Tuesday November 10th 2026
Fakes and Forgeries is on at the National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, until April 2027.
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Visitors to the National Library of Scotland are being invited to separate fact from fiction in a new free exhibition exploring historic fakes and forgeries.
‘Fakes and Forgeries’, at the Library’s George IV Bridge building in Edinburgh, brings together material from its archive collections which has historical interest because of its inauthenticity.
Chris Cassells, the Library’s Head of Archives and Manuscript Collections, said the display was particularly timely amid growing concerns around deepfakes and artificial intelligence.
He said: “Deepfakes and generative AI have undermined our ability to tell fact from fake and we’re now grappling with a world where seeing is not necessarily believing. But, while the technology has changed, the history of fakes and forgeries goes back centuries.”
The exhibition explores the work of notorious 19th-century forgers, including Alexander ‘Antique’ Smith, who produced hundreds of fake documents in the names of famous figures such as Mary, Queen of Scots, Robert Burns, Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott.
Another featured fraudster, known by aliases including ‘Major Byron’, claimed to be the son of Lord Byron and a Spanish aristocrat. He produced forged poems and letters so convincing they even fooled Byron’s own publishing house, John Murray.
The display also examines the Sobieski Stuart brothers, who falsely claimed descent from Bonnie Prince Charlie and fabricated historical documents describing Scottish clan tartans.
Mr Cassells said forgeries had become part of literary history, with some notorious examples now collected by institutions in their own right.
However, he said the circulation of fake documents remained a challenge for libraries, with curators needing to remain vigilant when acquiring historical material.
‘Fakes and Forgeries’ is on now at the National Library of Scotland and runs until April 2027. Entry is free.
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