- Description
- .5 linear foot (3 v.)
- Summary
- Collection known as the Stillie Manuscripts consists of 202 numbered forgeries.
- Subjects
- Note
- A scrapbook of clippings from the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch regarding "Antique" Smith's forgeries and his trial as well as other forgeries by Smith can be found in the Rare Books & Manuscripts Division's Forgery Collection.
- Access (note)
- Indexed In (note)
- Discussed in: McDonald, Gerald D. "Forgeries in the Library". Bulletin of the New York Public Library
- Source (note)
- Biography (note)
- Alexander Howland Smith, known as "Antique" Smith, was a forger from Edinburgh, Scotland.
- Provenance (note)
- Collection was purchased from James Stillie, an Edinburgh bookseller by John S. Kennedy, president of the Lenox Library, in 1890.
- Processing Action (note)
- Accessioned.
- Cataloging updated
- Call Number
- MssCol 2777
- OCLC
- NYPW90-A36
- Author
Smith, Alexander Howland.
- Title
Stillie manuscripts, ca. 1889.
- Indexed In:
Discussed in: McDonald, Gerald D. "Forgeries in the Library". Bulletin of the New York Public Library, 41:623-628 (August 1937).
- Restricted Access
Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.
- Biography
Alexander Howland Smith, known as "Antique" Smith, was a forger from Edinburgh, Scotland. Before he was imprisoned in 1893, he had made hundreds of forged documents, in particular, letters and manuscripts of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.
- Provenance
Collection was purchased from James Stillie, an Edinburgh bookseller by John S. Kennedy, president of the Lenox Library, in 1890. Kennedy presented the collection to the Lenox Library and the manuscripts were exhibited in December of that year. After several forgeries of Burns manuscripts were exposed in Edinburgh in 1892, the collection was sent to the British Museum for examination and the documents were found to be forgeries by "Antique" Smith. Manuscripts were returned to the Lenox Library and added to the collections of The New York Public Library after the consolidation of the Astor, Lenox, and Tilden collections.
- Connect to:
- Research Call Number
MssCol 2777