Vrain-Lucas convicted over 27,000 forged letters

1861

From 1861 the French forger Denis Vrain-Lucas sold the mathematician and collector Michel Chasles counterfeit letters attributed to figures including Newton, Pascal, Cleopatra and Mary Magdalene, all written in nineteenth-century French on watermarked paper. Over sixteen years he produced roughly 27,000 documents, and Chasles defended their authenticity before the Académie des Sciences. In February 1870 the Correctional Tribunal of Paris sentenced him to two years in prison plus a 500-franc fine and costs.