Robert Spring, a nineteenth-century forger（伪造者）,was so good at his profession 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 prospered（兴旺）by selling his small but genuine（名符其实的）collection of early U.S autographs Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection, he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale and circulation.
