Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

One of the trickiest (and fun) parts of having an open shop is seeing what people bring in to show us on a daily basis. Even in a part of the country that most consider the backwoods, we seem to get a steady flow of unusual items through our doors. I can only imagine what we would see if we were in a large city like a few of our fellow booksellers in New York, St. Petersburg etc... Folks generally come in to find out what it is they have, if it is genuine and how much it might be worth. In most instances, the catalyst of this curiosity is the desire to sell whatever it is for a little cold hard cash. There was a time when we could almost keep up with this demand and we were purchasing just about everything from books to documents to wooden boats to boxes full of vintage postcards. While we still love to make a buck and are always keen on buying and selling just about anything that will turn a quick profit, our focus remains the book and all things associated with the written word.

When someone walks in the door with something the first thing we have to establish is clear ownership in my mind. We do not want to be helping someone out with a stolen item! The second step is to identify what we are dealing with. When it comes to books and/or documents, I am fairly adept at identifying the genuine article when I see it (after years spent in this business and consistent schooling by others in the hobby and industry). Books are the core of our business with autographs and documents coming in a close second. For our purposes here, I am going to settle on one topic to discuss in a little more depth. I will follow this up over the coming weeks with a few notes on other items of interest in our business...

AUTOGRAPHS -

1) Never take for granted anything that you are told. Always assume that the piece has to speak for itself. Items signed by a famous personality can often have an association, but the association must be clear in order to take a firm stance with your reputation on the line. By association, I am speaking of a situation where the signer of an autograph has signed it to someone or something else of importance. It is important to always state that the only true way to know if an autograph is authentic is to have seen it signed.

2) Examine the autograph, the ink or pencil strokes and try to identify the unique points that are clear by comparing to other known examples.

3) Take into consideration a story that you may have been told about this autograph in particular by the owner and/or seller and consider any photographs and/or documentation they might have to go along with it.

4) Be sure that this signature is not a 'facsimile' and/or an 'autopen'. (This will require some additional study and reading)

5) Consider whether or not a story you are being told about the autograph is too good to be true...

6) Ensure that the autograph you are reviewing is not a secretarial autograph (especially if we are dealing with a President of the United States or an elected official) - (This will require some additional study and reading)

As with all of the little pieces of this hobby, autograph authentication is one of those things that you can study all of your life without ever really knowing everything there is to know. To many, this is one of the appeals of this sort of pastime. To us, it is both our passion and our business. Feel free to contact me direct if you have any additional questions as I am always happy to help as best I can!

Mike Cotter, Director of Operations