Dead Men Tell Tales

That European art lovers may engage in such activities is understandable as there is no other way to satisfy the market’s craving for original works of art when the material is in short supply. From this recognition it’s just a short step to “I’ll get you one,” particularly when the style is that of an 8 year old and we have children to feed. In any event a minor inflation of the artist’s production is simply good business. In those cases however where the number of copies exceeds the number of originals [as is said to sometimes be the case] it suggests that homagers were better artists than accountants.

Americans of course have higher standards. They will not be hornswoggled into paying thousands of dollars, francs or Euros for questionable material. They prefer to buy theirs online for $150.

Books have also been subject to the sincerest form of flattery. Thomas J. Wise produced flattering if fake works of 19^th century poets, and traded them with avid collectors for real examples.

And then there is Daniel G. Brinton’s 1859 “Notes on the Floridian Peninsula” that contains the limitation “100 copies” of which it has been said “500 are known.”

There are of course, for those with greater ambitions, the various shrouds said to have been wrapped around Jesus. I’m waiting to hear that Butch Cassidy was also wrapped in the Shroud of Turin. It’s only a matter of time.

It may turn out that Butch Cassidy did escape to live an innocuous life for another thirty years and that, with the approaching final curtain, wished to discretely almost bare his soul.

In support of this his sister has claimed she saw him in 1925 in or near Spokane. But she also said the controversial manuscript was written by a friend. For the new manuscript owners this must be very disappointing; to get both confirmation and rejection in a single sentence. The rub with the manuscript is that the writer never admits he’s Butch. That’s left to the reader to decide to agree. For the owners to gloss over inconvenient facts and seize upon those that affirm the most optimistic perspective is understandable. Whether it is true is the subject of debate..

Rare Book Monthly

Dead Men Tell Tales

Rare Book Monthly

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Dead Men Tell Tales

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