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Detecting Forgery: Forensic Investigation of Documents
Clifford Irving's "autobiography" of Howard Hughes. Han Van Meegeren's brilliant reproductions of Jan Vermeer's seventeenth-century paintings. The sensational Mormon papers of document dealer Mark Hoffman. All were important discoveries - until, that is, the tools of forensic investigation revealed each to be a remarkable work of forgery that would send the worlds of literature, art, and history reeling.
In a book that's as difficult to put down as a good mystery, Joe Nickell explores the world of questioned documents. He reveals the mission of forensic sleuths and their often nearly impossible to detect forged handwritings, uncover alterations in documents, and identify the authorship of disputed or anonymous writings - to use the eye and the tools of science to make evident the often imperceptible and to expose the cunning art of the forger.
Detecting Forgery covers the essential aspects of forensic document examination and illuminates the scientific with historical information on famous forgers, as well as captivating case studies and numerous illustrations from the author's own files, explaining how forgers ply their nefarious trade and how document examiners uncover the subtly clever deceptions. This enlightening book focuses primarily on documents yet provides considerable information on uncovering forged prints, paintings, and other works of art. Nickell reveals the complete arsenal of forensic techniques used in uncovering forgeries of modern as well as historical documents and provides an invaluable source for collectors and dealers, professional document examiners, archivists, and historians.
In a book that's as difficult to put down as a good mystery, Joe Nickell explores the world of questioned documents. He reveals the mission of forensic sleuths and their often nearly impossible to detect forged handwritings, uncover alterations in documents, and identify the authorship of disputed or anonymous writings - to use the eye and the tools of science to make evident the often imperceptible and to expose the cunning art of the forger.
Detecting Forgery covers the essential aspects of forensic document examination and illuminates the scientific with historical information on famous forgers, as well as captivating case studies and numerous illustrations from the author's own files, explaining how forgers ply their nefarious trade and how document examiners uncover the subtly clever deceptions. This enlightening book focuses primarily on documents yet provides considerable information on uncovering forged prints, paintings, and other works of art. Nickell reveals the complete arsenal of forensic techniques used in uncovering forgeries of modern as well as historical documents and provides an invaluable source for collectors and dealers, professional document examiners, archivists, and historians.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Joe Nickell
66 books51 followersJoe Nickell was an American skeptic and investigator of the paranormal.
Nickell was a senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and wrote regularly for their journal, Skeptical Inquirer. He was also an associate dean of the Center for Inquiry Institute. He was the author or editor of over 30 books.
Among his career highlights, Nickell helped expose the James Maybrick "Jack the Ripper Diary" as a hoax. In 2002, Nickell was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. to evaluate the authenticity of the manuscript of Hannah Crafts' The Bondwoman's Narrative (1853–1860), possibly the first novel by an African-American woman. At the request of document dealer and historian Seth Keller, Nickell analyzed documentation in the dispute over the authorship of "The Night Before Christmas", ultimately supporting the Clement Clarke Moore claim.
Nickell was a senior research fellow for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and wrote regularly for their journal, Skeptical Inquirer. He was also an associate dean of the Center for Inquiry Institute. He was the author or editor of over 30 books.
Among his career highlights, Nickell helped expose the James Maybrick "Jack the Ripper Diary" as a hoax. In 2002, Nickell was one of a number of experts asked by scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. to evaluate the authenticity of the manuscript of Hannah Crafts' The Bondwoman's Narrative (1853–1860), possibly the first novel by an African-American woman. At the request of document dealer and historian Seth Keller, Nickell analyzed documentation in the dispute over the authorship of "The Night Before Christmas", ultimately supporting the Clement Clarke Moore claim.
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June 1, 2015
This is an excellent introduction to the field of forensic document authentication, I wish there were more books like it out there. Nickell gives an excellent sense of the approach taken by authenticators and forgers alike, and brings to light many surprising facts about the field. For a forgery and authentication novice, this book is filled with a number of wonderful insights into just how much work has to go into both tasks - you have to know much about the evolution of handwriting, the aging of inks and paper, not to mention the myriad challenges of actually distributing newly-made forgeries as if you had just discovered them. Highly recommended for the generalist and autodidact.
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