Dr Leon Litvack uncovers suspect “Charles Dickens” letter
Leon Litvack (AEL), Principal Editor of the Charles Dickens Letters Project, has uncovered a letter which, in his professional opinion, he considers to be inauthentic.
However, Dr Litvack’s knowledge of, and expert research on, Dickens’s letters and manuscripts drew him to the conclusion that the letter was inauthentic.
Dr. Litvack’s opinion attracted media coverage and, on 10 January 2021, the Sunday Telegraph published an article on his work. As reported in that article, Dr Litvack performed a detailed analysis in forming his opinion, identifying key differences in the way certain alphabetical letters were written and spaced, when compared with those found in authentic, verified Charles Dickens letters.
Responding to the Sunday Telegraph article, Ideal World has explained that whilst it had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the letter, and that all collectables went through an authentication process, it had withdrawn the item from sale temporarily to carry out further inquiries.
As part of his work on the Dickens letters, Dr Litvack undertakes authentications and valuations for major auction houses including Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonham’s, and Lyon & Turnbull. Most new Dickens letters that come into the public domain are genuine; occasionally, however, inauthentic examples emerge and are generally identified as such before they are put on sale, thus maintaining intact the reputations of legitimate sellers of manuscript material.