Background
Although Shakespeare’s works were readily available in versions both for the learned and for the general public, no satisfactory biography could be constructed. In spite of an intensive search by would-be Shakespeare biographers from Nicholas Rowe to Edmond Malone, only scraps and legends turned up. There was an intense hope and expectation that some documents would surface to fill the gap.
Possibly no one felt this hope more keenly than Samuel Ireland. An eager collector of antique relics—his collection included a piece of Charles II’s cloak, Oliver Cromwell’s leather jacket, and Joseph Addison’s fruit knife—he was also a Shakespeare enthusiast. While gathering material for a forthcoming book, Picturesque Tours of the Upper, or Warwickshire Avon, he passed through Stratford on Avon, Shakespeare’s birthplace, by then already capitalizing on this claim to fame, and made inquiries about the life of the dramatist. Although he had the satisfaction of being the first to introduce Shakespeare’s crabtree and Anne Hathaway’s cottage to the general public, Shakespeare documents eluded him.
His son William Henry Ireland had a fascination with forgery. He was heavily influenced by the novel Love and Madness by Herbert Croft which contained lengthy passages on the forger Thomas Chatterton. William witnessed his father’s frustration first-hand. One moment, in particular, struck him forcibly. Knowing that the furniture and papers from New Place, Shakespeare’s last residence, had been moved to Clopton house when New Place was demolished, Samuel Ireland reasoned that Shakespearean manuscripts might well be found there. Upon visiting however, he was informed by the current tenant that all the old papers—many of them Shakespeare’s—had recently been burned. Samuel Ireland’s distress at this news made a strong impression on the young man—even though it later turned out that this story was a nothing more than a joke at Ireland’s expense. According to the younger Ireland’s confessions, it was to please his father that he embarked on the career of literary forgery that would ultimately ruin them both.
Read more about this topic: Ireland Shakespeare Forgeries
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