The 10 August Surprise

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The 10 August Surprise

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1jbd1
Bewerkt: aug 10, 2008, 8:28 am

As promised (message 92), I've got a surprise today for the bibliomanes among us: the library of the famed and mysterious Comte de Fortsas (announced today on the 168th anniversary of the 'sale,' the greatest bibliohoax ever).

The library is a fascinating one, filled with literary oddities designed specifically to whet the appetites of the greatest biblio-obsessives of the day. To augment the collection, I've added some transcriptions of Fortsas documents and an annotated bibliography of materials relating to the hoax (links at the bottom of the profile page).

Enjoy!

2Katya0133
aug 10, 2008, 3:35 pm

So . . . the person's not just fictitious, but the books were fictitious, as well?

3Nicole_VanK
aug 10, 2008, 4:01 pm

>2 Katya0133:

As you can see in the library there are two books which are present in other collections as well. The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius isn't even rare - but the claimed 1477 edition may very well be fictitious and would certainly be very rare.

4jbd1
aug 10, 2008, 5:14 pm

Indeed. The books (or, at least, the editions) are totally made up (and quite desirable). The hoaxer played very deliberately to the instincts of specific collectors and scholars - brilliant fellow!

5sabreuse
aug 10, 2008, 5:19 pm

This is fanastic fun. Thanks!

6JBD1
aug 10, 2018, 11:55 am

7elenchus
aug 10, 2018, 12:14 pm

I missed this back in 2008, appreciate this primer on a infamous literary hoax!