Great Forgers and Famous Fakes

This is a fun read that I often go back to on my bookshelf. Bottom line on this book: Read it, study it, know you stuff before you buy an autograph. I'm only giving it 4 stars because Charles Hamilton, who comes off like he knows it all, and only admits to one passing mistake in the entire book, was royally duped by Mark Hoffman, the famous Mormon forger.

I've always been interested in old documents and autographs, real or faked, so I probably would have gotten around to reading Charles Hamilton's book anyway. I'm surprised that I missed it back in 1980 when it first was published. However, I made a point of getting a copy last week because this work was mentioned in another book about literary forgery I was reading. That one, "The Poet and the Murderer" by Simon Worrall, is also worth reading. In his chapter on the history of forgery, Worrall mentions Hamilton's book and one of the many forgers described in it, Thomas McNamara, a New England poet and college teacher who was nabbed in 1977 for selling fake Robert Frost manuscripts. Well, I got a bad feeling in my stomach when I read that brief reference. Back in 1962-63, my college freshman English teacher was Thomas Edward Francis McNamara, who was brilliant in the classroom, and became my friend outside of it until he was let go by Rider College (now University) in New Jersey. MY Tom McNamara was a poet with a special interest in Robert Frost. He went back to New England in 1964 and I lost track of him, but I always wondered what became of him. I had to get the Hamilton book to find out if the felonious McNamara was my long-lost friend. Sadly, he is, or was, and is covered in Chapter 14 of Hamilton's book. His own poetry was published under his first three names, and I have a vanity press volume from 1961 he inscribed to me. According to Hamilton, my friend Tom was a fraud, who claimed a phony master's degree from Wayne State University to get college jobs, and who was indeed popular with students but seldom kept a job for long. He ended up entering a guilty plea in federal court in 1978 and was sentenced to a year in the federal pen, (which sounds like a pun when describing a forger.) How sad. I wonder what became of him after? I would like to know if he was an undiagnosed bi-polar or schizophrenic, or just plain evil? He made Frost and other American poets come alive for me. Why wasn't he content just to be a good instructor? Hamilton's book does not answer any of these questions, since the McNamara case was fresh when it was published. The rest of the book details forgers going back nearly two centuries. While Hamilton is not the most skilled writer, he obviously knows his autographs, and the book is full of tips on how to spot faked Lincoln, Washington, Ben Franklin and other letters. It is fascinating that forgery has such a long history and that there have been so many brilliant practitioners. The discouraging aspect is that it makes the hobby of collecting autographs and letters a risky one, indeed. Clearly, there are more fake items on the market than real ones, for the more famous historical figures. I have a modest collection myself, mostly obtained by my sister in the '50's and myself in the '60's and 70's, of actors, race car drivers, and baseball players. I can vouch for all but the ballplayers, which I purchased from strangers via

This book reads like an autobiography of every famous forger. I found this book very insightful and helpfull, the way Hamilton deduces the forgers finest forgerys is incredible!! There are examples of almost every famous forger. Hamilton is an absolute master at the art of autographs, he share is this book his secrets for uncovering forgers and their tricks. If you are a collecor and think you might have an original Lincoln,Washington or even a Franklin you might want to check again!!!