Arriving in London around 1703, a brilliant impostor calling himself George Psalmanazar captured the imagination of British intellectuals, including prominent members of the Royal Society. Claiming to be a native of Formosa, modern-day Taiwan, who had been abducted by Jesuits, Psalmanazar possessed an uncanny ability to fabricate plausible cultural details on the spot. To support his deception, he constructed an entire Formosan language complete with a complex grammar system, unique alphabet, and distinct calendar.
In 1704, he published a bestselling book detailing bizarre customs, such as eating raw meat and sacrificing thousands of young boys annually to pagan deities. Despite his pale skin and distinctly European appearance, London society accepted his explanation that native Formosans lived underground or used elaborate parasols to block the sun. Psalmanazar was invited to lecture at Oxford University and became a celebrated literary figure.
His elaborate hoax slowly unravelled over several years as genuine travelers from East Asia exposed his complete lack of real geographical knowledge. He eventually confessed to the scam, quietly retired from public life, and became a respected anonymous writer, leaving behind one of the most astonishing literary hoaxes in European history.