The Fortsas Hoax

1840 The Fortsas Hoax

On this day, an auction of a unique collection of very rare books was scheduled to be held in Binche, Belgium. Earlier that year, a catalogue with the lengthy title ‘Catalogue d'une tres-riche mais peu nombreuse collection de livres provenant de la bibliotheque de fen M. le Comte J. N. A. de Fortsas’ (Catalogue of a very rich but very small collection of books coming from the library of Monsieur Count J. N. A. Fortsas) had appeared in Europe and received a great deal of attention from book dealers, librarians and book collectors across the continent. Many of them had received the catalogue by mail.

Although only 52 books were listed in this extraordinary auction catalogue, the passions of the bibliophiles were excited because Jean Nepomucene Auguste Pichauld, Comte de Fortsas, who had died aged 69 on September 1 of the previous year, had a special passion of his own: he collected books of which only one copy existed, some of them new and previously unheard of sources. His heir, it seems, was offering the books for sale. “Buy, I conjure you, at any price, the follies of our rascally grandfather”, wrote the Princess de Ligne to her agent, urging him to buy one of the Fortas collection’s listed items, the one and only copy of her grandpere's memoir, Mes Campagnes.

In the days leading up to August 10, the hotels of Binche must have been booked out, for prospective purchasers flocked to the town. However, on the very day, it was announced in a broadside which suddenly appeared that the sale had been cancelled, and that the Count had donated his collection to the local library. The fact that there was no public library in Binche dismayed the buyers even further, but it soon dawned on the throng that they had been duped. Someone discovered that there was no Comte de Fortsas either ...