The Vizetelly Hoax

In January of 1849, British publisher David Bogue released Four Months Among the Goldfinders in Alta California..., by "J. Tyrwitt Brooks, M.D." The book's descriptions of the California gold mines helped to start the gold rush to California.

Years later, however, it turned out that the author of the book had never been to California and had never seen any gold mines. The author's real name was Henry Vizetelly, and he lived in England. In composing the book he had relied heavily on published sources such as John Fremont's Report. Vizetelly admitted the hoax in his 1893 autobiography, Glances Back Through Seventy Years.



References: Gudde, Erwin G. "The Vizetelly Hoax". Pacific Historical Review 1959 28(3): 233-236.

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