University’s prized Galileo manuscript exposed as forgery

The New York Times 20 August 2022

For decades the University of Michigan Library in the United States has prized a manuscript related to the discovery by Galileo Galilei of Jupiter’s moons, describing it as “one of the great treasures” in its collection. At least it would be if it were authentic, writes Michael Blanding for The New York Times.

After Nick Wilding, a historian at Georgia State University, uncovered evidence suggesting the manuscript was a fake, the library investigated and determined that he was right: The university said on Wednesday 17 August it had concluded that its treasured manuscript “is in fact a 20th-century forgery.”

“It was pretty gut-wrenching when we first learned our Galileo was not actually a Galileo,” Donna L Hayward, the interim dean of the university’s libraries, said in an interview. But since the purpose of any library is to expand knowledge, she said, the university had decided to be forthright about its findings and publicly announce the forgery. “To sweep it under the rug is counter to what we stand for.”
Full report on The New York Times site

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