According to his confessional autobiography, 威廉·亨利爱尔兰 (1777-1835) went to extraordinary lengths to please his father, 撒母耳, who (as later in the case of Dowse) had an unbounded obsession with all things related to Shakespeare. 当我还是青少年的时候, William Henry taught himself forgery and fabricated multiple documents “in Shakespeare’s hand” 那 he presented to his father, 优雅的出版商, 插图的书. 撒母耳 Ireland innocently published his son’s creations including a supposed letter from Queen Elizabeth to the Bard thanking him for “prettye Verses.” 撒母耳 Ireland illustrated a deluxe edition of 各种各样的报纸 and Legal Instruments . . . 威廉·莎士比亚 with facsimiles of the documents 那 the younger Ireland had “discovered.“很短的一段时间, 撒母耳 Ireland’s collection of Shakespeare manuscripts was the talk of London and there were scheduled hours during which enthusiasts could view the “original” manuscripts.

Vortigern

威廉·亨利爱尔兰’s audacious fraud quickly collapsed, 然而, when 撒母耳 Ireland persuaded Richard Brinsley Sheridan to stage Vortigern, a “newly-discovered” play by Shakespeare (i.e. 威廉·亨利爱尔兰) at Sheridan’s 的atre Royal in Drury Lane in 1796. 的 ovations 那 greeted the opening acts of the first and only performance of Vortigern quickly turned to laughter and catcalls from the audience and the play would not be performed again for more than 200 years. 约翰·菲利普·肯布尔, 谁在剧中扮演主角, was not shy about expressing his doubts as to its authenticity, 但塞缪尔·爱尔兰四年后去世了, still convinced 那 his Shakespeare documents were authentic because his son was simply incapable of producing such forgeries.

威廉·亨利爱尔兰 later described his misdeeds—and provided generations of forgers with nothing short of a detailed instruction manual—in 威廉·亨利·爱尔兰的忏悔录 (伦敦:1805). 的 《利记手机官网》 是一个活泼的人, 详细的描述, but must be used with caution; Ireland appears to have lied systematically about just about everything 那 happened in his life, 大大小小的. He also seemed to believe 那 the people whom he deceived would celebrate his inventive genius. Until his death in 1835, he was an enormously productive, but no longer successful author. He was reduced to making facsimiles of the Shakespeare documents 那 he had created and passing them off as his “original” forgeries—forging his forgeries.

托马斯探寻水源

托马斯·道斯，他的 portrait by Moses Wright was commissioned by the MHS in 1856, was born in Charlestown, 麻萨诸塞州, in 1772. 根据家庭习俗, Dowse was lame from childhood because of a fall from an apple tree and the shy, 隐居的男孩转向书本, 正如他所描述的, 为了“职业和娱乐”.” He read voraciously and purchased even more voraciously—he spent more than sixty years assembling an extraordinary personal library, and this the work of a man who was largely self-taught, and who first made his living as a tanner and leather dresser.

Dowse never married and worked in the leather trade until 1846, accumulating a considerable fortune 那 he spent on an ever-growing book collection. 他的藏书增至4本,665卷和他在剑桥的家, 麻萨诸塞州, became something of a “public attraction” 那 brought distinguished visitors, 尤其是图书爱好者, 凝视着他的书, 几乎都优雅的反弹在fine, gold-stamped绑定, often the work of early 19th-century Boston bookbinders. Dowse’s books had an appraised value of $40,000—an enormous sum—at a time when the balance in the Society’s funds for purchases was $527.40.

的 Dowse Library: a case study in donor relations

19世纪50年代, 托马斯探寻水源, 那时他已经八十多岁了, began to search for a home for the books 那 were “the dearest earthly objects of his affections . . . his guides in youth, his support in manhood, and his solace in old age.” Harvard University courted him; President Josiah Quincy had offered to build a separate building to house the collection, but Dowse was ultimately unable to reach an agreement with Harvard—a story has come down 那 college students had vandalized a fence around his property. MHS member George Livermore—a fellow bibliophile, and later the executor of Dowse’s estate—served as an intermediary between Dowse and the Society. 1856年7月, Dowse donated his library to the Society and with a single stroke increased the MHS library collection by a half—from about 8,000 to 13,000卷. It was a timely gift; Dowse died in November of 那 year.

的 “official story” was 那 托马斯探寻水源 “had long been familiar with the character of the Society, and was personally acquainted with many of the members, 他确信, 那, 由他们保管, his books which had been for many years his choice and cherished friends, would be carefully preserved and properly used.国土安全部主席罗伯特·C. Winthrop had a more personal explanation for the gift: late in life the reclusive Dowse, 虽然不是MHS的成员, had been invited to the Society’s annual spring event for members, 草莓节, and although he had declined the invitation, he retained warm feelings for the kindness and respect of MHS members.

爱德华·埃弗雷特和托马斯·道斯

托马斯·道斯, the active participation of Edward 埃弗雷特 in MHS affairs probably was the ultimate seal of approval. 他的藏书反映了这一点, along with heroes of the American Revolution, 英国内战, 和莎士比亚, 道斯非常钦佩爱德华·埃弗雷特, 马萨诸塞州国会议员, 州长, 哈佛大学校长, 圣公会的牧师. James, secretary of state, senator, and the great orator of his age. A compilation of Edward 埃弗雷特’s separately printed early speeches were a gift from 埃弗雷特 to Dowse, and handsomely bound in two volumes by Dowse for his library. 埃弗雷特, 反过来, described the Dowse Library as “the most excellent library of English books, 因为它的大小, 我所熟悉的.道斯也留给了国安局 unfinished portrait of 埃弗雷特 painted by Gilbert Stuart in 1820. 埃弗雷特 then was a 26-year-old Harvard professor and already a member of the Historical Society.

道斯图书馆的房间 was dedicated at the 马萨诸塞州历史学会’s annual meeting on 9 April 1857. It is not a room 那 托马斯探寻水源 would have known; the furniture and bookcases were built for the MHS with funds provided by Dowse’s estate. In 1899, when the Society moved to its present building on Boylston Street, the Dowse Library was dismantled in its previous home on Tremont Street in downtown Boston and moved to the new building. 在博伊尔斯顿街, the Dowse Library may have created a certain amount of familiar comfort for members moving out to the “wilds” of the newly-in-filled Back Bay. 直到1960年, it was the reading room—and when the membership was smaller, the Society’s meeting room—a role 那 it continues to play for many Board, 委员会, 小型的公共会议.