Not So Wise After All

The other day, while searching for something else altogether, we stumbled across a letter written by an individual who is arguably best characterized as a celebrity villain within the small world of special collections. Thomas James Wise (1859-1937), the anti-hero of our story, was once a well-respected rare book collector who had begun amassing his own collection as a boy. He garnered an international reputation as an expert in the first printings of 19th-century English literary publications even as he continued to acquire books printed as far back as the 1500s for his private library. Wise's opinion on the authenticity of published works held such authority that in many cases his word was considered sufficient validation for newly discovered variants and privately printed editions of works by famous English authors.

As you've probably guessed, Wise was not only an astute bibliophile but an adept forger. In fact, he was so skilled at secretly printing and then selling fake editions of works by famous authors like Elizabeth Barrett Browning that he wasn't found out until he was in his late seventies. In the meantime, Wise had accumulated various honors and prestigious positions based upon his bibliographic acumen: an honorary master's degree from Oxford, an honorary fellowship from Worcester College, and the presidency of the Bibliographical Society, among others. If not for the investigative work of two fellow book collectors, John Carter and Henry Pollard, Wise would very likely have gotten away with it. However, in 1934, the two men published a pamphlet titled "An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets" that exposed Wise's decades-long deception and ruined his standing in the community. In a somewhat cheeky move, the pamphlet's epigraph is a quotation by Wise himself that avers the impossibility of creating a forgery able to elude expert detection.

In December of 1933, only months before Wise's world would be turned upside-down, he responds to a previous letter from his friend and prolific author E. V. Lucas. Lucas was in the midst of editing a centenary collection of Charles Lamb's letters and sought Wise's input. Wise replies that he owns two letters written by Lamb and thanks Lucas for dedicating the soon-to-be-published work to him. We have to wonder if Lucas ever regretted that decision, given that Wise's fame would soon turn to infamy. To see our letter, come to Rauner and ask to see MS-407, Box 2, Folder 14. We also have a large collection of his forged works. To find then out, search the catalog for "Thomas Wise Forgeries."