Philip K. Dick Signature on 1975 The Man Who Japed — Authentic?

Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some opinions on this Philip K. Dick signature.

It’s written in red ink on the title page of a 1975 Ace paperback of The Man Who Japed. I’ve already purchased the book, but the seller has kindly agreed to hold shipment for a few days while I have the signature reviewed.

The seller was very straightforward about the provenance: they acquired it some time ago as part of a bundle of vintage science-fiction books that included several other Philip K. Dick titles. This was the only signed book in the group, and the previous owner provided no additional history about when or where it was signed.

I’ve compared it with a number of documented PKD signatures and noticed that his autograph seems to vary quite a bit. What caught my attention here are the large initial P, the compressed “hilip,” separated K, large D, and the quickly abbreviated ending of “Dick.” The angled photographs also seem to show natural changes in pen pressure, but I realize none of that establishes authenticity by itself.

I’ve also submitted the photographs to AutographCOA for their online pre-certification review, but I’d really appreciate the opinions of collectors here who are familiar with Philip K. Dick’s handwriting.

Thanks very much for taking a look.

-Edward

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks 2 minutes ago

One of the most difficult signatures to authenticate.

95% of his signed books are postumously "signed", that is to say are either books to which signature cuts have been added or are downright fakes. He was never a celebrity author and did not do book signing events.

I had one of the "posthumous" ones which was the deluxe Collected Short Stories. The signatures for those were from cancelled cheques. You are right about the variance and I remember comparing my example with the signatures in other sets available at the time and seeing a lot of variance even between those.

I don't know AutographCOA but I would suggest you are barking up the wrong tree there. I would try and find a dedicated PKD expert, myself. Easier said than done but you could try one of the leading sci-fi booksellers - L,W. Currey in New York, e.g. It would cost you nothing to send them an email and ask for an opinion.

I am sceptical about your example. There is such a thing as variance, yes, and then there is very atypical - I kind of feel that yours falls into the latter category. However, there are a couple of points in its favour: the red ink is very intriguing and plausible. Secondly, the fact that the book is an Ace paperback. Is it the original Ace double?

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