Fakes, Forgeries, and Fictitious Authors

Description
Texts purporting to be something they're not, or by authors who don't exist. Includes intentional hoaxes as well as cases where the fictional pretense was transparent or not intended to fool audiences, or authors who obscured their identity out of necessity. I'd prefer not to list fakes that are expoitative or harmful (i.e. falsified memoirs of suffering, racist tracts).
1
Le Chateau d'Otrante: Histoire gothique
de Horace Walpole
3,682 membres
125 critiques
3.1
2 Members
spiphany, rgashby
Explications
spiphany: Originally published under a pseudonym and claiming to be a translation from the Italian. "Found manuscript" genre.
2
Histoire d'O
de Pauline Réage
3,637 membres
81 critiques
½ 3.3
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: This woman knew how to keep a secret. (Cf Ingeborg Day.)
3
The historia regum Britanniae
de Geoffrey of Monmouth
2,670 membres
21 critiques
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: 11th century Latin chronicle supposedly based on ancient British sources. Highly influential into the 16th century, but now considered to be more fabulation than history.
4
Ou bien-- ou bien--
de Søren Kierkegaard
1,927 membres
16 critiques
3.9
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Et al. This one written by Victor Eremita. Cf Pessoa.
5
Lettres persanes
de Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu
1,751 membres
18 critiques
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
6
His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae
de Graeme Macrae Burnet
1,599 membres
84 critiques
3.9
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Written in the style of a "true crime" novel but made up of fictional historical documents. Not intended to deceive.
7
My Life as a Fake
de Peter Carey
1,501 membres
36 critiques
½ 3.3
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Novel about a literary hoax that takes on a life of its own. Inspired by the Ern Malley affair.
8
La vie devant soi
de Romain Gary
1,452 membres
39 critiques
4.1
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Emile Ajar won his second Prix Goncourt for this.
9
Le Trésor de la Sierra Madre
de B. Traven
985 membres
21 critiques
4.1
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The real identity of the German-language writer behind the pseudonym still remains a matter of much debate and speculation.
10
Ali et Nino
de Kurban Said
955 membres
48 critiques
3.8
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Author behind the pseudonym is still disputed; possibly Essad Bey/Lev Nussimbaum
11
Chatterton
de Peter Ackroyd
883 membres
16 critiques
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Novel about Thomas Chatterton (see this list) and an exploration of fiction and authenticity more generally.
12
Codex Seraphinianus
de Luigi Serafini
796 membres
32 critiques
½ 4.6
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: An illustrated encyclopedia written in a nonsense script (i.e., a non-text pretending to be a text). A literary/artistic experiment, not a hoax, though drawing inspiration from the undeciphered Voynich manuscript (which has been suspected of being a forgery).
13
James Tiptree Jr: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
de Julie Phillips
745 membres
32 critiques
½ 4.3
Member
spiphany
14
The Diaries of Jane Somers
de Doris Lessing
547 membres
12 critiques
3.9
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Published by Lessing under a pseudonym to make a point about how the acceptance of manuscripts and reception of publications is influenced by how famous the author is.
15
Un été à Pont-Aven
de Jean-Luc Bannalec
516 membres
29 critiques
½ 3.5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The pseudonym was originally given a fictional biography as a French-German writer from Brest, but later revealed to be German publisher Jörg Bong.
17
The Ingredients of Love
de Nicolas Barreau
339 membres
21 critiques
3.2
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The Frenchman Nicolas Barreau (along with the German translator Sophie Scherrer) may in fact be German author Daniele Thiele.
18
Les Chansons de Bilitis
de Pierre Louÿs
286 membres
4 critiques
3.8
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Poems in the manner of Sappho, presented as translations from the ancient Greek.
19
Lettres portugaises
de Mariana Alcoforado
280 membres
2 critiques
½ 3.3
Member
spiphany
20
Fernando Pessoa & Co.: Selected Poems
de Fernando Pessoa
265 membres
4 critiques
4.2
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Pessoa is famous for his use of various personas or "heteronyms". No intent to deceive in this case.
21
The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau
de Graeme Macrae Burnet
247 membres
16 critiques
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Purports to be a translation from the French
22
The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi
de Sir Richard Francis Burton
178 membres
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Pseudotranslation by Arabist Richard Burton, purportedly of of a Persian poem by Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî
23
The City of Light
de Jacob d'Ancona
169 membres
5 critiques
3.1
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The existence of the manuscript upon which Selbourne's translation is based has never been established, and seems likely to be a fiction.
24
Poésies galliques
de James Macpherson
152 membres
9 critiques
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Claimed to be translations of ancient Celtic epic poetry, but in fact largely MacPherson's own creation
25
Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms
de Carmela Ciuraru
147 membres
6 critiques
3.8
Member
spiphany
26
Nat Tate : Un artiste américain, 1928-1960
de William Boyd
141 membres
33 critiques
3.1
Member
spiphany
27
The facts of winter = Les faits d'hiver
de Paul Poissel
136 membres
4 critiques
3.8
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Pseudonym + convincing cod non-fiction
28
Panter, Tiger & Co.: Eine neue Auswahl aus seinen Schriften und Gedichten
de Kurt Tucholsky
131 membres
1 critique
½ 4.3
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Like many satirists, Tucholsky mostly published his writing under a variety of aliases, each of whom had their own distinct persona
29
Sarah Binks
de Paul G. Hiebert
123 membres
4 critiques
½ 3.7
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Biography of a poet who never existed
30
Les Veilles
de August Klingemann
113 membres
2 critiques
4
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The author behind "Bonaventura" was debated into the 1980s. Now generally accepted as being August Klingemann.
31
Geoffrey Hill's New and Collected Poems: 1952-1992
de Geoffrey Hill
111 membres
½ 4.3
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Includes the "Songbook Of Sebastian Arrurruz", pseudotranslations of a fictitious Spanish poet.
32
La fille d'un héros de l'Union soviétique
de Andreï Makine
109 membres
2 critiques
½ 3.4
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Russian-born Makine originally had to pretend that his French manuscripts were translations because publishers refused to believe he had written them in French. Makine also later published several novels under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde, whose identity was only discovered in 2011.
33
The Ern Malley Affair
de Michael Heyward
104 membres
2 critiques
4
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Companion volume to the collection of his poetry.
34
The Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion
de Magdalen King-Hall
101 membres
3 critiques
½ 3.4
Member
spiphany
35
Faussaires et critiques
de Anthony Grafton
99 membres
½ 4.7
Member
spiphany
36
Telling Tales: A History of Literary Hoaxes
de Melissa Katsoulis
97 membres
6 critiques
½ 3.4
Member
spiphany
37
An Incomplete History of the Art of Funerary Violin
de Rohan Kriwaczek
92 membres
1 critique
3.1
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Presented as a work of musical history about a genre that never existed. According to the author the fiction was not intended as a hoax.
38
Biografi
de Lloyd Jones
88 membres
3 critiques
½ 3.5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Attracted criticism for the way it blends factual travelogue and fiction
39
Yankee Lawyer: The Autobiography of Ephraim Tutt
de Ephraim Tutt
77 membres
5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Arthur Train, a lawyer, published numerous stories about legal cases by the fictional Ephraim Tutt; the publication of Tutt's "autobiography" caused much confusion about whether Tutt was in fact fictional.
40
Marbot: A Biography
de Wolfgang Hildesheimer
75 membres
1 critique
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Biography of a fictional nineteenth-century British nobleman and art critic
41
Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers
de Ryan O'Neill
52 membres
4 critiques
½ 4.3
Member
spiphany
42
I, Libertine
de Theodore Sturgeon
51 membres
2 critiques
½ 3.4
Member
spiphany
43
La vie sexuelle d'Emmanuel Kant
de Jean-Baptiste Botul
46 membres
1 critique
3
Member
spiphany
44
Crimes of Writing: Problems in the Containment of Representation
de Susan Stewart
45 membres
½ 4.5
Member
spiphany
45
Papa Hamlet / Ein Tod.
de Arno Holz
44 membres
½ 3.4
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Book by two German authors, originally published under the pseudonym Bjarne P. Holmsen as a translation from the Norwegian
46
The Letters of Wanda Tinasky
de Wanda Tinasky
38 membres
1 critique
½ 3.3
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Persona used for a number of reader letters sent to two California newspapers in the 1980s. Real identity was likely the poet Tom Hawkins.
47
On the Choice of a Mistress & Other Satires & Hoaxes
de Benjamin Franklin
36 membres
3.8
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Franklin had a number of pseudonymous personas which he used when publishing satirical commentary.
50
Faking Literature
de K. K. Ruthven
30 membres
3.8
Member
spiphany
51
Collected Poems
de Michael Donaghy
27 membres
1 critique
4
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Includes "Seven Poems from the Welsh" attributed to the fictional poet Sion ap Brydydd.
52
Shiki Nagaoka: A Nose for Fiction
de Mario Bellatin
27 membres
1 critique
½ 3.6
Member
spiphany
53
Poèmes du Cycle de Rowley
de Thomas Chatterton
27 membres
1 critique
Member
spiphany
54
Le canard en ballon
de Edgar Allan Poe
24 membres
3.2
Member
spiphany
55
The Sin Eater and The Washer of the Ford and Other Legendary Mortalities
de Fiona Macleod
20 membres
½ 4.3
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: William Sharp went so far as to enlist his sister to assist him in maintaining the ruse of Fiona MacLeod being a real person.
56
Ern Malley - Collected Poems (Imprint poetry)
de Ern Malley
18 membres
2 critiques
3
Member
spiphany
57
Katerina Brac
de Christopher Reid
17 membres
2.8
Member
spiphany
58
Los poemas de Sidney West
de Juan Gelman
16 membres
½ 3.5
Member
spiphany
59
Ananios of Kleitor
de George Economou
14 membres
1 critique
½ 4.3
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: I've read more than one review treating this as a work of non-fiction.
60
Les déliquescences: Poèmes décadents
de Henri Beauclair
14 membres
1 critique
3.8
Member
spiphany
61
A Digit of the Moon
de F. W. Bain
13 membres
5
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Not a story from Sanskrit despite some critics of the time believing it was.
62
The Oera Linda Book
de J.G. Ottema
13 membres
1 critique
4
Member
spiphany
63
Arioflotga
de Frank Kuppner
11 membres
3.2
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: a poetic index, a false history of its MS
64
Spectra : a book of poetic experiments
de Emanuel Morgan
10 membres
4
Member
spiphany
65
Jilted city
de Patrick McGuinness
8 membres
½ 4.5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Includes a number of ostensible translations of the Romanian poet Liviu Campanu, alongside original poems and translations of actually existing poets.
66
The Algerine Spy in Pennsylvania
de Peter Markoe
8 membres
1 critique
4
Member
spiphany
67
Das Kleine Lexikon der Provinzliteratur
de Pedro Lenz
8 membres
4
Member
spiphany
68
The love poems of Marichiko
de Marichiko
7 membres
5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Pseudotranslation by American poet and translator Kenneth Rexroth pretending to be a young Japanese woman.
69
Impostors: Literary Hoaxes and Cultural Authenticity
de Christopher L. Miller
7 membres
5
Member
spiphany
70
The Wisdom of Uncle Kasimir
de Gabi Czerniak
7 membres
½ 3.5
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: I've seen this too reviewed as non-fiction.
71
Walladmor
de Willibald Alexis
6 membres
½ 3.5
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The young author presented his novel as a German translation of a book by his idol, Walter Scott.
73
Vortigern, an historical tragedy in five acts represented at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Henry the Second.
de William Henry Ireland
6 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: "Lost Shakespeare" manuscripts forged by Ireland in the 18th century
74
The pleasant and surprizing adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his fifteen years captivity on the island of ...
de Daniel Defoe
6 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: 18th century account by a shipwrecked sailor in Madagascar, later believed to be a fiction (possibly by Defoe), but may in fact be genuine.
75
Echo's Grove
de Derek Mahon
6 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Collection of translations and adaptations of various poets, including poems by the fictional Indian poet Gopal Singh.
76
Saracen Island: The Poems of Andreas Karavis
de David Solway
5 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Supported by various people who were aware of or had recognized the pretense but spontaneously decided to play along, including a dentist who posed as Karavis for the press. The author has published several additional pseudotranslations by other personas.
77
Trojan War: The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian
de R. M. Frazer
5 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Two two frauds or fictions from antiquity, both purportedly written by survivors of the Trojan War.
78
The Elegies of Quintilius
de Peter Russell
5 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The Roman poet "Quintilius" is an invention of Russell
79
Land of the Snow Men
de George Belden
5 membres
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: pseudonym + convincing cod non-fiction--good review here: http://cafeirreal.alicewhittenburg.com/review6.htm
80
The Bowmen
de Arthur Machen
5 membres
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: In a way, the inverse of the others: the story was straightforwardly fiction but the public turned it into a hoax after the fact.
82
Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway song: with historical and traditional notices relative to the manners and customs of the peasantry
de Robert Hartley Cromek
4 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Collection of "old Scottish ballads" which were mostly original creations of a contemporary poet, Allan Cunningham. Cromek may or may not have been aware of the poems' real origins.
83
Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity.
de Alan Sokal
3 membres
4
Member
bluepiano
Explications
bluepiano: Why didn't this occur to me straight away? Notorious hoax.
85
Aléas Ich
de Aléa Torik
3 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: The discovery that the biography of "Aléa Torik" was a fiction caused a stir in the German blogosphere and media (the name might have been a clue...)
86
Сочинения Козьмы Пруткова
de Kozma Prutkov
3 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Collective pseudonym invented by four 19th-century Russian satirical poets
87
Der Sturm
de Per Johansson
3 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: A "Swedish" crime novel written by two German authors with the help of a fictional translator
89
Winter in Tirane: The Stories of Jiri Kajane (Volume 1)
de Jiri Kajane
2 membres
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Not an "Albanian writer" at all, it turns out.
90
EXAMEN DE LA OBRA DE HERBERT QUAIN
de Jorge Luis Borges
1 utilisateur
1
Member
spiphany
91
An den Mauern des Paradieses
de Martin Schneitewind
1 utilisateur
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: Speculations abound as to whether Schneitewind ever existed or is an invention of the manuscript's "discoverers", Köhlmeier and Schrott (the latter seems most likely).
93
Georges Zuk: Selected Verse
de Georges Zuk
1 utilisateur
Member
spiphany
Explications
spiphany: British-Canadian author Robin Skelton writing as a French surrealist poet.
94
La chasse spirituelle d'Arthur Rimbaud les illuminations
de Daniel Verstraete
1 utilisateur
Member
spiphany
95
Les Fiancés: Histoire milanaise du XVIIe siècle
de Alessandro Manzoni
3,129 membres
51 critiques
4
96
La littérature nazie en Amérique
de Roberto Bolaño
1,076 membres
28 critiques
3.9
97
J'irai cracher sur vos tombes
de Boris Vian
983 membres
23 critiques
½ 3.5
98
А Perfect Vacuum
de Stanisław Lem
645 membres
8 critiques
4
99
Le Conseil d'Égypte
de Leonardo Sciascia
346 membres
11 critiques
3.9
100
Colonel Jack
de Daniel Defoe
143 membres
2 critiques
½ 3.3