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Steven Spielberg. Is this good or not?

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on January 11, 2024 at 2:27pm

Not really sure that looks quite right. The way “Spielberg” ends with the “g” going back to the left but not back out to the right as well as not having the “er” in Spielberg formed, I have never seen this on an authentic Spielberg signature. If it’s a full early Spielberg signature he usually finishes the end of the “g” by going back out to the right. His later signatures usually were shortened to “Spiel” mostly. So this is an early version. It also looks a little “drawn” or slow especially with the end of the fully formed first name.

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Permalink Reply by the_flowers_are still_standing on January 11, 2024 at 2:42pm

Thanks for the reply. It's circa 2001 I believe if that helps.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on January 11, 2024 at 4:01pm

That’s very interesting. By 2001 his signature was shortened to pretty much “Ste— Spielb—“ I have a signed letter of his from 1994 and 2002 and both have the shortened signature. His signature today is even more short - mostly “St—- Sp—“. So knowing that this is from 2001 I am very skeptical of it. He had his full signature mostly in the 1980s and earlier. Once in a while on special circumstances he will sign a full signature but it’s usually on very special letters or items.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 11, 2024 at 4:50pm

The photo is too blurry to give any opinion on. You need a large, sharp photo, otherwise you're rolling dice.

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Permalink Reply by the_flowers_are still_standing on January 12, 2024 at 1:36am

Hi, Please see (hopefully) clearer photo below. What does Hexed mean next to name?

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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on January 12, 2024 at 2:50am

Possibly a self-deprecating reference to the supposed hex put on Spielberg in 2000 by Michael Jackson, but not widely reported until 2003:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2003/04/orth200304

The signature in the OP is from a book of fairytales published by Spielberg’s pet charity, the Starbright Foundation. Fairytales often involve witches — hence the hexed reference, which I believe to be an in-joke.

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Permalink Reply by Stepeanut on January 12, 2024 at 2:56am

Here’s a similar one for Whoopi Goldberg, with a similar notation on the bookplate:

https://signedforcharity.org/product/whoopi-goldberg-signed-book-on...

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Permalink Reply by the_flowers_are still_standing on January 12, 2024 at 4:30am

Haha I see! Very funny in joke to put on the bookplate. I couldn't think of any other meaning of Hexed! Thank you.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Shepherd on January 13, 2024 at 4:44am

It actually looks pretty typical to me. My concerns are the appearance of it being slowly drawn and the year.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 13, 2024 at 8:45am

Here's a photo of the entire cover spread that you can click to enlarge fairly large. Still not crisp at a large size but probably good enough to determine signing flow from. It's not Spielberg's typical fast signature but it's a bookplate so he likely was more careful.

I'm with Mike, it looks good to me.

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Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on January 13, 2024 at 9:09am

I remember seeing a Lincoln coffee table book about his film (2012) with a nice big full signature on the title page. That one was authentic so maybe he took his time with this bookplate signed book. It does look a little slowly signed so that’s the red flag for me. On another note, upon seeing the large image the “g” I thought looked off originally was actually the dot of the “i” under Spielberg so this could definitely be his signature. Just a rare full version signed in 2001.

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Permalink Reply by the_flowers_are still_standing on January 13, 2024 at 9:35am

Hi all, after some sleuthing online I found a few other examples online from the era which have similar style signatures. See below. Looks like the signature used in letters and the bookplate are the non rushed versions which is exactly what I was looking for.

I took the plunge and bought the book in the end. To have it in a custom bookplate too seemed pretty legit. The seller also showed me the paperwork from Starbright from the early 2000s which confirms they were won in a charity auction. Also got the customs form sent from their offices too in LA!

Really appreciated all your feedback. Love this forum.

https://www.thebeardedtrio.com/2013/03/steven-spielberg-sends-handw...

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/movie-tv-memorabilia/steven-spielb...

https://www.sammychildsurvivor.com/portfolio-items/letter-from-stev...