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4 unusual facts about Samuel Ireland


1796 in literature

Samuel Ireland publishes a collection of Shakespearean forgeries in his Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments Under the Hand and Seal of William Shakespeare (dated this year but actually produced on 24 December 1795).

James Boaden

In 1796 Boaden addressed to George Steevens, the Shakespearean commentator, ‘A Letter containing a Critical Examination of the Papers of Shakespeare published by Mr. Samuel Ireland.’ He stated in this letter his grounds for believing the papers held by Samuel Ireland to be spurious; but said that he, like so many others, had been at first deceived.

Samuel Ireland

James Boaden, formerly a believer, responded with A Letter to George Steevens, published in January 1796, that attacked their authenticity, but the decisive blow was delivered by Edmond Malone’s response, An Enquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Papers and Legal Instruments, published in March 1796.

The failure of the play, Vortigern and Rowena, on its first performance (2 April 1796), quickly followed.



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