posted on July 18, 2001 04:40:58 AM
Good morning all,
I was looking at a book I want to sell that was part of a box lot, and the author's name is handwritten inside.
Is there a website for researching signatures? I can't think of any reason (except fraud) that someone would want to write the author's name on the inside, but I don't want to sell this book as signed unless it is.
posted on July 18, 2001 05:40:13 AM
I would say it greatly depends on who the author is and the type and age of the book. If you have some sort of self help book or local history book, then the chances are good that the signature is real as a lot of those books are sold at launch parties etc. Autobiographies are often signed as well, as the authors often sign a number of blank books for later resale at a store they have attended for a signing. Same with a lot of modern literature. If it is signed Charles Dickens however, then I would be very wary, and research it really well first. If the author is alive you could check online by their name to see if there is a fan club or information site. You could also check ebay for other books by the same author to see if there are others up... Also be wary of the printers printing the signature of the author on the cover, dust jacket or flyleaf. I have seen sellers on ebay saying they have a signed first edition, when it is just the author's signature printed in the book. You could also probably write an autograph dealer (check out autographs on ebay for some dealers who specialize in them) - they will probably know where to go, or know themselves.
posted on July 18, 2001 05:55:25 AM
Also, alot of books have had the author's signature printed in them. I work in a bookstore and many people have brought in these books thinking they were actual signatures. The most notorious are the complete works of Mark Twain put out by Harper and the Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
Another thing is mechanical signing. Some authors who send out alot of signed books have a machine that mimics their signature. Alot of congressmen who write their memoirs have this.
[ edited by mark090 on Jul 18, 2001 05:56 AM ]
posted on July 18, 2001 06:13:39 AM
I sell used books, nothing exceptional. I've had several signed books, nothing over 30 years old, no "name" authors.
I presume them to be legitimate. Who would bother to forge the signature of an author no one really knows?
They may fetch a couple of dollars more than usual, but not so that anyone would notice.
[ edited by mark090 on Jul 18, 2001 05:56 AM ]