Chaired by Professor Andrew Morrison from The Manchester Centre for Correspondence Studies (MCCS)

How and why were letters often forged in the name of others? We aim to explore this fascinating area of research and how authors attempted to authenticate their correspondence.

‘Strategies of multiple stages of forgery - Ignatius of Antioch and Paul’

Prof. Markus Vinzent (Professor of History & Theology, King’s College London)

The letters of Ignatius are preserved in at least five different collections - single letters like his letter to the Romans and to Polycarp, three letters, seven letters, twelve/thirteen letters, and seventeen letters. Looking at three of these (the collection of 3, 7, 12/13 letters), the paper will highlight the strategies how new forgeries build on older forgeries and how earlier forgery stages impacted on later stages. This will then be compared to a similar phenomenon that one can discover in the growth of the Pauline letters.

‘Authentication and Innovation in antiquity: in search of the authentic’

Prof. Irene Peirano Garrison (Pope Professor of the Latin Language & Literature, Harvard) Prof. Hindy Najman (Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oriel College, Oxford)

The drive to capture the authentic, to reconstruct ur-moments and unmask impostors is at the heart of both classical and biblical philology. This paper traces the history of this discourse of authenticity with special emphasis on the 19th century. After discussing the religious and cultural discourses that contributed to the rise of authenticity thus conceived, we show the ways in which this conceptualization continues to shape our respective fields even today. The paper ends with a call to integrate reception and hermeneutics by considering innovation as an authentication mechanism in antiquity.

We will also be sharing some correspondence material from The Rylands collections with the public in a drop-in Collection Encounter.

This event is funded by a John Rylands Research Institute grant.

This event will take place in person at John Rylands Research Institute and Library. You can also attend remotely via Zoom. Details on how to join remotely will be included in your order confirmation.

Rylands accessibility information can be found here.

If you have any questions about this event you may contact us by telephone on +44 (0)161 306 0555 or email at jrl.events@manchester.ac.uk.

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