CHAPTER XV AUTHENTICITY OF NEWSPAPERS “ So common an object as a newspaper is seldom the subject of serious reflection .” — Dibblee.
THE question of the authenticity of the material available for
his use is of primary importance to the historian . But it is a question that in the very nature of the case can rarely arise in connection with the newspaper, - general forgery of complete newspapers is precluded by the expense involved , by ease of
detection , by lack of sufficient motive for attempting it. Yet a few such instances are known and they have aroused interest commensurate with their rarity .
The term forgery implies a criminal intent on the part of the forger, but the so-called " forged newspapers” can not all be classed as such within this meaning of the word. Someof these so -called forgeries are to be attributed to ignorance or to care lessness, some have been fabrications growing out of the love
of jesting, others have been in the strictest sense deliberate forgeries, others have been reprints of well-known numbers
circulated for advertising purposes, while still others have come into existence for reasons not as yet evident. Partial forgeries have not been uncommon, but they have usually been confined to special letters issued for a special purpose .
The first important instance of a fabricated newspaper is probably the transcriptions of some alleged fragments of the Acta Diurna of 168 B. C . These were given general publicity through their publication in the Gentleman 's Magazine, where the origin of the transcription is attributed to the Annales of
Pighius published in 1615 and their genuineness vouched for by the learned Dodwell in 1692. Dr. Johnson seems to have pinned his faith , as regards their authenticity , on the lineage
ascribed to them by their sponsors, but he confesses he finds 11740, 10 : iii- viii.
