1.1 Nicolai Abildgaard, Ossian. Den gamle blinde skotske barde synger til harpen sin svanesang (Ossian Singing His Swan Song), 1780–1782. Oil on canvas. 42 × 35.5 cm. Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst. Open access. [https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMS395] 17
1.2 Author unknown, The Vinland Map (Beinecke MS 350A), date unknown (mid-twentieth century?). Ink on parchment. 40 × 278 cm. New Haven, CT, Yale University Library. Open Access. [https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2002873] 24
2.1–2.2 AM 135 4to, folios 4v and 105v. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 34–35
2.3 AM 135 4to, folio 107r. The agreement starts at line 35 in the inner column and ends on line 18 of the outer column. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 36
2.4 GKS 3269 b 4to, folio 67v. The agreement is written in the outer column. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 38
2.5–2.6 AM 168 b 4to, folios 12r–12v. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 40–41
2.7–2.8 AM 137 4to, folios 3v–4r. The agreement starts at line 16 on folio 3v and ends at line 6 on folio 4r. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 42–43
2.9 AM 137 4to, folio 101r. The agreement starts at line 13. Source: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies 44
4.1 Annius of Viterbo, Commentaria fratris Ioannis Annii Viterbensis ordinis predicatorum Theologiae professoris super opera diversorum auctorum de Antiquitatibus loquentium (Rome, Eucharius Silber: 1498), fol. Qiii (2) r. BnF RES-G-173 76
4.2 Frontispiece from Berosus babillonicus de antiquitatibus Seu defloratio berosi Caldaica Cum figuris et ipsius eleganti vita Libris Geneseos perutilis (Paris, Jean de Gourmont: 1509). Early European Books, Copyright © 2011 ProQuest LLC. Image reproduced by courtesy of The Wellcome Trust, London 85
4.3 Berosus babilonicus: De his quae praecesserunt inundationem terrarum (Paris, Marnef: 1510) fol 8v, BnF NUMM-8703559 87
4.4 Antiquitatum Variarium Volumina XVII (Paris, Josse Badius – Jean Petit: 1512) fol. 117 v, BnF RES-G-1353 (1) 90
4.5 Antiquitatum Variarum autores (Lyon, Sebastian Gryphius: 1552) 2, BnF G-17993 96
4.6 Berosi Chaldaei Sacerdotis. Reliquorumque consimilis argumenti autorum (Lyon, Jean Temporal: 1554) 1v, Private collection 101
4.7 Title page from Sexti Iulii Frontini De Coloniis (Paris, Gilles Gilles – Nicolas II Gilles: 1588), Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, 324754 105
4.8 Antiquae Historiae ex XXVII authoribus contextae Libri VI (Lyon [Basel], s.n. [Konrad Waldkirch]: 1591) [7r], Private collection 108
7.1 Albrecht Altdorfer, Two Women Holding a Basket with Fruits, 1506. Pen and ink, heightened with white, on red-brown prepared paper, 17.3 × 12.3 cm. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett. Image bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, SMB / Jörg P. Anders 173
7.2 Albrecht Altdorfer, detail with the artist’s monogram of Two Women Holding a Basket with Fruits, 1506. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett. Image bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, SMB / Jörg P. Anders 174
7.3 Heinrich Aldegrever, Self-Portrait at Age Twenty-Eight, 1530. Engraving, 14.7 × 10.5 cm. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917 178
7.4 Hans Hoffmann, Stag Beetle, reversed copy after Dürer, c. 1574. Watercolour and gouache on paper, 11.4 × 10.3 cm. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett. Image bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, SMB / Jörg P. Anders 182
7.5 Hans Hoffmann, Hare, signed with faked monogram ‘AD’ and date ‘1528’. Watercolour and gouache on vellum, 35.5 × 26 cm. Berlin, Staatliche Museen, Kupferstichkabinett. Image bpk / Kupferstichkabinett, SMB / Jörg P. Anders 186
7.6 Albrecht Dürer, Hare, 1502. Watercolours and gouache on paper, 25 × 22.5 cm. Vienna, Albertina Museum. Image © Albertina, Wien 187
7.7 Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Bouquet of Flowers in a Niche, c. 1616–1619. Oil on wood, 35 × 23 cm. Vienna – Vaduz, Liechtenstein The Princely Collections. Image LIECHTENSTEIN, The Princely Collections, Vaduz-Vienna / SCALA, Florence 189
7.8 Hans Hoffmann, Thistle with Robin Perching on a Pine-Stump, c. 1582–1585. Watercolours and gouache on vellum, 46.4 × 35.8 cm. Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Image © Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Foto: Monica Runge 192
7.9 Hans Hoffmann, detail with the hidden ‘Hh’-monogram of Thistle with Robin Perching on a Pine-Stump, c. 1582–1585. Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Image © Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Foto: Monica Runge 193
8.1 Mercurius Britanicus, communicating the affaires of great Britaine for the better information of the people no. 27 (11–18 March 1644), London: Printed by G. Bishop and R. White, title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E.37(27) 206
8.2 Mercurius Britanicus, communicating the affaires of great Britaine for the better information of the people no. 27 (11–18 March 1644), London: Printed by G. Bishop and R. White, title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E. 37(28) 207
8.3 A Perfect Diurnall of the Passages in Parliament no. 14 (12–19 September 1642), London: Printed for Robert Wood, title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E. 240(7) 208
8.4 A Perfect Diurnall of the Passages in Parliament no. 14 (12–19 September 1642), London: Printed for Francis Coules, title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Burney Collection 209
8.5 Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 1 (14–21 September 1647), title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E.407(39) 212
8.6 Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 18 (11–18 January 1648), title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E.423(2) 213
8.7 Mercurius Pragmaticus no. 18 (11–18 January 1648), title page. Images produced by ProQuest as part of Early English Books Online. www.proquest.com. © British Library Board, Thomason Collection, E.423(1) 214
9.1 Anonymous painter, Giovanni Nanni (Annius) of Viterbo. Viterbo, Museo Comunale. Author’s photo 233
9.2 Curzio Inghirami, Armilla, 1634. Volterra, Biblioteca Comunale Guarnacci, Archivio Maffei, MS IV.53.4.6, Inv. 5883 236
9.3 The first scarith. Curzio Inghirami, Antiquitatum Ethruscarum Fragmenta, †† 2ii verso. Image provided by Sokol Books 238
9.4 The ‘dear household god’ of Prospero of Fiesole. Curzio Inghirami, Antiquitatum Ethruscarum Fragmenta (Frankfurt [Florence], [n.p.]: 1637) unpaginated insert. Image provided by Sokol Books 240
9.5 Curzio Inghirami, Antiquitatum Ethruscarum Fragmenta (Frankfurt [Florence], [n.p.]: 1637). Image provided by Sokol Books 242
9.6 Portrait of Curzio Inghirami, from Giuseppe Allegrini, Serie di ritratti d’uomini illustri toscani con gli elogi storici dei medesimi, Vol. 3 (Florence, Giuseppe Allegrini: 1770) 128 247
9.7 Anonymous, Portrait of Giorgio Grognet de Vassé, c. 1862. Mosta, Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady. Author’s photo 249
9.8 Giorgio Grognet de Vassé, Atlantic temple, c. 1854. Courtesy National Library, Malta 253
9.9 Greek relief sculpture from the island of Samothrace showing Agamemnon, Talthybius and Epeius, c. 560 BCE, Paris, Louvre. Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen, 2007, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons attribution-share alike 4.0 international license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 254
9.10 Giorgio Grognet de Vassé, Spiral motifs on Neolithic temples in Malta, c. 1854, watercolour, Valetta, National Library MS 615, Figs. 106–110. Photo: Courtesy of National Library, Malta 255
9.11 Mosta Dome, “Atlantic” detailing. Mosta, Malta, 1862. Author’s photo 257
10.1 Detail of first full page from MS V. r. 1 a, Royal Library (Kungliga Biblioteket), Stockholm, containing the start of Hjalmars saga och Hramers. On the top line, from the middle to the penultimate word, the runes spell out ‘abor auk samolis’ (Abor and Zamolxis) 265
10.2 Title page from Carl Lundius, Zamolxis primus Getarum legislator (Uppsala, Henricus Keyser: 1687). Image provided by Uppsala University Library and based on their exemplar 266
10.3 Title page, showing the start of Krembres saga, from MS V 138 b, Uppsala University Library (early eighteenth century). The introduction concerning the origins of the ‘translationʼ begins on the following leaf. Image provided by Uppsala University Library 275
10.4 Frontispiece from Niels Pedersen, Cimbrorum et Gothorum origines, migrationes, bella, atqve coloniæ, libris duobus (Leipzig, Johann Melchior Liebe: 1695). Image provided by Lund University Library 278
11.1 George Bickham the Younger, The Bottle Conjurer, from Head to Foot, without Equivocation, 1749. Engraving. London, British Museum. Image © Trustees of the British Museum 298
11.2 Thomas Blackmore, Samuel Foote Esqr, 1771. Mezzotint after Sir Joshua Reynolds. London, British Museum. Image © Trustees of the British Museum 299
11.3 George Bickham the Younger, The Bottle Conjurer, from Head to Foot, without Equivocation, 1749. Engraving. London, British Museum. Detail, left part of the image. Image © Trustees of the British Museum 301
11.4 George Bickham the Younger, The Champion; or Evening Advertiser by Capt Hercules Vinegar, of Pall-mall, 1740. Engraving. London, British Museum. Image © Trustees of the British Museum 308
11.5 Jan van de Velde II, Populus vult decipi – T’volck wil bedroghen zyn (People want to be conned (The Quack)), c. 1630. Engraving after Willem Pieterszoon Buytewech. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Image © Rijksmuseum 310
11.6 Jan Saenredam, ‘The Children of Mercury’, c. 1596, engraving after Hendrick Goltzius. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Image © Rijksmuseum 311
11.7 Gerard Dou, The Quack, 1652. Oil on panel. Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Image © Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 313
12.1 George Cruickshank, Bank Restriction Note, 1819. Etching on paper, 124 × 195 mm. Image © British Museum 324
12.2 Thomas Barrett, The Charlotte Medal, 1788. Silver, 74 mm (diameter). Sydney, Australian National Maritime Museum Collection purchased with the assistance of the Australian Government through the National Cultural Heritage Account. Image ©Australian National Maritime Museum Collection 335
12.3 Copper Charlotte Medal, 1788. Copper, 47 mm (diameter). Private Collection. Image © National Museum of Australia 338
12.4 Holey Dollar and Dump, 1813. Silver, 41 mm (diameter). Image © National Museum of Australia 342
12.5 Convict love token from John Bloxidge, 1839. Metal (non-specific), 36 mm (diameter). Canberra, National Museum of Australia. Image © National Museum of Australia 344
12.6 Convict love token from John Woodfield, 1831. Metal (non-specific), 35 mm (diameter). Canberra, National Museum of Australia. Image © National Museum of Australia 344
12.7 Convict love token from William Brain, 1838. Metal (non-specific), 36 mm (diameter). Canberra, National Museum of Australia. Image © National Museum of Australia 345
12.8 Convict love token depicting the Searrus, 1787. Copper, 30 mm (diameter). London, Sim Comfort Collection. Image © Sim Comfort Associates 346
12.9 Convict love token from John Jones, 1776. Metal (non-specific). Sydney, Timothy Millett Collection. Image © Timothy Millett 349