Laudator Temporis Acti

Edwin Way Teale, Journey into Summer (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1960), pp. 298-299:

Among the early collectors of these relics of the past, there appears the somewhat pathetic figure of the German schoolmaster Johannes Beringer, of Würzburg. An avid fossil hunter, he took his students on frequent field trips to a nearby outcropping of soft shale. One day, as a joke, his pupils carved the image of an animal on a bit of rock. Their credulous teacher pounced on it with such enthusiasm that the hoax continued. Each subsequent field trip yielded greater treasures — frogs, flowers, insects, animals, even astronomical objects. In 1726, Beringer published his Lithographia Würceburgensis, an elaborately illustrated volume describing all his finds. Shortly afterwards, he discovered rocks containing Hebrew letters and then one with his own name inscribed on it. This was more than even his credulity could stand. Too late he realized he had been duped. In an effort to buy back every copy of his book, Beringer spent his life savings and died in poverty. Even so, his story has the ironic semblance of a happy ending. After his death, his family recouped their fortunes by selling the copies of the book as a rare curiosity.