Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictitious Authors

1

The Castle of Otranto

by Horace Walpole

4,346 members

143 reviews

3.1

2 Members: spiphany, rgashby
Explanations: spiphany: Originally published under a pseudonym and claiming to be a translation from the Italian. "Found manuscript" genre.

2

Codex Seraphinianus

by Luigi Serafini

934 members

35 reviews

½ 4.6

2 Members: emydid, spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: An illustrated encyclopedia written in a nonsense script (i.e., a non-text pretending to be a text). A literary/artistic experiment, not a hoax, though drawing inspiration from the undeciphered Voynich manuscript (which has been suspected of being a forgery).

3

Story of O

by Pauline Réage

3,982 members

88 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: This woman knew how to keep a secret. (Cf Ingeborg Day.)

4

The History of the Kings of Britain

by Geoffrey of Monmouth

3,096 members

24 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: 11th century Latin chronicle supposedly based on ancient British sources. Highly influential into the 16th century, but now considered to be more fabulation than history.

5

Either/Or: A Fragment of Life

by Søren Kierkegaard

2,300 members

17 reviews

3.9

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Et al. This one written by Victor Eremita. Cf Pessoa.

6

Persian Letters

by Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu

1,992 members

20 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany

7

His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae

by Graeme Macrae Burnet

1,873 members

96 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Written in the style of a "true crime" novel but made up of fictional historical documents. Not intended to deceive.

8

The Life before Us

by Romain Gary

1,677 members

44 reviews

4.1

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Emile Ajar won his second Prix Goncourt for this.

9

My Life as a Fake

by Peter Carey

1,620 members

37 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Novel about a literary hoax that takes on a life of its own. Inspired by the Ern Malley affair.

10

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

by B. Traven

1,132 members

25 reviews

4.1

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The real identity of the German-language writer behind the pseudonym still remains a matter of much debate and speculation.

11

Ali and Nino: A Love Story

by Kurban Said

1,050 members

50 reviews

3.8

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Author behind the pseudonym is still disputed; possibly Essad Bey/Lev Nussimbaum

12

Chatterton

by Peter Ackroyd

941 members

17 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Novel about Thomas Chatterton (see this list) and an exploration of fiction and authenticity more generally.

13

James Tiptree Jr: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

by Julie Phillips

792 members

38 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: spiphany

14

Death in Brittany

by Jean-Luc Bannalec

627 members

30 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The pseudonym was originally given a fictional biography as a French-German writer from Brest, but later revealed to be German publisher Jörg Bong.

15

The Diaries of Jane Somers

by Doris Lessing

540 members

11 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Published by Lessing under a pseudonym to make a point about how the acceptance of manuscripts and reception of publications is influenced by how famous the author is.

16

Knickerbocker's History of New York

by Washington Irving

499 members

4 reviews

3.2

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: As a publicity stunt prior to publication of the book, Irving spread false reports about the disappearance of the purported author of the book, Dutch historian Mr. Knickerbocker

17

The Ingredients of Love

by Nicolas Barreau

388 members

24 reviews

3.2

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The Frenchman Nicolas Barreau (along with the German translator Sophie Scherrer) may in fact be German author Daniele Thiele.

18

The Songs of Bilitis

by Pierre Louÿs

330 members

7 reviews

3.8

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Poems in the manner of Sappho, presented as translations from the ancient Greek.

19

The Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun

by Mariana Alcoforado

318 members

3 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany

20

The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau

by Graeme Macrae Burnet

313 members

20 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Purports to be a translation from the French

21

Fernando Pessoa & Co.: Selected Poems

by Fernando Pessoa

297 members

4 reviews

4.2

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Pessoa is famous for his use of various personas or "heteronyms". No intent to deceive in this case.

22

The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi

by Sir Richard Francis Burton

186 members

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Pseudotranslation by Arabist Richard Burton, purportedly of of a Persian poem by Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî

23

The City of Light

by Jacob d'Ancona

180 members

6 reviews

3.1

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The existence of the manuscript upon which Selbourne's translation is based has never been established, and seems likely to be a fiction.

24

The poems of Ossian

by James Macpherson

170 members

9 reviews

3.9

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Claimed to be translations of ancient Celtic epic poetry, but in fact largely MacPherson's own creation

25

Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms

by Carmela Ciuraru

159 members

6 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany

26

Nat Tate: An American Artist: 1928-1960

by William Boyd

154 members

32 reviews

3.1

Member: spiphany

27

The Facts of Winter

by Paul Poissel

146 members

4 reviews

3.9

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Pseudonym + convincing cod non-fiction

28

Panter, Tiger & Co.: Eine neue Auswahl aus seinen Schriften und Gedichten

by Kurt Tucholsky

138 members

1 review

½ 4.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Like many satirists, Tucholsky mostly published his writing under a variety of aliases, each of whom had their own distinct persona

29

Sarah Binks

by Paul G. Hiebert

134 members

4 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Biography of a poet who never existed

30

The Nightwatches of Bonaventura

by August Klingemann

126 members

2 reviews

4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The author behind "Bonaventura" was debated into the 1980s. Now generally accepted as being August Klingemann.

31

Geoffrey Hill's New and Collected Poems: 1952-1992

by Geoffrey Hill

125 members

½ 4.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Includes the "Songbook Of Sebastian Arrurruz", pseudotranslations of a fictitious Spanish poet.

32

A Hero's Daughter

by Andreï Makine

120 members

3 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Russian-born Makine originally had to pretend that his French manuscripts were translations because publishers refused to believe he had written them in French. Makine also later published several novels under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde, whose identity was only discovered in 2011.

33

The Ern Malley Affair

by Michael Heyward

117 members

2 reviews

4

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Companion volume to the collection of his poetry.

34

Forgers and Critics: Creativity and Duplicity in Western Scholarship

by Anthony Grafton

116 members

4.2

Member: spiphany

35

The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion

by Magdalen King-Hall

112 members

3 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany

36

Telling Tales: A History of Literary Hoaxes

by Melissa Katsoulis

108 members

6 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany

37

An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin

by Rohan Kriwaczek

98 members

2 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Presented as a work of musical history about a genre that never existed. According to the author the fiction was not intended as a hoax.

38

Biografi

by Lloyd Jones

90 members

3 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Attracted criticism for the way it blends factual travelogue and fiction

39

Marbot: A Biography

by Wolfgang Hildesheimer

85 members

1 review

3.8

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Biography of a fictional nineteenth-century British nobleman and art critic

40

Yankee Lawyer: The Autobiography of Ephraim Tutt

by Ephraim Tutt

84 members

5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Arthur Train, a lawyer, published numerous stories about legal cases by the fictional Ephraim Tutt; the publication of Tutt's "autobiography" caused much confusion about whether Tutt was in fact fictional.

41

Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers

by Ryan O'Neill

62 members

3 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: spiphany

42

I, Libertine

by Theodore Sturgeon

55 members

2 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: spiphany

43

La vie sexuelle d'emmanuel kant (French Edition)

by Jean-Baptiste Botul

53 members

1 review

3

Member: spiphany

44

Papa Hamlet

by Arno Holz

50 members

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Book by two German authors, originally published under the pseudonym Bjarne P. Holmsen as a translation from the Norwegian

45

Crimes of Writing: Problems in the Containment of Representation

by Susan Stewart

43 members

½ 4.5

Member: spiphany

46

The Letters of Wanda Tinasky

by Wanda Tinasky

43 members

1 review

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Persona used for a number of reader letters sent to two California newspapers in the 1980s. Real identity was likely the poet Tom Hawkins.

47

Practice to Deceive: The Incredible Story of Literary Forgery's Most Notorious Practitioners

by Joseph Rosenblum

38 members

½ 4.5

Member: spiphany

48

On the Choice of a Mistress & Other Satires & Hoaxes

by Benjamin Franklin

38 members

3.8

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Franklin had a number of pseudonymous personas which he used when publishing satirical commentary.

49

The history of a hoax : Edmund Lester Pearson, John Cotton Dana, and The old librarian's almanack

by Wayne A. Wiegand

35 members

2 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: spiphany

50

Faking Literature

by K. K. Ruthven

34 members

3.8

Member: spiphany

51

Collected Poems

by Michael Donaghy

31 members

1 review

4

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Includes "Seven Poems from the Welsh" attributed to the fictional poet Sion ap Brydydd.

52

The Rowley Poems

by Thomas Chatterton

30 members

1 review

Member: spiphany

53

Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction

by Mario Bellatin

29 members

½ 3.6

Member: spiphany

54

The darkening ecliptic

by Ern Malley

24 members

2 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: spiphany

55

The Balloon Hoax

by Edgar Allan Poe

24 members

3.2

Member: spiphany

56

The Sin Eater and The Washer of the Ford and Other Legendary Mortalities

by Fiona Macleod

21 members

½ 4.3

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: William Sharp went so far as to enlist his sister to assist him in maintaining the ruse of Fiona MacLeod being a real person.

57

Los Poemas de Sidney West (Spanish Edition)

by Juan Gelman

21 members

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany

58

Katerina Brac

by Christopher Reid

20 members

2.8

Member: spiphany

59

Deliquescences of Adoré Floupette

by Henri Beauclair

16 members

1 review

3.8

Member: spiphany

60

A Digit of the Moon

by F. W. Bain

15 members

5

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Not a story from Sanskrit despite some critics of the time believing it was.

61

Ananios of Kleitor

by George Economou

14 members

1 review

½ 4.3

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: I've read more than one review treating this as a work of non-fiction.

62

Jilted city

by Patrick McGuinness

13 members

½ 4.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Includes a number of ostensible translations of the Romanian poet Liviu Campanu, alongside original poems and translations of actually existing poets.

63

The Oera Linda Book

by J.G. Ottema

13 members

1 review

4

Member: spiphany

64

Arioflotga

by Frank Kuppner

12 members

3.2

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: a poetic index, a false history of its MS

65

Spectra : a book of poetic experiments

by Emanuel Morgan

11 members

4

Member: spiphany

66

Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity

by Christopher L. Miller

8 members

5

Member: spiphany

67

The love poems of Marichiko

by Marichiko

8 members

5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Pseudotranslation by American poet and translator Kenneth Rexroth pretending to be a young Japanese woman.

68

The Algerine Spy in Pennsylvania

by Peter Markoe

8 members

1 review

4

Member: spiphany

69

Das Kleine Lexikon der Provinzliteratur

by Pedro Lenz

8 members

4

Member: spiphany

70

The Wisdom of Uncle Kasimir

by Gabi Czerniak

7 members

½ 3.5

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: I've seen this too reviewed as non-fiction.

71

Trojan War: The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian

by R. M. Frazer

7 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Two two frauds or fictions from antiquity, both purportedly written by survivors of the Trojan War.

72

The pleasant and surprizing adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his fifteen years captivity on the island of ...

by Robert Drury

7 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: 18th century account by a shipwrecked sailor in Madagascar, later believed to be a fiction (possibly by Defoe), but may in fact be genuine.

73

Walladmor

by Willibald Alexis

6 members

½ 3.5

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The young author presented his novel as a German translation of a book by his idol, Walter Scott.

74

The voyages of the Venetian brothers, Nicolò & Antonio Zeno, to the northern seas, in the XIVth century, comprising the

by Richard Henry Major

6 members

3

Member: spiphany

75

The Bowmen

by Arthur Machen

6 members

3

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: In a way, the inverse of the others: the story was straightforwardly fiction but the public turned it into a hoax after the fact.

76

Echo's Grove: Collected translations

by Derek Mahon

6 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Collection of translations and adaptations of various poets, including poems by the fictional Indian poet Gopal Singh.

77

Vortigern, an historical tragedy in five acts represented at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Henry the Second.

by William Henry Ireland

6 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: "Lost Shakespeare" manuscripts forged by Ireland in the 18th century

78

Land of the Snow Men

by George Belden

6 members

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: pseudonym + convincing cod non-fiction--good review here: http://cafeirreal.alicewhittenburg.com/review6.htm

79

Saracen Island: The Poems of Andreas Karavis

by David Solway

6 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Supported by various people who were aware of or had recognized the pretense but spontaneously decided to play along, including a dentist who posed as Karavis for the press. The author has published several additional pseudotranslations by other personas.

80

The Elegies of Quintilius

by Peter Russell

5 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The Roman poet "Quintilius" is an invention of Russell

81

The Poems of Renata Ferreira

by Frank X. Gaspar

5 members

Member: spiphany

82

Сочинения Козьмы Пруткова

by Kozma Prutkov

5 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Collective pseudonym invented by four 19th-century Russian satirical poets

83

Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway song: with historical and traditional notices relative to the manners and customs of the peasantry

by Robert Hartley Cromek

4 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Collection of "old Scottish ballads" which were mostly original creations of a contemporary poet, Allan Cunningham. Cromek may or may not have been aware of the poems' real origins.

84

Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity

by Alan Sokal

3 members

4

Member: bluepiano
Explanations: bluepiano: Why didn't this occur to me straight away? Notorious hoax.

85

The epistles of Phalaris : translated from the Greek : to which are added, some select epistles of the most eminent Greek writers

by Pseudo-Phalaris

3 members

½ 2.5

Member: spiphany

86

Aléas Ich

by Aléa Torik

3 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: The discovery that the biography of "Aléa Torik" was a fiction caused a stir in the German blogosphere and media (the name might have been a clue...)

87

Der Sturm

by Per Johansson

3 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: A "Swedish" crime novel written by two German authors with the help of a fictional translator

88

Examen de la obra de Herbert Quain

by Jorge Luis Borges

2 members

2

Member: spiphany

89

Feodor Vladimir Larrovitch; an appreciation of his life and work

by William George Jordan

2 members

Member: spiphany

90

Winter in Tirane: The Stories of Jiri Kajane

by Jiri Kajane

2 members

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Not an "Albanian writer" at all, it turns out.

91

La Guzla [i.e. Prosper Mérimée], ou, Choix de poésies illyriques : recueilles dans la Dalmatie, la Bosnie, la Croatie et l'Herzegowine

by Prosper Mérimée

1 member

Member: spiphany

92

La chasse spirituelle d'Arthur Rimbaud les illuminations

by Daniel Verstraete

1 member

Member: spiphany

93

Georges Zuk: Selected Verse

by Georges Zuk

1 member

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: British-Canadian author Robin Skelton writing as a French surrealist poet.

94

An den Mauern des Paradieses

by Martin Schneitewind

1 member

Member: spiphany
Explanations: spiphany: Speculations abound as to whether Schneitewind ever existed or is an invention of the manuscript's "discoverers", Köhlmeier and Schrott (the latter seems most likely).

95