Last week, I attended a lecture where the lecturer claimed to have found 40 generations of her family all the way back to Charlemagne in 724 AD!!! When I enquired about where she found documentation, she said that she had found 3 books in the New York City Public Library with a family history that matched her grandmother's maiden name. This woman had spent the past 12 years copying all the names and details from these books onto ancestor sheets, and claiming that everyone in the books - Henry 2nd thru Henry 8th, Elizabeth 1st, etc. back to Charlemagne were her ancestors. The above reminded me how easy it is to be led astray in genealogical research. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many nou-veau riche, who came from humble beginnings, wanted respectability. They hired genealogists to find their ancestors and create an impressive family history. Many dishonest genealogists created family histories that satisfied the clients, but were completely untrue. They created elaborate histories with anecdotes galore and many famous ancestors, mostly titled!! The finished history would be printed in handsome leather-bound volumes, and the nou-veau riche would present them to local libraries, colleges, family, friends and business acquaintances. The most infamous rogue genealogist, Gustave Anjou, charged $9,000.00 to prepare a "family history," at the turn of the century!!! Since then, many researchers have used these books, not realizing that the information was made from whole cloth (fabricated). Many patron submissions on the IGI come from books such as those. In fact, the Mormon Library carries over 100 family histories prepared by Anjou, all false. Eileen Herkes, NY