William Henry Ireland

William Henry Ireland (2 August 1775 - 17 April 1835) was an English poet, novelist, and miscellaneous writer, but is mostly remembered as a forger.

William Henry Ireland (1775-1835). Hand-coloured stipple engraving by Frederick Mackenzie (1787/8-1854), 1818. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Life

Overview

Ireland, son of an antiquarian bookseller in London, was a forger of Shakespeare manuscripts, which he claimed to have discovered in the house of a gentleman of fortune. The forgeries included various deeds, a Protestant confession of faith by Shakespeare, letters to Ann Hathaway, Southampton, and others, a new version of King Lear, and a complete drama, Vortigern and Rowena. He completely deceived his father and various men of letters and experts, but was detected by Malone, and the representation of Vortigern on the stage completed the exposure. Ireland then tried novel-writing, in which he failed. He published a confession in regard to the forgeries, in which he asserted that his father had no part in the imposture, but had been completely deceived by it.

Youth

Although Ireland claimed throughout his life that he was born in London in 1777, recently discovered evidence puts his birth two years earlier, on 2 August 1775. Although he was apparently christened William-Henry, he was known as Samuel through much of his life (apparently after a twin brother who died in childhood), and many sources list his name as Samuel William Henry Ireland.

His father, Samuel Ireland, was a successful publisher of travelogues, collector of antiquities and collector of Shakespearian plays and "relics". There was at the time, and still is, a great paucity of writing in the hand of Shakespeare. Of his 37 plays, there is not a copy in his own writing, not a scrap of correspondence from Shakespeare to a friend, fellow writer, patron, producer or publisher. Forgery would fill this void.

The son also became a collector of books. In many later recollections he described his fascination with the works and the glorious death of the forger Thomas Chatterton, and probably knew the Ossian poems of James Macpherson. He was strongly influenced by the 1780 novel Love and Madness by Sir Herbert Croft, which was often read aloud in the Ireland house, and which contained large sections on Chatterton and Macpherson. When he was apprenticed to a mortgage lawyer, Ireland began to experiment with blank, genuinely old papers and forged signatures on them. Eventually he forged several documents until he was ready to present them to his father.

Earliest forgeries

Main article: Ireland Shakespeare forgeries

In December 1794, Ireland told his father that he had discovered a cache of old documents belonging to an acquaintance who wanted to remain unnamed, and that one of them was a deed with a signature of Shakespeare in it. He gave the document – which he had of course made himself – to his overjoyed father, who had been looking for just that kind of signature for years.

A letter supposedly written by Shakespeare (forged by Ireland) expressing gratitude towards the Earl of Southampton.

Ireland went on to make more findings – a promissory note, a written declaration of Protestant faith, letters to Anne Hathaway (with a lock of hair attached), and to Queen Elizabeth – all supposedly in Shakespeare's hand. He claimed that all came from the chest of the anonymous friend. He "found" books with Shakespeare's notes in the margins and "original" manuscripts for Hamlet and King Lear. The experts of the day authenticated them all.

On 24 December 1795, Samuel Ireland published his own book about the papers, a lavishly illustrated and expensively produced set of facsimiles and transcriptions of the papers called Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments under the Hand and Seal of William Shakespeare (the book bears the publication date 1796). More people took interest in the matter and the plot began to unravel.

'This Solemn Mockery'

In 1795, Ireland became bolder and produced a whole new play – Vortigern and Rowena. After extensive negotiations, Irish playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan acquired rights for the premiere production of the play at London's Drury Lane Theatre for £300, and a promise of half of all profits to the Irelands.

Sheridan read the play and noticed it was relatively simplistic compared to Shakespeare's other works. John Philip Kemble, actor and manager of Drury Lane Theatre, later claimed he had serious doubts about its authenticity; he also suggested that the play appear on April Fool's Day, though Samuel Ireland objected, and the play was moved to the next day.

Although the Shakespeare papers had prominent believers (including James Boswell), sceptics had questioned their authenticity from the beginning, and as the premiere of Vortigern approached, the press was filled with arguments over whether the papers were genuine or forgeries. On 31 March 1796, Shakespearean scholar Edmond Malone published his own exhaustive study, An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments, about the supposed papers. His attack on the papers, stretching to more than 400 densely printed pages, showed convincingly that the papers could be nothing other than modern forgeries. Although believers tried to hold their ground, scholars were convinced by Malone's arguments.

Vortigern and Rowena opened on 2 April 1796, just two days after Malone's book appeared. Contemporary accounts differ in details, but most agree the first three acts went smoothly, and the audience listened respectfully. Late in the play, though, Kemble used the chance to hint at his opinion by repeating Vortigern's line "and when this solemn mockery is o'er." Malone's supporters had filled the theatre, and the play was greeted with the audience's catcalls. The play had only one performance, and was not revived until 2008.

Forgeries exposed

File:Houghton MS Hyde 60 (4) - William Henry Ireland - Copy.jpg

A forgery of Shakespeare's signature by Ireland, circa 1795

When critics closed in and accused Samuel Ireland of forgery, his son published a confession – An Authentic Account of the Shaksperian Manuscripts – but many critics could not believe a young man could have forged them all by himself. A paper published a caricature in which William Henry is awed by the findings when the rest of the family forges more of them (as opposed to what was really going on). Samuel Ireland's reputation did not recover before his death in 1800.

In 1805 William Henry published The Confessions of William Henry Ireland, but confession did not help his reputation. He took on a number of miscellaneous jobs as a hack writer but always found himself short of money. In 1814 he moved to France and worked in the French national library, continuing to publish books in London all the while. When he returned in 1823, he resumed his life of penury. In 1832 he published his own edition of Vortigern and Rowena (his father had originally published it in 1799) as his own play with very little success.

There has been recent scholarly interest in his later Gothic novels and his poetry. His illustrated Histories were popular, so to say that Ireland died in obscurity is probably not correct. He was, however, perpetually impoverished; he spent time in debtors' prison, and was constantly forced to borrow money from friends and strangers. When he died, his widow and daughters applied to the Literary Fund for relief. They received only token amounts.

Recognition

In popular culture

Ireland is one of the main characters in Peter Ackroyd's 2004 novel, The Lambs of London, though the contacts with Charles and Mary Lamb have no basis in the historical record, and Ackroyd took many liberties with the story.

Publications

Poetry

• Ballads in Imitation of the Ancients. London: T.N. Longman & O. Rees, 1801.
• A Ballade: Wrotten on the feastynge and merriments of Easter Maunday, laste paste (as "Paul Persius, a learnedd clerke"). 1802. x
• Rhapsodies. London: Longman & Rees, 1803.
• Stultiferea Navis; or, The modern ship of fools. Bedford, Bury, UK: printed by Wm. Savage, 1807.
• The Angler: A didactic poem. London: W. Spilsbury, for J. Wallis, 1804.
• All the Blocks! or, An antidote to 'All the talents': A satirical poem (with? Eaton Stannard Barret). London: J. Smeeton, for Mathews & Leigh, 1807.
• Monody on the Death of William Cavendish. 1811. x
• Neglected Genius: A poem, illustrating the untimely and unfortunate fate of many British poets. London, G. Cowie, 1812.
• The State Doctors; or, A tale of the times: A poem. London: Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, 1812.
• The Death of Bonaparte; or, One pound one: A poem, in four cantos. York, UK: L. Lund, 1812.
• Chalcographimania; or, The portrait-collector and print-seller's chronicle: A humorous poem, in four books. London: R.S. Kirby, 1814.
• Jack Junk; or, A sailor's cruize on shore. London: Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, 1814.
• Scribbleomania; or, The printer's devil's polichronicon: A sublime poem. London: Sherwood, Neely, & Jones, 1815. (Page images at Google Books)
• The Poetry of W.H. Ireland, 1801-1815 (edited by Jeffrey Kahan). Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2004.

Plays

• Votigern: An historical tragedy. London: 1796.
• Henry the Second: An historical drama. London: J. Barker, 1799.
• Vortigern: An historical tragedy, in five acts / Henry the Second: An historical drama, supposed to be written by the author of Vortigern. London: J. Barker / B. White / T. Egerton / R. Faulder, 1799.
• Mutius Scaevola; or, The Roman patriot: An historical drama. London: D.N. Sherry, for R. Bent, 1801.

Novels

• The Abbess: A romance. (4 volumes), London: Earle & Hemet, 1799; Baltimore, MD: S. Sower & J.W. Butler, 1801; (3 volumes), London: A.K. Newman, 1834; New York: Arno Press, 1974. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III
• Rimualdo; or, The castle of Badajos: A romance. (4 volumes), London: A. Strahan, for T.N. Longman and O. Rees, 1800. [1] 1800. (Gothic novel. Reprinted in 2005, (Jeffrey Kahan, editor), Zittaw Press ISBN 0-9767212-1-X)
• The Woman of Feeling. (4 volumes), London: D.N. Shury, for W. Miller / Didier & Tebbett, 1804.
• Gondez, the Monk: A romance of the thirteenth century. (4 volumes), London: W. Earle / J.W. Hucklebridge, 1805.
  • (edited by Jeffrey Kahan). Thousand Oaks, CA: Zittaw Press, 2005.
• The Catholic: An historical romance. (3 volumes), London: W. Earle, 1807. Volume I, Volume II

Non-fiction

• An Investigation of Mr. Malone's Claim to the Character of Scholar, or Critic: Being an examination of his inquiry into the authenticity of the Shakspeare manuscripts. London: R. Faulder, 1790; New York: A.M. Kelley, 1970.
• An Authentic Account of the Shaksperian Manuscripts. London: J. Debrett, 1796.
• The Confessions of William Henry Ireland. London: Ellerton & Byworth, for Thomas Goddard, 1805. *Sketch of the Character of the Late Duke of Devonshire. 1811. x
• The Eventful Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. (4 volumes), London: J. Cumberland 1828.
• A New and Complete History of the County of Kent (4 volumes), London: Virtue, 1829–31. Volume II
• Text to The Picturesque Beauties of Devonshire: ... A series of ... engravings. London: Virtue, 1833.
• Ireland's History of the Isle of Grain (edited by John W. Brown). London: Local History Reprints, 2002. ISBN 1-85699-213-6
• A New and Complete History of the Isle of Thanet (edited by John W. Brown). London: Local History Reprints, 2002. ISBN 1-905477-10-4
• Ireland's History of Woolwich (edited by John W. Brown). London: Local History Reprints, 2002. ISBN 1-85699-202-0
• Ireland's History of Chislehurst (edited by John W. Brown). London: Local History Reprints, 2002. ISBN 1-85699-197-0
• Ireland's History of Gravesend (edited by John W. Brown). London: Local History Reprints, 2002. ISBN 1-85699-211-X

Juvenile

• The Fisher Boy: A poem comprising his several avocations during the four seasons of the year. London: Vernor, Hood, & Sharpe, 1808.
• The Sailor Boy: A poem, in four cantos. London: Vernor, Hood, & Sharpe, 1809.
• The Cottage-Girl: A poem comprising her several avocations during the four seasons of the year. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme / Bristol, UK: W. Sheppard, 1810.

Translated

• Effusions of Love: From Chatelar to Mary, Queen of Scotland; interspersed with songs, sonnets and notes explanatory, by the translator. London: 1805; London: B. Crosby, 1808.

The maid of Orleans [Voltaire, trans.] 1822.

• Voltaire, Memoirs of Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed La Pucelle d'Orleans. (2 volumes), London: R. Triphook, 1824. Volume I, Volume II

Edited

• Papers and Legal Instruments Under Hand and Seal of William Shakespeare. London: Cooper & Graham, for / Egerton / White / Leigh & Sotheby / et al, 1796.
• Memoirs of Henry the Great; and of the court of France during his reign. London, Harding, Triphook & Lepard, 1824. Volume I, Volume II

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• English forgers
• List of British poets

References

• Doug Stewart, The Boy Who Would Be Shakespeare: A Tale of Forgery and Folly, 2010, Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81831-8
• Patricia Pierce, The Great Shakespeare Fraud: The Strange, True Story of William-Henry Ireland, 2004, Sutton. ISBN 0-7509-3393-3
• Jeffrey Kahan, Reforging Shakespeare: The Story of a Theatrical Scandal, 1998, Bethlehem London, Lehigh University Press; Associated University Presses. ISBN 0-934223-55-6
• Jeffrey Kahan, The Poetry of W.H. Ireland (1801–1815) Including the Poet's Imitations, Satires, Romantic Verses, and Commentaries on Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey, and Others, 2003 [2] Mellen Press.
• Bernard Grebanier, The Great Shakespeare Forgery, 1965, W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., ASIN: B000NYH5X8
• Samuel Schoenbaum, "The Ireland Forgeries: An Unpublished Contemporary Account," in Shakespeare and Others (Washington, D.C.: Folger Books, 1985), pp. 144–53.
• Samuel Schoenbaum, "Shakespeare Forgeries: Ireland and Collier," in William Shakespeare: Records and Images (London: Scolar Press, 1981), pp. 117–54.
• Samuel Schoenbaum, Shakespeare's Lives (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970).
• Jack Lynch, chapter 7 of Becoming Shakespeare: The Unlikely Afterlife That Turned a Provincial Playwright into the Bard, 2007, Walker & Co.
• Jack Lynch, "The Picaresque Biography: William Henry Ireland," in Das Paradigma des Pikaresken/The Paradigm of the Picaresque, ed. Christoph Ehland and Robert Fajen (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2007), pp. 147–57.
• Jack Lynch, "William Henry Ireland's Authentic Forgeries," Princeton University Library Chronicle 66, no. 1 (Autumn 2004): 79–96.
• Paul Collins, "Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of People Who Didn't Change the World"
• David Lawrence-Young, The Man Who Would be Shakespeare: The Enigmatic Tale of William-Henry Ireland, Enigma Press/Ravenswood Publishing. 2014 ISBN 9781843869313

External links

Poems

• William Henry Ireland (1777-1845) info & 7 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830

Books

• A text of Vortigern and Rowena
• W.H. Ireland at the Online Books Page
• William Henry Ireland at Amazon.com

About

• William Henry Ireland in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• William Henry Ireland at NNDB
• Samuel in the Dictionary of National Biography
• William Henry Ireland's Shakespeare Forgeries
• "To Be...Or Not: The greatest Shakespeare forgery" at the Smithsonian Institute
• "From Forger to Author: William Henry Ireland's Shakespeare papers" by John Ridpath
• "William Henry Ireland's 'Authentic Original Forgeries': An Overdue discovery"