Samuel Richard Parchment

The Ireland Shakespeare forgeries were a cause célèbre in 1790s London, when author and engraver Samuel Ireland announced the discovery of a treasure-trove of Shakespearean manuscripts by his son William Henry Ireland. Among them were the manuscripts of four plays, two of them previously unknown. Upon the release of the manuscripts, such respected literary figures as James Boswell (biographer of Samuel Johnson) and poet laureate Henry James Pye pronounced them genuine, as did various antiquarian…