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Vivien Leigh: opinions please (Latin American magazine examples 1 & 2)

In the "Town Square" forum I started a thread concerning portraits dedicated to Latin American magazines. I said I would post some of mine in this forum for comment.

To start off here are two Vivien Leigh's. Having several other Leigh autographs, I am fairly confident that these are OK. I am particularly confident about the second as this is dedicated to a specific journalist, Mary M. Spaulding.

Tags: american, autograph, latin, leigh, m., magazines, mary, spaulding, vivien

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Hey there-  How about putting these also under your other post about the dedicated photos to Spanish speaking magazines....then it can kick off the discussion with exemplars,

These appear fine.

I'm inclined to think that the 1st example is not authentic.  The lines on it seem jagged and harsh. Plus the use of a white marker is kind of odd. The 2nd one seems to flow more easily.  However, the lower case "v" in "Vivien" looks a bit odd. Actually, it looks like a "v" whereas it usually looks like an "n" to me. I'll post below a signed album page.

One of the things that I have noticed about Leigh's autograph is that she usually had a very light touch and the signatures also appear to be light...almost looking faded.  It's also more of a rarity to find inscribed examples.

I can see that the first (uplit) Leigh is difficult to match to other examples of Vivien's autograph. I also found this out while I was trawling through my Google, RR Auction and PSA results.

I would still put money on this being real - as I have done already of course. My reasons are three-fold.

First, it is so freely written, messy and (ironically) not totally typical. Normally secretarials look drawn, neat and very much like the typical examples.

Secondly, the words in the inscription and the way they are formed follow other inscribed examples, at least to some extent. Here are three such examples:

Finally, I have not heard about Vivien using secretaries to sign for her. As the phrase goes, she was a "generous signer", which is best testified by the five full pages of auction results on the RR Auction site.

The jagged and harsh lines may have been caused by the pen and ink used. Her dedications and signature could also be quite jagged in normal ink, as per Eric's example and the example below:

I would be amazed if the second (GWTW) example is not real, being dedicated to a specific journalist. I can sort of see what you mean with the second "v" but it is really not that different to the "v" in Eric's example. Here is the back of the second example, showing the journalists collection stamp:

I see I commented on this already. The close-up photo with hand under chin and bracelet was taken by Angus McBean - very cool and adds to the quality IMO. Most likely matte finish double weight. Same photographer as mine below from the London Streetcar directed by her husband.

Here is mine:

Superb photograph of Blanche desperately trying to call Western Union, by Angus McBean during the initial run in the UK. Boldly signed in fountain pen by Vivien Leigh Circa 1949. With original 1949 Aldwych Theatre playbill.

1949 Vivien Leigh SPc London Production of Streetcar

1949 Vivien Leigh SPc London Production of Streetcar

I still find the OP in white ink authentic. A secretarial would be legible. I don't think I recall secretarials at the CEAD. She is known for convincing preprints.

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