Bruce Peel Special Collections

Whether print or digital, text or image, artistic or scientific, rare or common, most of the content we encounter contains accidental mistakes–ranging from typos to factual errors to errors arising from prejudicial assumptions–and a significant proportion of it also contains deliberate misinformation resulting from various forms of forgery, fakery, and piracy. Bruce Peel Special Collections is typical of special collections and rare book libraries in North American universities in the twenty-first century, housing no more or less examples of forgery, fakery, and piracy than others. Notorious forgers represented in Peel collections include Thomas Chatterton and William Henry Ireland, as well as numerous forgeries created by Thomas Wise in partnership with Harry Buxton Forman, while many other forgers are less well known. Other rare books that are not what they appear to be may have been written by persons with false identities or fake credentials or published without permission from or consultation with the author, and are often modified in unexpected ways. Researchers are reminded to be attentive and skeptical of all sources, whether rare or common. 

Peel Librarian Linda Quirk curated an exhibition on this topic with an accompanying book/catalogue: Forgers, Fakers, and Publisher-Pirates (2025-2026). Many of the rare books shown in this exhibition can be viewed digitally (for free) thanks to our colleagues at the University of Alberta Library and at other libraries around the world.

Collection Formats: 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century -- click to see other collections with this format