http://flcsvr.rc.kyushu- u.ac.jp/~michel/serv/china/taiwan/pics/psalmanazar_abc.jpg
found an image of george psalmanazar's "formosan" alphabet- there is an intriguing literary hoax behind the alphabet and george himself- the story is told beautifully in paul collins' _banvard's folly_ but here is a rough outline from encyclopedia.com- thought maybe someone might enjoy trying to make a vispo font from it or just enjoy seeing it- he was also a friend of samuel johnson. glad to see so many new names on the list. (săl&180;menā´zer) , 1679?-1763, English literary imposter. His real name is not known. Born and educated in France, he developed a marked ability in learning languages. He traveled through Europe posing as a Japanese convert to Christianity. In Holland (1702) he was examined by William Innes, an English army chaplain who, though he penetrated Psalmanazar's pose, sent him to England as a Formosan convert in order to gain credit for the conversion. Psalmanazar was able without detection to publish An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa (1704), to invent a complete “Formosan” language, and to instruct Oxford students in the use of it. However, suspicions arose, and after 1706 he was forced to repudiate his claims. He scraped a meager living by literary hack work, became intensely religious, and wrote the story of his life and impostures, Memoirs of ------ Commonly Known by the Name George Psalmanazar (1764).
