Word: forger
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...odious power to spellbind an audience has wreaked havoc once again in the furor over the fake diaries [May 16]. Even in death, Hitler has destroyed the reputation and credibility of gullible historians and editors, most notably those at the magazine Stern. All it took was a forger for the Fűhrer to bask in the limelight yet another time. Had the diaries proved authentic, then collectors would have been at one another's throats to own the journals of a man who caused such worldwide suffering...
...were respected experts in the art of forgery detection initially taken in by the fabrications of such prolific deceivers as Irving and the two mother-daughter teams? Irving contends that hired experts tend to render the favorable judgments that publishers seeking their guidance wish to hear. Once a forger masters his subject's handwriting idiosyncrasies and ways of thinking, Irving claims, sheer quantity is no problem. "Once you do one page," he says, "you can do 20. Once you do 20, you can do a book...
There is a usually unspoken professional admiration between the masters of such analysis and the masters of the fabrications. In his revealing account, Great Forgers and Famous Fakes, Autograph Dealer Hamilton quotes a letter from Forger Arthur Sutton, whom Hamilton had helped to expose, causing Sutton to plead guilty to fraud. "I have always had the greatest respect for you," wrote Sutton, who crafted the signatures of famous figures from Sitting Bull to Richard Nixon and Marilyn Monroe. "I am glad I have been caught and can promise I will never forge any autographs ever again." Admitted Hamilton...
...wove paper, in which the fibers can be seen by the trained eye. It was used consistently after 1800. Benjamin has seen only two authentic autographs by George Washington written on wove paper. By 1860 wood-pulp paper, easily distinguishable from rag paper, became commonplace. Many a period piece forger has given himself away by using the wrong paper...
...type of pen wielded by a forger can be a giveaway. The quaint quill was used exclusively until 1780, when its successor, the steel pen, came into existence. The difference in writing between the two can be seen under a microscope. Fiber-tipped pens were not used extensively in the U.S. until 1964. Any forger using a pen not common in the period his document purports to derive from risks quick discovery. The modern proliferation of pens, particularly ballpoints, complicates the task of current document analysts, but can provide fresh clues. A ballpoint requires the writer to exert more pressure...