spurious book; forgery; pseudepigrapha
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesnoun
book of uncertain authorship or date; spurious text
formalA technical term in bibliography and historical textual criticism describing works whose true origin or period of composition cannot be verified.
The author and date of composition of this ancient book cannot be verified, so it has been identified as a spurious text.
When studying historical documents, scholars must carefully distinguish between authentic and spurious texts, eliminating forgeries.
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An important task of bibliography is the identification of spurious books.
noun
book falsely attributed to ancient authors; pseudepigrapha
formalSpecifically refers to works forged under the names of famous historical figures to lend authority or credibility to the content.
Liezi was once suspected to be a pseudepigrapha falsely written by later generations under the name of Lie Yukou.
In ancient times, many pseudepigrapha were forged under the names of sages such as the Yellow Emperor and Shennong.
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The study of textual criticism specifically examines these pseudepigrapha falsely attributed to ancient figures.