Galileo’s famous letter, which was captured by the University of Michigan in 1938 and exhibited in the university library since then, has come to the fore today with a striking fact. As a result of research conducted by a professor, the university announced that the letter, which has been on display for decades, is actually fake.
In the statement shared by the University of Michigan, it was reported that it was determined that the paper on which the letter was written could belong to the 18th century at most. This date was more than a hundred years after the astronomer’s death. Another scientist’s eagle eyes were what led to this event.
The words in the letter revealed the forgery:
After seeing a photo of the letter, historian Nick Wilding from Georgia State University was convinced that something was ‘strange’. Wilding stated that some of the word choices in the letter did not match the 17th century period. So in May he sent an email to Pablo Alvarez, the curator of the University of Michigan Library.
Upon this e-mail, the University of Michigan started a review of the letter. After 3 months of investigation, the university announced that Wilding’s suspicions were correct. The letter was not written by Galileo.
So who wrote the letter?
The information shared by the university did not specify who exactly wrote the letter. But the university offered a dubious name on the subject. That person was Italian Tobia Nicotra, who became famous for forgery in the 1920s-1930s. One piece of evidence confirming this suspicion was the watermark found on the paper on which the letter was written. These watermarks, often found on old paper, identified the paper’s manufacturer and place of manufacture.
The watermark on the letter paper included “AS”, the initials of the paper manufacturer, and “BMO”, the abbreviation of the Italian city of Bergamo. Papers with the BMO watermark date back to 1770 at most.
Along with this discovery, another potential fraudulent document was discovered:
Along with this letter from Galileo, it was announced that another Galileo document found in New York City’s Morgan Library could be forged. The new scam discovery has been a lesson, according to the university’s statement.
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