We are an eBay affiliate and may be compensated for clicks on links that result in purchases.

Arthur Conan Doyle - opinions please

I have doubts about this Arthur Conan Doyle signature but would love to hear from the forum.

In true Sherlock Holmes tradition, I have done an investigation and have seen a variety of signatures for ACD. The second example below is from the RR Auction archives and seems very close but the shapes of the "A" and "D" seem slightly different.

Thank you for sharing your experience and opinions.

Tags: Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by beardog1 on May 29, 2020 at 9:45am

bump - Appreciate any opinions regarding this ACD sig. My sense is "close but no".

As always, thank you to everyone on this forum for sharing their knowledge and passion.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dan Morris on May 29, 2020 at 2:55pm

Not an expert on this but it looks very similar to the RR one but something seems off. Any idea on the provenance?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by beardog1 on May 30, 2020 at 7:41am

Thanks for taking a look, Dan.

Full disclosure, I searched through several well regarded examples (e.g., RR, Heritage, etc.). Most examples had noticeable differences from mine (primarily the "A" and "D", but also the "le", etc.). It appears ACD had several different styles with slight differences. However, this example gave me some hope it may be authentic despite agreeing "something seems off". To me, ACD's "D" seems to be "squattier" with less of a point at the bottom of the downstroke in most of the "authentic" examples I have seen.

This document appears to be some sort of petition but only signed by ACD in an odd spot at the end (another potential red flag). I purchased it about twenty years ago but don't recall from where exactly but not a big name dealer like University Archives, etc.

I am hoping for the best but prepared for the worst. Thank you for sharing your experience and opinions.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by beardog1 on May 31, 2021 at 8:15pm

bump - This signature still bothers me so hoping you will help me revisit it using some ideas I picked up on subsequent posts. Below are the signatures from my OP and the RR Auction archive but rotated upside down and backwards to force the eye to view flow rather than anticipate letters. To me, the signatures seem very close based on general flow, angle, pressure, etc., other than some difference in the "D" and possibly the "A".

However, I am suspicious the ink on the OP may be newer than the vintage document on which it is signed. The document is a typed petition with no mention of ACD and seems odd to not have a signature line but rather just have the signature floating at the bottom of the text. I also searched through many exemplars to find this one from RR Auction that most closely matched my OP. I would say most ACD exemplars I found were not nearly as close to my OP but hoping an RR Auction item with a similar signature may help authenticate my item.

Thank you as always for taking a look and sharing opinions.