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Pawn Stars, Drew Max (Forensic Document Examiner), Bram Stoker Signed "Dracula" Book

On September 9, 2011 the Pawn Stars reality show aired a segment in which they were offered a Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book.

Corey (the same guy that purchased that ridiculously-funny Lou Gehrig signed jersey) was excited about purchasing the "Dracula" book signed by the author himself, Bram Stoker.

So Corey calls in "his buddy" Drew Max, Forensic Document Examiner, to examine the Bram Stoker signature. Mr. Max pulls out his Hubble-sized magnifying glass and begins to examine the signature of Bram Stoker. Below is the Bram Stoker signature from the show.

Now let's examine the above signature. The first item I notice is the shaky "B" in "Bram." The second red flag that hits me is the width of space between the vertical lines of the "B."

The overall spacing of the entire signature is way off and it is very slowly drawn.

The biggest red flag is the brown-colored ink. This, in my opinion, should have brought up a red flag immediately to Mr. Max and his "forensic curiosity." Brown ink is used to emulate "aged ink." Also, the angle of the "S" in "Stoker" is too vertical.

A quick review. How is it possible that Drew Max, with his Hubble-sized magnifying glass, did not notice the shaky "B," the overall totally wrong spacing of the letters and the brown ink?

In my opinion, the Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book sold on the Pawn Stars reality show is not authentic.

And one more point. Mr. Drew Max commented that the value of the Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book is valued at between $4,000 and $5,000. From what I understand an authentic Bram Stoker signed "Dracula" book is valued at a minimum of $15.000 plus.

[Steve Cyrkin: Here's a side-by-side comparison of the Pawn Stars Bram Stoker and the Heritage Auction one uploaded below from February 2006:]

Tags: Drew Max, Heritage Auctions, PSA/DNA, autograph, brams stoker, pawn stars

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Comment by CEE GEE on October 5, 2011 at 5:59am: Great find Chris...Iam going to add that mess to my forgery file...that's so bad

Comment by Peter Lougheed on October 5, 2011 at 7:40am: So, are Drew Max and Christopher Morales corrupt, incompetent, or both?

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 5, 2011 at 9:48am: Comment by Peter Lougheed 2 hours ago: So, are Drew Max and Christopher Morales corrupt, incompetent, or both?

I have no doubt that Drew Max and Christopher Morales know what they are doing. I'll let others label it for now.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on November 20, 2011 at 1:56pm: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200677982980...

Comment by CJCollector on November 20, 2011 at 3:00pm: I have always written that I have never seen any autograph with a COA from Chris Morales that I would consider authentic and I will write the same thing about Drew Max. I have yet to see any autograph with a AAU cert that I would consider authentic. That's pathetic. Think about that, both Chris Morales and Drew Max have the word "forensic" in their job-related title, and yet, in all of the years that I've been looking at autographs that they have certed, I have yet to find one that I would consider authentic. Same goes for Ted Taylor.

Comment by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on November 20, 2011 at 4:04pm: Autographs are like TV. If you want to find a crime scene, look for a forensic examiner.

Comment by Terry Zobeck on May 24, 2012 at 6:02pm: Rather than bringing in their forensic document expert they should have brought in someone who knew something about rare books.

The show didn't give us a good look at the book--they didn't show the publisher, the title page, or the copyright page--except for a quick shot indicating that the book had been printed in the United States. Corey claimed it was the US first edition. It was not.

The British first--the true first--is a very distinctive book and very desirable, but not too attractive. It is yellow cloth with red lettering--Dracula dominates the upper portion of the front cover. The American first is more attractive. It is brown cloth and features an illustration of Dracula's castle. The copy shown on Pawn Stars was yellow cloth covered boards with the title in small print across the top front cover. Most likely it was a reprint from A. L. Burt or Grossett & Dunlap, two well-known reprint houses of the time.

But the even more obvious evidence of a forgery is the date of the "signature": 16 9 97 or September 16, 1897. Dracula was first published in the UK in May 1897, so a signed copy dated 4 months later seems possible unless one knows that the US edition wasn't published until 1899. Quite a feat for Stoker to have signed a book two years before it was printed.

A half-way knowledgeable book dealer would have identified it as a fake within seconds.

Comment by CJCollector on May 24, 2012 at 6:09pm: Excellent post, Terry. Thank you for your contribution.

Comment by Steve Zarelli on June 18, 2012 at 6:23pm: Very interesting analysis from another message board:

"They determine that it's not the true 1st edition (London... this copy is printed in NY... duh!). But they believe it's a 1st American edition (not even close... doesn't even remotely look like the American first). But they call in their signature "expert" (Dean Max, I think), who confirms that it's Bram Stoker's authentic signature (dated September 1897, the year of the 1st edition). He tells the crew that it's worth $5,000, and they offer accordingly.

Apparently this Max has a truly horrible reputation in the signature-collecting world, as a number of chat-board posts were listing a litany of errors he's been known to make in the past. A lot of posters were showing the difference in this signature from known Heritage Auction sales.

The rub is... none of that makes any difference.

(1) The signarure is dated September, 1897, four months after the London 1st edition apperared. However... this is an Americam edition. Even if it were the American 1st edition, that book didn't appear until 1899! Clue #1 this a fake!

(2) But it's not even an American 1st... it's the Country Life edition by Doubleday (we get a quick glimpse of the title page) published in 1927! What's more... this copy doesn't even have the dust-jacket. It's probably not worth $50. Clue #2 this a fake. Why? Bram Stoker died in 1912!"

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&am...

Comment by Brick Hunter on June 19, 2012 at 1:05pm: Interesting conversation, Mr. Zipper.

These buy and sell shows depict all our worst fears, that they play and loose with authenticity. Whether it be the Bruce Springsteen signed guitar on Auction Kings which someone working at the auction house with zero autograph authentication experience authenticated the guitar by looking at an image of a fake signature online; or the guys at the shop on Pawn Stars buying a Gehrig jersey with a STAT certificate; or better yet, bringing in their forensic autograph expert Drew Max! They're uneducated and they don't care about authenticity. It's just sad that they purport these items to be authentic on national television.