card to Swan with mailing envelope, and letter dated December 20, 1967, with mailing envelope
Physical Description4 items
Postcard and letter from Carter to Thomas.
Four letters exchanged by Carter and Weeks concerning Frederick Rolfe. Also includes newspaper clippings and Carter's typescript review of Cecil Woolf,
A Bibliography of Frederick Rolfe, Baron Corvo (1957), originally laid in Carter's copy of the book (cataloged as Spec. Coll. Z8756.7 .W6 1957).Correspondence, press releases, and other materials related to 1972 Edward Johnston exhibition. Includes materials related to other exhibits and the Society of Scribes and Illuminators.
Two invoices from Blackwell's (Oxford) and two letters with mailing envelopes from Carter.
Physical Description6 items
Typescript carbon copy of article with Carter's autograph pencil notation at top. Also includes letter from Douglas Leighton (The Leighton-Straker Bookbinding Company) dated March 16, 1939.
Physical Description2 items
Typescript carbon copy of Carter's review of Wilfred Partington's
Thomas J. Wise in the Original Cloth , written for the journal Books and Bookmen . Physical Description1 item
Includes "Thomas J. Wise,"
The Spectator (May 21, 1937): 954-955; tearsheets of "Thomas J. Wise and His Forgeries," Atlantic Monthly , 93-100, inscribed by Carter "PHM from JWC," from the reference library of Deval and Muir; and tearsheets of "Thomas J. Wise and His Forgeries," Auction 1 (1967): 2-3. Physical Description3 items
Article appeared in a special forgery issue of
The Sunday Times Magazine (London) , March 8, 1970, 38-44. The issue was removed to oversize. Physical Description1 item
Seven articles by Carter on the Wise forgeries. Includes two copies of a special issue of
AB Bookman's Weekly (January 22, 1968) devoted to the Pariser sale of Wiseiana. One offprint of article by Carter and Pollard, "T. J. Wise and H. Buxton Forman: Further Light on the 19th-Century Pamphlets," Times Literary Supplement June 1, 1946, inscribed by Carter to Carroll Wilson in June 1946, was removed to oversize. Physical Description7 items
Various newspaper clippings, including Carter's article, "Thomas J. Wise,"
The Spectator (May 21, 1937): 954-955.Printed invitation for lecture, "Thomas J. Wise: A Backward Glance," delivered at the Caxton Club on April 20, 1965, by Carter.
Physical Description1 item
Special issue (vol. 21, September-October 1932) devoted to "
The Times and its New Roman Type." Physical Description1 item
James Moran essay for special issue of
The Monotype Recorder (Vol. 43, no. 3, 1968). Includes copy of the issue and correspondence between Carter and Moran Physical Description7 items
October 1972 issue of
Books and Bookmen containing Carter's article. Physical Description1 item
Carter's copy of the August 1960 issue of
The Newberry Library Bulletin (vol. 5, no. 5) inscribed by James Wells. A photocopy typescript draft of the article containing corrections and annotations by Wells and Carter was removed to oversize. Physical Description2 items
Issue of
The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 48 (1954) containing Carter's article. Physical Description1 item
Carter's copy of offprint of article appearing in
Sonderabzug aus dem Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1938). Carter's handwritten notes appear in margins. Physical Description1 item
Correspondence between Collins and Frank Tober. Includes photocopies of some Wise-Forman materials and mailing envelopes. Also includes discussion of Tober's contribution to the new edition of
An Enquiry .Pages numbered in pencil
Physical Descriptionpp. 1-160
Pages numbered in pencil. Forty-three unnumbered photocopy illustrations follow the last numbered page.
Physical Descriptionpp. 161-321, plus 43 illustrations
Published by Oak Knoll Press and Scolar Press.
Physical Descriptionpp. I-xiii; 1-304
Published by Scolar Press and Ashgate Publishing Co.
Physical Descriptionpp. I-xxii; 1-96
pp. 97-234
Much of the material is from Todd's personal collection, and many of the articles, pamphlets, and other publications are inscribed to him by the various authors.
Includes correspondence between Todd and Tober on Wiseian matters, four letters from Todd to Robert Fleck, and a letter to James Jaffe about a Wise forgery .
Includes one issue of
Constable's Bibliographical List with price and critical reviews of Carter and Pollard's An Enquiry . Also includes issue no. 4 and no. 7 of volume 2 of The Guildhall Miscellany (October 1962 and September 1965), containing articles derived from Todd's handlist of Wise forgeries. Physical Description3 items
Includes offprints and reprints of articles and exhibition catalogs authored by Todd.
Physical Description13 items
Includes articles by Nicolas Barker, William H. Bond, Fredson T. Bowers, Herbert Davis, Philip Gaskell, Allen T. Hazen, James M. Osborn, and Jacob Zeitlin. Almost all of the articles and offprints are inscribed to Todd by the author.
Physical Description18 items
Includes articles by Anne Henry Ehrenpreis, Philip Gaskell, Lloyd Hibberd, Gordon N. Ray, and James E. Walsh. Also includes March-April 1981 issue of
ARAMCO World Magazine with a special section on "Arabic and the Art of Printing." A few of the articles are inscribed to Todd by the author. Physical Description13 items
Includes a section from Wise's
A Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of Algernon Charles Swinburne [London: Printed for Private Circulation, 1919], and a bound typescript with numerous manuscript additions that appears to be an early version of A Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of Walter Savage Landor , by Thomas J. Wise and Stephen Wheeler, also published in 1919. Physical Description2 items
Numerous newspaper clippings about Wise's Ashley Library, dated both before and after Wise's death. Includes notices and reviews of his published catalogs of the library, the British Museum's purchase of the Ashley Library from Wise's estate, and reactions after the discovery of his forgeries. Also includes a signed copy of John Carter's "How We Got Wise,"
The Sunday Times Magazine (London) March 8, 1970, pp. 38-44, with Carter's note "P.S. The BM has thrown away the Wise book cases." The Carter article was removed to oversize.Various reviews and discussions about Carter and Pollard's
An Enquiry , including T. A. J. Burnett's 1984 review of both the Carter-Pollard publication and A Sequel by Nicolas Barker and John Collins.Numerous reviews and printed letters debating the merits of Partington's conclusions in his book,
Thomas J. Wise in the Original Cloth .Includes a typescript list of letters and articles with dates, mostly from
The Times Literary Supplement .Numerous essays, reviews, and articles from a variety of sources concerning Thomas J. Wise, H. Buxton Forman, and their forgeries. Includes John Carter's 1937 obituary of Thomas J. Wise, and the 1975 obituary of John Carter.
Includes Tober's lists of publications on Wise with prices.
Includes Wise-related lecture notices, pamphlets, broadsides, and handwritten notes gathered by Tober.
A 1930 Norman James framed etching of Wise, numbered 5 of 35 and signed by the artist. Also included are two signed photogravures of Wise originally sent with a note to Uriah Maggs.
Materials collected by Frank Tober related to Prokosch's so-called "Butterfly Books" forgeries.
Includes correspondence with Norman Unger, John Carter (Sotheby's), Jocelyn Baines (Quaritch), and Lord John Kerr (Sotheby's). The letters from 1972 were written by Prokosch shortly after he was exposed as a forger, and contain details of his forgeries. Also included are photocopies of these items.
Includes a one-page manuscript, "Statement by F. P." with Prokosch's history of the Butterfly books and regrets for producing the forged pamphlets. One sheet contains textual corrections apparently in the hand of John Carter.
Includes three Sotheby catalogs for sales that included Prokosch's Butterfly Books.
Physical Description3 items
Includes two Sotheby catalogs for sales that included Prokosch's Butterly Books, and a 1990 Bloomsbury Book Auctions catalog containing books from Prokosch's library.
Physical Description3 items
Includes two photographs of Prokosch, one with his autograph note on its verso.
Physical Description2 photographs
Includes several handwritten and typescript drafts for Tober's article on Prokosch, "A Local Forger," for the Delaware Bibliophiles
Endpapers . Also includes two copies of the September 1989 issue containing the article.Includes copies of 1989 obituary for Prokosch, and various photocopies and notes relating to Prokosch and his forged pamphlets.
Includes correspondence and invoices related to Tober's acquisition of Prokosch items.
Comprises individual examples of forgeries including a Spanish forgery of an illuminated manuscript, correspondence and ephemera related to forgery, and correspondence by forgers and experts, all collected by Tober.
Includes examples of letter and manuscript forgeries of Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and Julia Ward Howe.
Materials related to two purported John Milton documents, including correspondence and facsimile documents.
Includes two forged Poe manuscripts with related correspondence regarding the authenticity (or lack thereof) of the documents.
Includes four newspaper facsimiles and related materials. The facsimiles of the
Ulster County Gazette (January 4, 1800), the Philadelphia Public Ledger (March 25, 1863), the Gazette of the United States (May 2, 1789), and The Pittsburgh Commercial (April 15, 1865), were removed to oversize.Material related to forgery of Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," including correspondence and a facsimile.
Letter from Ireland to Messrs. Vernon Hood.
Physical Description1 item
Two autograph designs for bookplates for Sarah Fairfaxe by Samuel Ireland. Both are dated by the artist.
Physical Description2 items
Autograph dated manuscript of Perrault's play about the poet and forger Thomas Chatterton, entitled "Chatterton mourant: drames en un acte et en vers."
Physical Description1 item
Single sheet printed in color on both sides by Charles Whiting, London. Appears to be a specimen of printing intended to prevent forgery. Accompanied by dealer's description.
Physical Description2 items
Publications on forgers and forgeries. These are listed alphabetically by author (when known) and title of article when not identified.
"Caveat Lector," excerpt from the newsletter of the Friends of the Milnor Library [1980]: 3-5.
Physical Description1 item
"The Great Swinburnian Hoax,"
The Bookman 36 (December 1912): 425-429. Physical Description1 item
"Forgery Texas Style,"
Texas Monthly 17 (March 1989): 104-109. Physical Description1 item
Offprint of "The Old Man at Work: Forgeries in the Stationers' Register,"
Shakespeare Quarterly 11 (Winter 1960): 39-48. Physical Description1 item
1 item
"Why All the Alarm About Forgeries?"
Autographs 1 (December 1936): 8-10. Physical Description1 item
Tearsheets of "A Five-Foot Shelf of Literary Forgeries,"
The Colophon n.s. 2 (n.d.): 550-567. Physical Description1 item
"Fakes and Forgeries," printed speech delivered at the Regular Meeting of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, dated October 9, 1946 .
Physical Description1 item
"When the Authenticity of an Item is in Doubt,"
AB Bookman's Weekly 83 (March 27, 1989): 1397-1403; also includes in same issue "Questioned Imprints--A Preliminary Report," pp. 1404-1407. Physical Description1 item
"George Psalmanazar. . . Literary Imposter,"
Books no. 346 (March-April 1963): 79-80. Physical Description1 item
"The Earl and the Thief: Lord Ashburnham and Count Libri,"
Harvard Library Bulletin 17 (January 1969): 5-21. Physical Description1 item
Special issue of
Yankee 53 (September 1989). Physical Description1 item
Issue no. 68 (July 1988) and no. 69 (September 1988) of newsletter contains articles on Mark Hofmann and Mormon forgeries.
Physical Description2 items
"Living with Forgers (The First Robert F. Metzdorf Memorial Lecture),"
The University of Rochester Library Bulletin 32 (Winter 1979): 41-60. Physical Description1 item
"Modern Printed Forgeries: Some Basic Sources,"
AB Bookman's Weekly 93 (March 28, 1994): 1333-1342. Physical Description1 item
Three reviews of books about the Mormon forgeries of Mark Hofmann in
The Book Source Monthly 4 (February 1989): 9-13. Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of typescript speech, "Abridged version of a talk given to the Friends of the University of Texas by W. Thomas Taylor, September, 1988." Includes handouts and bibliographic materials.
"Abraham Lincoln and the Bixby Letter,"
The Amateur Book Collector 6 (October 1955): 1-8.This series comprises a small group of authentic letters and documents collected by Tober, including several letters from members of the Pre-Raphaelites.
One undated letter to "My dear Mrs. Coronio"
Physical Description1 item
Letter to Alexis du Pont on Winterthur letterhead, accompanied by Tober's autograph transcription of letter.
Physical Description2 items
Undated letter to John Bruce, and undated letter to Robert Turner.
Physical Description2 items
Addressed to the Lord Mayor of London concerning the collection for the poor, accompanied by Tober's 1966 autograph transcription of the document.
Physical Description2 items
Postcard to Stanley Iveson.
Physical Description1 item
Three letters by Gosse, and a notecard with original mailing envelope.
Physical Description5 items
Includes one letter by Hunt, a letter to Tober from Bob Fiene of Wilder Books, and dealer information and invoice on the Hunt letter.
Physical Description5 items
One letter from Lefferts, accompanied by Tober's transcript of the letter and three print reproductions related to his Civil War military service, including two portraits of Lefferts. Also includes Tober's notes on sale of the Lefferts library.
One letter dated November 15, no year.
Physical Description1 item
Postcard to Miss H. Ernestine Ripley.
Physical Description1 item
Correspondence between Meynell and Charles Tubbs, including a typescript letter on The Nonesuch Press letterhead to Tubbs. Also includes clipping from the
Saturday Review of Literature dated December 4, 1926, of Louis Untermeyer's article about The Nonesuch Press. Physical Description6 items
One letter to Mrs. Jacks.
Physical Description1 item
One undated letter.
Physical Description1 item
Postcard to W. Kineton Parkes with dealer's note, and letter to Colles with dealer's description.
Physical Description4 items
Three letters from Ruskin, accompanied by portrait of Ruskin and dealer's descriptions.
Physical Description6 items
Letter to Mr. Skaggs dated June 29, 1835, accompanied by clipping of Upcott's obituary of September 23, 1845, and an 1836 lithographic portrait of Upcott. Tober's handwritten notes on Upcott also included.
Letter to "Otway Smithers" on Cuala Press stationery.
Physical Description1 item
Photocopy of corrected typescript. Includes photocopy of undated handwritten essay by Vladas Stanka.