Forman, H. Buxton (Harry Buxton), 1842-1917

Harry Buxton Forman was born in Camberwell, England, in 1842. His literary career began in 1869 with a series of articles in Tinsley's Magazine which were reprinted in 1871 as Our Living Poets. Other works include Poetical Works and Other Writings of John Keats in four volumes, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Her Scarcer Books (1896), and Hitherto Unpublished Poems and Stories by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1914). Forman and Thomas James Wise were implicated in a commercial forgery scheme spanning the years 1886 to 1916. During this period, they produced over fifty forgeries, specializing in British poetry and literary works of the nineteenth century. Many of their fabrications were cleverly manufactured owing to Forman's vast knowledge of the printing trade. His elder brother, Alfred William Forman (1840-1925), also a man of letters, was born in London on 13 September 1840. He became interested in Richard Wagner, and translated the libretto of Der Ring des Nibelunge which was privately printed (1873-1875) and favorably received by Wagner. Maurice Buxton Forman, Harry's youngest and favorite son, followed in his father's footsteps. After finishing college, he tried several jobs before ending up at the Post Office. Maurice was well acquainted with his father's literary work and friends. He and Thomas James Wise sorted the Buxton Forman Collection after his father's death in 1917, prior to its sale as part of the estate.