Mark Hofmann

Mark Hofmann (born December 7 1954), a disaffected member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a prolific counterfeiter who murdered two people in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently serving a prison sentence at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Hoffman is widely regarded as one of the most skilled forgers in history.

Legacy in document collecting

During his career, Mark Hofmann fooled some very renowned people. Among them was Daniel Lombardo, a curator for a library of material written by Emily Dickinson. Hofmann sold him a "newly discovered" manuscript copy of an unpublished Dickinson poem for $24,000. The document was later determined to be a fake. Lombardo then remarked, "Hofmann was one of the most skilled forgers in this century. The lengths he went to fool all the experts were extraordinary."

Related Topics:
Daniel Lombardo - Emily Dickinson

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Before Hofmann's criminal career was exposed, some of his "discoveries" were also presented to Kenneth Rendell, one of the top document experts in the United States and one of the men responsible for debunking the forged "Hitler Diaries". Like others duped by Hofmann, Rendell, after initially dismissing the documents as forgeries, later pronounced them consistent with their claimed origin.

Related Topics:
Kenneth Rendell - United States - Hitler Diaries

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Nearly all of Hofmann's documents have been determined to be forgeries. Indeed, there is now debate about whether any of them are legitimate, even those widely regarded as genuine.

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Among Hofmann's earliest critics were former LDS members Jerald and Sandra Tanner. Though Hofmann's "discoveries" often appeared to bolster the Tanner's own arguments against the church, Jerald had by early 1984 concluded there was significant doubt as to the Salamander Letter's authenticity. By late 1984, Jerald Tanner questioned the authenticity of most, if not all, of Hofmann's "discoveries" based in part on their unproven provenance.

Related Topics:
Jerald and Sandra Tanner - 1984 - Provenance

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Ironically, Hofmann forgeries are now collector's items themselves.

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