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Foxx and Berg

Recently picked up a very well preserved 1936 Who's who in Baseball book

Book has 16 signatures, all of them ink/aged for a long time (not sure I can say they were signed in 1936, but somewhere in the 1936-80 time frame given analysis of the cellulose, foxing, etc I have done

It has NYY sigs which I recognize well ( Combs, Dickey, Lefty, and the 2 "Reds" (Ruffing and Rolfe) )

It also had Moe Berg's an Jimm(y)ie Foxx signature. I have been able to match all of them to "like" exemplars, and the Foxx was a bit of a challenge because of the "Jimmy" vs "Jimmie"

Thinking of getting a CoA from Beckett or JSA for posterity (do not need it for me, but for my heirs)

Wanted to get opinions from the group on the Berg and Foxx (Ps I can post the others if someone wants to see them, but they are nt all that rare)

Note that the "Jimmy" is not s curled Y, but rather a straight down, the Cross on the "F" makes it look like a looped Y which it is not

Tags: Berg, Foxx, Jimmie, Jimmy, Moe, Morris

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Attachments: No photo uploads here

Foxx.jpg, 4.1 MB
Berg.jpg, 4.1 MB
Foxx detail cntrast.jpg, 209 KB

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Permalink Reply by Woody2Shoes on August 23, 2017 at 6:06pm

Never get lost in the consistency of fine details, like a 'y' should end with a tail heading one way or the other. From my experience, those are the little intangibles, variations that are subject to change. What you and I did here is a fantastic tool for autograph hobbyists to consider, a lot of food for thought. "how do they know whether the 'i' goes this way or that way", for instance. We transcended the fine details, the tiny variations that every signor has writing their name, nobody on earth signs exactly the same way twice, that's how seasoned hobbyists can readily determine autopen or other imprinted ink.

We're discussing the paper and ink and thanks to your equipment, you gave keen insight into the micromechanics of handwriting analysis. Being able to interpret and then consider the forensic evidence like we can here, trumps which direction a particular letter tailed off in, typically or untypically. This is a great thread! Great read, in my estimation, of great value to hobbyists.

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Permalink Reply by Bernie on August 23, 2017 at 7:18pm

I did not even think it has been 40 years since Foxx died. Honestly, I had to go to 150X because I could not see degradation at 10X or 30X. The book was definitely well kept. Even at 150X, the fiber "foxing" is very small, but it is there.

I have added full page scans of Berg, Foxx and Combs so the quality of the book is better ascertained. What got my attention is that these were very good quality signatures on very good ink and well preserved. The are large, but I hope not large enough to be rejected

Enjoy

Attachments: No photo uploads here