Mooncalf
There's a fabulous and monstrous tale in this week's New Yorker. It seems that a proof copy of Sidereus Nuncius (1610), with Galileo's own ink-wash drawings of the moon, had come into a dealer's hands...Far too good to be true. I mean good: it fooled Owen Gingerich, the great Copernican, through several very close examinations. And as I read on, the hairs on this forensic librarian's neck rose up in admiration and sheer horror. This forger is monstrous: he knows what he despoils.
The New Yorker, blast them, hasn't put all of this up online, but it's well worth getting hold of a copy of the magazine. If you do, and plume yourself on your immaculate proofreading, try reading the two title pages side by side. See if you can spot the flaw, the dropped stitch that unravelled the web.
Nine
The New Yorker, blast them, hasn't put all of this up online, but it's well worth getting hold of a copy of the magazine. If you do, and plume yourself on your immaculate proofreading, try reading the two title pages side by side. See if you can spot the flaw, the dropped stitch that unravelled the web.
Nine