Publication of The MSS
Samuel Ireland announced the publication of the papers on 4 March 1795, and the volume itself appeared in December of that year. William Henry had bitterly opposed this move, but his father was determined. Included were such items as the "Profession of Faith," the letter from Queen Elizabeth, and the manuscript of King Lear. Henry II, Vortigern, and the marginalia were excluded from this volume.
Shortly after the appearance of the book Samuel Ireland's neighbour, Albany Wallis, who had discovered one of the few authentic signatures of Shakespeare, came up with a new and startling discovery. He had turned up a genuine John Heminges signature, and of course it looked nothing like the signatures William Henry had produced. When the forger learned of this problem, however, he soon produced Heminges signatures that resembled the authentic one. It seems, William Henry explained, that there were two actors named John Heminges active at the time—hence the dissimilar signatures.
Read more about this topic: Ireland Shakespeare Forgeries
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