The World of High-Priced Book Collecting
An autographed copy of a first edition is special--something hard to reproduce on a Kindle or iPhone. "Signed editions give people a sense of intimacy with the author, who handled the book," says Kenneth W. Rendell, a South Natick, Mass. dealer in historical letters and documents. It can also add considerable value. "A first edition of Huckleberry Finn might be a couple of thousand dollars," explains Joshua Mann, co-owner of B&B Rare Books in Manhattan. "Add Twain's signature to it, and it could jump to six figures." Mark Hime, proprietor of Biblioctopus Antiquarian Books in Beverly Hills, handled a copy of Huck Finn that Twain had inscribed to his wife, Olivia. "I sold it for $175,000 in the mid-1990s," he recalls, after spending $90,000 for it in a 1991 sale. "It would be a lot more today."
Although one must be cafeful: "There are a lot of fakes out there," says Natalie Bauman, cofounder of Bauman Rare Books in Philadelphia. The most frequent forgees are the ones worth forging: Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Twain, Faulkner. "None of the signatures is particularly difficult to forge," observes Tom Congalton, owner of Between the Covers Rare Books in Gloucester City, N.J. That said, most dependable dealers and auction houses will stand by their wares--forever. That, plus credible provenance, is pretty good insurance if you're laying down $50,000 for a book. Genuine examples of many signatures abound; Hemingway, for example, signed lots of letters, bar coasters and bullfight programs. For less expensive items, compare your example with bona fide versions on the Web.
There are two idiot-proof ways to acquire genuine autographed books. One is to collect so-called signed limited editions--small print runs that precede or follow first trade editions, often numbered and signed by the author under the auspices of the publisher.
Link to this page