Nick Wilding is a British-born American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. He became internationally known after exposing as a forgery a copy of Galileo’s “Sidereus Nuncius” that purportedly included Galileo’s own watercolors of the moon.

Life

Wilding studied English at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. After his B. A. with highest honors in 1992 he made in 1993 at the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

his Masters with a thesis on Renaissance. Subsequently, he conducted research at the European University Institute and in 2000 he received his doctorate for PhD with a dissertation on natural philosophy and communication in early modern Europe. He carried out postdoctoral research at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, and from 2002 to 2005 at

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. 2005/2006 Wilding was at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, 2006/2007 at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, and since 2007 as Assistant (now Full) Professor at

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

. In 2012 Wilding was able to prove on the basis of forensic evidence that a special edition of

Sidereus Nuncius ''Sidereus Nuncius'' (usually ''Sidereal Messenger'', also ''Starry Messenger'' or ''Sidereal Message'') is a short astronomical treatise (or ''pamphlet'') published in Neo-Latin by Galileo Galilei on March 13, 1610. It was the first published ...

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

consisting of unknown ink drawings which was found in 2005 and designated as authentic was a fake that had been created by the Italian antiquarian and library thief Marino Massimo De Caro, former director of the Girolamini Library, Naples, Italy, and introduced into the U.S. antique book trade.Nicholas Schmidle
''“A Very Rare Book”. The mystery surrounding a copy of Galileo’s pivotal treatise''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

, 16 December 2013 Now, people regard him as an expert in spotting a forgery, and many looking to buy or sell rare and/or antiquated books come to him to have him authenticate the texts

External links

Faculty Homepage of Nick Wilding
* Library Blog der Georgia State University
''GSU Faculty Member Uncovers Fake Book Sold By Corrupt Library Director''
* Nick Wilding speaks about

's "

" at the

Linda Hall Library The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of sc ...

, focusing on the fine paper, presentation copy of the Venice, 1610 printing of Sidereus with Galileo's manuscript corrections] i
''Conversing with the Starry Messenger''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilding, Nick British art historians Living people British male writers 21st-century British historians 20th-century British historians Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Warwick Columbia University faculty University of Miami faculty Georgia State University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)