Robert Spring, a 19th-century forger, was so good at his job that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he made some money by selling his small but real collection of early US autographs. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. In order not to be found out, he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale. Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can't go to a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don't have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals. In Spring's time, fight after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the southern states. So, Spring invented a respectable lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General 'Stonewall' Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny's financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty. Why did Spring sell his false autographs in England and Canada?