Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Lot 64

LITERARY HOAX - EDGAR ALLEN POE.
COSEY, JOSEPH. 1887-1950.
The Black Cat. Autograph Manuscript, being the first page of Poe's The Black Cat,

5 December 2019, 10:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$1,020 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

LITERARY HOAX - EDGAR ALLEN POE.

COSEY, JOSEPH. 1887-1950. The Black Cat. Autograph Manuscript, being the first page of Poe's The Black Cat, 1 p, 12mo (165 x 104 mm), in black ink, slight chipping to bottom edge, stain at top margin.

Joseph Cosey (a pseudonym for Martin Coneely) was one of the most notorious forgers of autograph documents of American literary and political figures. After being dishonorably discharged from the Army and serving prison time for various minor crimes, Cosey found his calling in 1929 when he tried to sell a stolen Benjamin Franklin document to a New York dealer and was told (incorrectly) that it was a forgery. He later sold a forged Lincoln signature to the same dealer, and went on to fake numerous documents, including a draft of the Declaration of Independence. After being arrested in 1937 and serving a year in prison, he continued his deceit well into the 1940s.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Signed to Spencer Tracy 1952 Hemingway, Ernest. 1899-1961. The Old Man and the Sea, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952.

A Presentation Copy of Kennedy's First Book to Spencer Tracy. Kennedy, John F. 1917-1963. Why England Slept. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1940.

ADVERTISING POSTERfor 'The Suffragette' newspaper, [c.1913-1914]

ILLUMINATED ADDRESS – CLARA CODD Illuminated printed address signed by Emmeline Pankhurst, [1909]

MUSIC & RECORDINGS – ETHEL SMYTH Collection of printed music, song sheets and records, [c.1911-1912]