Frauds - Richard Aldington - Joe Stevens Estate

Content Focus: The book is a collection of biographical essays on historical charlatans and literary frauds, written in Aldington's acerbic, investigative style. It builds on his earlier critiques (e.g., of Lawrence as a "liar, charlatan, and pervert") and targets figures who fabricated identities or achievements for gain or fame. Key chapters include:

• Lambert Simnel (pretender to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses).
• George Psalmanazar (18th-century literary hoaxer who invented a fake Formosan language and culture).
• Maundy Gregory (20th-century British honours salesman and forger linked to the Zinoviev Letter scandal).
• Other rogues like literary impostors and political hoaxers, emphasizing themes of deception in history and literature.

Richard Aldington (1892–1962) was an English writer, poet, and biographer, best known as a founding member of the Imagist movement alongside figures like Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. His work spanned poetry, novels (e.g., the anti-war Death of a Hero, 1929), and controversial biographies, including a scathing 1955 takedown of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Enquiry), which damaged his UK reputation but was later vindicated by scholars. Aldington's later writings often explored literary hoaxes, forgeries, and impostors, reflecting his interest in debunking myths—a theme prominent in his 1957 book Frauds.

1957 HC 1stEd - DJ shelfworn, foxing on inner flaps - Foxing on cover and front flyleaf, Price written on front flyleaf, Foxing on page edges - Good Cond