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A translation of these forged letters which were written by M. de Caraccioli was published in 1776. By the Gent. Mag. (xlvi. 563) they were accepted as genuine. In The Ann. Reg. for the same year (xix. 185) was published a translation the letter in which Voltaire had attacked their authenticity. The passage that Johnson quotes is the following: 'On est en droit de lui dire ce qu'on dit autrefois a l'abbé Nodot: "Montrez-nous votre manuscript de Pétrone, trouvé a Belgrade, ou consentez
Owing to the exigencies of military service, Nodot had been unable to go in person to Frankfort, and that he had therefore availed himself of the friendly interest and services of a certain merchant of Frankfort, who had volunteered to find an amanuensis, have a copy made, and send it to Nodot.
The difficulty of forging a work like the Satyricon will better appear, when it is considered that such attempts have been actually made. A Frenchman, named Nodot, pretended that the entire work of Petronius had been found at Belgrade in the siege of that town in 1688.
This was done, and Nodot concludes his letter to Charpentier by requesting the latter to lay the result before the Academy and ask for their blessing and approval. These Nodotian Supplements were accepted as authentic by the Academics of Arles and Nimes, as well as by Charpentier.
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