The Edges of Truth: Secrecy, Artifice, and the Limits of Knowledge brings together scholars across disciplines to explore how what we perceive as truth has been constructed, obscured, misunderstood, contested, and reimagined throughout history. The conference opens with a keynote by Michael D. Gordin (Princeton), who reflects on how the boundary between institutionally recognized and marginalized knowledge has been shaped over time. The following day continues this conversation with talks on the trial and error behind invention and exploration, the practices of secrecy and deception, the art of reconstructing and visualizing the past, and the critical study of both intentional and unintentional forgeries. Together, these talks trace how imagination, quest for understanding, spirit, and artistry have continually pushed against the limits of what is accepted and known – and what is permitted. Held at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Museum and Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, this two-day conference probes the fragile edges of truth – and the social and intellectual stakes of who gets to define, transform, or defend it.

SEPTEMBER 17, 2025

Widener Lecture Hall, Penn Museum, 3260 South Street

5:30pm–7:00pm
Keynote

The Persistence of Wretched Subjects

• Michael D. Gordin, Dean of the College, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History; Professor of History, Princeton University

SEPTEMBER 18, 2025

Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion; Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts; 6th floor, Van Pelt Library, 3420 Walnut Street

8:30am–9:00am
Breakfast

9:00am
Welcome Remarks

Ayako Kano, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations; Director, Wolf Humanities Center; University of Pennsylvania
Julia Verkholantsev, Associate Professor of Russian and East European Studies; Forum on Truth Topic Director and conference organizer, Wolf Humanities Center; University of Pennsylvania

9:10am–10:50am | Session 1
Constructing Knowledge: Error, Uncertainty, Variation
Chair: Priyamvada Nambrath, Doctoral Candidate in South Asia Studies, University of Pennsylvania

• Paola Bertucci, Professor of History and History of Medicine; Curator-in-charge, History of Science and Technology Division, Peabody Museum, Yale University
  "Found in Translation: Unintentional Fabrications and Origin Stories in the History of Navigation"
  Who invented the navigational compass? According to a longstanding historical tradition, this consequential scientific instrument was introduced at the beginning of the 14th century by an Italian navigator from Amalfi, Flavio Gioia. A monument dedicated to him is at the center of a homonymous square in Amalfi, and scores of early modern authors celebrated his role in the history of navigation. Flavio Gioia, however, most likely never existed. A translation mistake by an early commentator created the man and originated the myth. The paper discusses the existence of this unintentional fabrication over centuries of European historical works and its role in the emergence of nationalistic narratives centered on conquest and colonial power.
• Eleanor Webb, Doctoral Candidate in History, University of Pennsylvania
  "Uncertain Signs: The Science of Physiognomy in Early Modern Italy"
  During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, several renowned Italian scholars, including Gerolamo Cardano and Giovanni Antonio Magini, composed lengthy treatises on metoposcopy. A sub-branch of physiognomy, both disciplines involved interpreting physical “signs” on the face and head to deduce internal health, character, and even predict behavior, often with reference to astrology and the influence of celestial movements on the material world. The surviving manuscript treatises are tomes of observational study—one containing over 2000 diagrams with accompanying commentary—that purport to provide comprehensive and empirical handbooks for the “science” of physiognomy. In the context of Catholic censorship and shifting epistemological paradigms, these authors sought, with considerable success, to transform the discipline of physiognomy from one associated with uncertain astrological predictions to one of certain scientific validity. At the same time, they framed physiognomy as an intellectual tool to detect deception and dissimulation on the part of friends, family and colleagues. These works therefore offer compelling insights into the perceived boundaries of truth and falsehood in this period, and into the contested boundaries between legitimate knowledge and superstition.
• Darin Hayton, Associate Professor of History of Science, Haverford College
  "Astrological Aphorisms and the Many Ways the Universe Worked”
  The Centriloquium was a collection of 100 astrological aphorisms attributed to Claudius Ptolemy. It circulated widely in various languages in premodern Europe, in both manuscript and print. Each aphorism purports to be a concise statement of truth, an account of the way the universe works. Yet different copies of the Centiloquium often include significant variations in the content of the aphorisms themselves, usually attributing the same effects to different planets or signs. After surveying common differences, the talk will concentrate on a few examples of the Centiloquium, drawn from Latin, Greek, and vernacular copies, to recover how early modern scholars accommodated contradictory knowledge claims. The case of Ptolemy’s Centiloquium also offers us a chance to reflect on historical practice. What we, as scholars, are doing when we insist on appending pseudo- to an author’s name, or when we correct a particular knowledge claim.

11:00am–12:10pm | Session 2
The Social Lives of Secrets: Concealment and Control of Information
Chair: Paul Cobb, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures; Director, Middle East Center, University of Pennsylvania

• Benedek Láng, Professor and Head of Department of Marketing and Argumentation Theory, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
  "Beyond Encryption: The Social History of Secrecy and Cryptography in Early Modern Europe"
  The presentation provides a social history of cryptography, focusing on the diverse applications of secrecy and encryption in early modern Europe. It highlights the gap between theoretical cryptographic methods and their practical use, revealing challenges such as outdated techniques, miscommunication, and misuse of tools. The study expands beyond traditional diplomatic contexts to explore secretive and cryptographic practices in religion, science, everyday life, and artisanal traditions, demonstrating the varied social and emotional contexts in which encryption was applied. The findings underscore the importance of integrating external social and cultural factors into the study of cryptography, revealing its broader applications and limitations in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.
• Christopher P. Atwood, Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania
  "What's the 'Secret' in the Secret History of the Mongols?"
  The most important history of the Mongol empire has come down to us with an odd name: The Secret History of the Mongols (Mongġol-un ni’uca tobciyan). The title appears, however, only in a late-fourteenth century Chinese transcription and translation—the work in its original format has been lost. Readers and scholars have wondered, was this the original title? And if so, what exactly was so “secret” (ni’uca) about this history that it became the Secret History of the Mongols? Given the loss of the original book format and all the meta-data implicit in it, these questions can only be answered speculatively. By placing the work in its original historiographical context and considering what passages in it might have been considered so secret, several potentially sensitive issues emerge. Whether it was embarrassing details about the family history of Chinggis (“Genghis”) Khan, precise counts of the number of Mongol soldiers, or partisan interventions into the succession struggle, weighing the precise ramifications of secrecy illuminates how information was controlled in the Mongol empire.

1:10pm–2:50pm | Session 3
Asserting Authority: The Art of Lies, Idle Talk, and Trickery
Chair: Ada Kuskowski, Associate Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania

• Julia Verkholantsev, Associate Professor of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania
  "Royal Rogues: The Truth about Trickery and Deception in Polish Legendary Narratives"
  The use of etymologia—a truth-seeking epistemological method in premodern historiography—allowed historians to reconstruct the legendary past through the interpretation of names. The case study this paper will discuss focuses on how this method gave rise to several stories about legendary Polish dukes, who are portrayed as liars and tricksters. Their deceptions range from cheating in a competition, to tricking an army of Alexander the Great, and even to murdering a brother and claiming credit for his victory over a dragon. By exploring the creative impulses behind the invention of such motifs of deception and trickery – above all the etymological interpretation of names – this talk will consider why lying appeared predestined and inherent to these figures, and why such stories endured and evaded censorship or redaction, despite their unflattering portrayal of royal protagonists.
• Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano, Assistant Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania
  "Ottoman Pleasantries: Idle Talk, Lies, and Rivalries among the Early Modern Ottomans"
  This talk will focus on stories about lies, accusations of idle talk, and tales of rivalry and misdeeds among early modern Ottomans. It will argue that with the emergence of new genres, such as works of literary criticism, biographical dictionaries (tezkire), histories, and compilations of humorous anecdotes and other pleasantries (letaifnameler), the Ottoman urban and educated elite of the sixteenth century discussed, amplified, and challenged others and their life stories and fame in an increasingly competitive environment. The purpose of this talk is two-fold: first, to raise questions about how Ottomans engaged through everyday practices and storytelling with truth. Second, to show that this engagement occurred not only in philosophical, spiritual, or legal texts, but also in practices of storytelling that were central for the making and unmaking of social and political networks at the time.
• Pawel Maciejko, Associate Professor of History and Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Chair in Classical Jewish Religion, Thought, and Culture, Johns Hopkins University
  "Rabbi Jonathan Eibeschuetz and the Jesuit Art of Lying"
  The controversy around Jonathan Eibeschütz, one of the most celebrated rabbinic authorities of the 18th century, has been termed “the most contentious Jewish debate of the past three hundred years.” It has been deemed the pivotal moment in Jewish history, and even, if perhaps somewhat exaggeratedly, the “Jewish French Revolution.” The controversy erupted in early 1751, when Eibeschütz, who served at that time as the chief rabbi of the Triple Community of Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbeck, was accused that the amulets he had been dispensing for the past twenty years contained references to the discredited messiah-claimant, Sabbatai Tsevi. This paper will examine strategies of dissimulation and equivocation deployed by Eibeschütz in his defense. This paper shall argue that most of these strategies are based on the techniques of mental reservation, which the rabbi learned during his interactions with the Jesuits in Prague in the 1720s.

3:00pm–4:10pm | Session 4
Visualizing Histories: Is All Truth That Meets the Eye?
Chair: Lynn Ransom, Curator of Programs, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, Penn Libraries

• Zoë Opačić, Associate Professor, History and Theory of Architecture, Birkbeck College, University of London
  "Seeing and Believing: Visualizing the Late Medieval and Early Modern City"
  From early medieval panoramas to the birth of modern cartography, city-views were born of desire to describe, measure and index urbanised worlds of increasing complexity. By the 16th century city views are legion, most famously those in Hartmann Schedel’s 1493 Weltchronik which combined idealised views and those accurately observed, the latter frequently used by scholars as the earliest, truthful record of their medieval appearance. These views present a real shift in accurate and topographical representation of late medieval and early modern world. From linear views of urban horizons punctuated by recognisable landmarks whose precise spatial relationships remained vague, to the more graspable and all-seeing ‘birdseye’ views, representations of cities advanced with optical and mathematical tools such as perspective and surveying. By contrast other examples, such as Vicke Schorler’s 19-metres-long view of Rostock, place value on the personal, subjective ‘lived’ experience over the scientific and objectivised. Using a range of examples this paper will question to what extent are city views ever a neutral record of the factual reality or whether they create urban simulacra—imaginary worlds and a constructed reality.
• Emily Steiner, A. M. Rosenthal Professor of English, University of Pennsylvania
  "History on a Roll: Legends, Lies, and Politics in the Medieval Genealogical Roll Chronicle"
  Emily Steiner and Eleanor Webb, with help from other students and staff, have transcribed, translated, annotated, and digitized FLP MS Lewis E.201 (c.1461-64), an amazing 19-ft genealogical roll chronicle from 15th-century England, which is now being put in digital conversation with another, even longer roll in Penn’s collection, LJS MS Roll 1066. Dozens of these rolls survive—many more are yet to be discovered—and were part of the Lancaster vs. York propaganda machine of what is now called the Wars of the Roses. These rolls work to persuade readers—through their intricate designs, their cunning redactions of biblical, classical, and medieval histories, and their commentary at key junctures—to support one royal faction (Henry VI or Edward IV) over the other. At the same time, they work to persuade readers to believe big historiographical “lies,” such as simultaneity, continuity, linearity, and succession. Or, in other words, they aim to convince readers that history itself is true. This paper will use MS Lewis E.201 to address the following questions: Which truths do rolls tell and which do they conceal? How does the presentation of history in the genealogical roll chronicle "trick the eye"? How do medieval information technologies like the roll chronicle support political claims, and how do certain political claims necessitate historiographical innovations like the roll chronicle? And finally how do the mechanics of the roll—rolling and unrolling—enable readers to accept broader principles behind the craft of historical writing?

4:20pm–5:30pm | Session 5
The Value of the Fake: Forgery as Historical Testimony
Chair: Nicholas Herman, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Curator, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies; Medieval Studies Librarian, Penn Libraries

• Balázs Nagy, Associate Professor; Department of Medieval and Early Modern European History, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
  "Forged Medieval Documents as Authentic Historical Sources? Some Case Studies from Central Europe"
  The paper examines various forms of document forgery in medieval Central Europe. Although forged documents have survived from the earliest period of literacy, there were periods when their proportion increased significantly. The motivations behind the production of forged documents varied widely—from straightforward attempts at financial gain to cases where falsified documents recorded authentic and legally valid transactions. This paper proposes a typology of forgeries, aiming to shed light on the underlying causes of falsification. In doing so, it will explore the circumstances in which forgeries are created, including the role of the issuing institutions. Through an analysis of selected case studies, from Bohemia, Poland, Austria, and Hungary the paper seeks to understand how contemporary actors perceived the authenticity and authority of written texts and how these perceptions influenced the use—and misuse—of documentary evidence.
• Kenneth Lapatin, Curator of Antiquities, J. Paul Getty Museum
  "Learning from Forgery"
  Embarrassed by failures of judgement, museums and collectors regularly relegate forgeries to deep storage, for such objects cannot provide reliable evidence for the periods, cultures, or creators they purport to represent. When recognized, interrogated, and interpreted, however, forgeries offer significant insight into histories of taste and the construction of the past. This paper, therefore, presents some examples of forgeries as valuable testimony to the desires and beliefs of individuals and groups at the time at which they were created.

5:30pm–7:00pm | Closing Reception