In 1861 Vrain-Lucas approached French mathematician and collector Michel Chasles and sold him forged letters of Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal.

Over 16 years Vrain-Lucas forged a total of 27,000 autographs, letters, and other documents from historical figures including Mary Magdalene, Cleopatra, Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, Joan of Arc, Cicero and Dante Alighieri - written in 19th-century French and on watermarked paper.

The most prominent French collectors bought them, helping him accumulate a significant wealth of hundreds of thousands of francs.

In 1867 Chasles approached the French Academy of Science, claiming to have proof that Pascal had discovered the laws of gravity before Newton.

In the following trial Chasles had to testify how he had been duped, how he had purchased large numbers of other forged letters and how he had paid total of 140,000-150,000 francs for them.