In 1920s and 1930s celebration of four anniversaries--the centennial of birth of Stephen Foster (1826-1864), bicentennials of births of George Washington (1732-1799) and Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791), and sesquicentennial of founding of United States--increased interest in related antiquarian artifacts, and brought musical contributions of two Pennsylvania composers to attention of a general audience. (1) While increased knowledge and pride in American musical tradition resulted, anniversaries also inspired unscrupulous dealers to take advantage of a new market for old manuscripts. Their fraud is still having repercussions today. As one of centers of American musical activity in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Pennsylvania was renowned for illustrious composers--Francis Hopkinson, Stephen Foster, William Henry Fry, and Francis Johnson to name just a few--and celebrated organizations like Mendelssohn Club, Musical Fund Society, and Philadelphia Orchestra. By 1930s, their accomplishments had become part of state's history, and their documents began to be collected by libraries, museums, and antiquarian dealers. Among dealers in Philadelphia were Harry Dichter, brothers Henry and Paul Woehlcke, Charles Nagy, and Charles Weisberg, who was owner of a rare-book store on Walnut Street called Folios. Weisberg was considered one of Philadelphia's most colorful characters and was nicknamed the Baron due to his meticulous appearance. (2) While a student at University of Pennsylvania, he had been proclaimed a master mind, with a remarkable faculty for concentration, an excellent memory, unusual command of English language, keen perception, and extreme facility in development of new habits. (3) By time he left Penn (he never graduated), he had achieved best scholastic record in university's history. In mid-1930s, he was using that intelligence to con art connoisseurs and collectors, selling some $2,258 worth of nonexistent rare books and prints to people and institutions all over United States. His activities did not extend just to fanciful texts; Weisberg also passed dozens of forged checks, and he doctored otherwise insignificant editions of books with faked signatures of such American luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and Katherine Mansfield. (4) Most fortuitously, he purchased a significant amount of old paper and documents from Philadelphia Custom House sale in 1938. His involvement in tampering with materials acquired from that sale led to entire contents (some forty tons of genuine documents, including many significant records of United States history) being viewed as of questionable authenticity. (5) Yet as audacious as these frauds may seem, Weisberg's greatest confidence scheme involved music manuscripts. THE MUSICAL FUND SOCIETY (MFS) Founded in 1820, Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia is oldest music society in continuous existence in United States. To support its activities, society acquired a significant collection of printed and manuscript scores dating from late eighteenth to early twentieth century. (6) Among items society collected was a group of manuscripts by Francis Hopkinson, signer of Declaration of Independence, designer of American flag, poet, satirist, inventor, and one of America's first composers. (7) On 16 February 1933, MFS board authorized purchase of thirteen Hopkinson manuscripts for $5,000 (later reduced to $3,500) from Hungarian emigre Charles J. Nagy. (8) Two years later, on 8 February 1935, Dr. Edward Brooks Keffer (9) reported to MFS board that he had submitted Hopkinson materials purchased from Nagy to manuscript specialist Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, (10) who believed they were not genuine. In a letter written immediately after board meeting, secretary of MFS, Spencer P. …