Authenticity is Everything
J.M. Barrie Signature
I seriously doubt this signature is authentic for a few reasons, but wanted to do my due diligence. I would greatly appreciate any opinions from the community.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on
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I'd pass on that. It looks slowly drawn and fresh - not fluid. It appears to resembles this at RR:
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Permalink Reply by kg202 To Eric Keith Longo on
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I share those concerns. It's also missing the periods that he usually uses and doesn't have the same slant as most other exemplars I've reviewed. I already have the book, but I paid with the assumption the signature is fake, so I won't lose anything on this thankfully.
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Permalink Reply by eddy on
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I don't care for this either, kg202.
Several years ago, I purchased a first edition of one of my favorites of his.... MY LADY NICOTINE. The seller mentioned (after shipping) that there was a card inserted in the book with what appeared to be Barrie's signature. To my great delight, it was his signature on that card. It had been tucked inside for over 100 years and had caused light toning blocks to the text pages it had been between. Small condition issue trade off!
Anyway, I'd go with your doubts.
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That's a nice surprise! I'll assume this example I showed is a forgery. I wish people wouldn't deface books like this. It's an excellent copy of the book otherwise.
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Since it is already damaged with a forged signature, I would look for a related image, perhaps trimmed from a print etc., and mount it over the forgery using vintage "corners"...at least there won't be negative eye appeal...
Perhaps a vintage book plate from a personal library?
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That's a great idea! I think I'd prefer that than looking at a forgery.
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Thank you. If a period secretarial demonstrably shown to signed during his lifetime by a known secretary can be excluded, then I would cover it as described.
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p.s. Just one more thought.
It's difficult to tell from the scan if this is an old ink signature or not. It doesn't quite look like it ... so may well be a later forgery.
If it is a vintage ink, it might be what we now refer as a secretarial style from Barrie's lifetime. Mary Ansell? Elizabeth Lucas? Cynthia Asquith?
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Something oi consider certainly. From here it seems to sit on the paper. What do these secretarials look like? I only know the last one by name.
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It doesn't have that classic "old ink" look to me, where the ink wells up along the edges and leaves the center portion much lighter. That said, his signed limited editions in the late 20s/early 30s often don't have that look either. I'm assuming he sometimes used a type of pen for those limitation pages than most of the signatures of his that I've reviewed.
Was Barrie known to use secretarial signatures?
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