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Was this Uneducated Frenchman the Most Ingenious Literary Forger of Modern Times?
He made a fortune selling 27,000 letters From Cleopatra, Aristotle, and Lazarus
“Most ingenious forger of modern times” That’s the description I kept running into online when researching French literary forger Vrain-Denis Lucas (sometimes referred to as Denis Vrain-Lucas).
But was he really ingenious? To find out, I talked with Joseph Rosenblum, professor of English at University of North Carolina and author of several books on literary forgery.
His response wasn’t what I expected.
A day in the life of a literary forger
It was just after 11am, mid-1867. Vrain-Denis Lucas sat alone, as usual, with his back against the wall of the small Parisian restaurant and ate his modest lunch.
He would have preferred to be in Cafe Riche — it was the place to be for all the great writers and artists — but finances were tight. (His lover had been enjoying her shopping sprees.)
Everything would be fine, though. He just needed to deliver his next batch of letters and bring in more cash.
After lunch, he would head to the Imperial Library and start his work for the…
