eBay

lost-lizard-trading-company · ‎12-12-2018

A few months ago I found an older (early 1960s) paperback book with Stephen Hawking's signature in the location where one normally places their name in a book. I had the item positively authenticated as genuine through a British authenticator and listed it on eBay. eBay promptly removed the listing saying that the authenticator was not valid -- ie not on their approved list. At additional cost I sent it to one of the eBay approved authenticators (J A Spence) which inlcuded Hawking in their list of signatures they could confirm. After examining the book for a month, they concluded that their examination was inconclusive. They could neither confirm the signature as genuine nor deny that it. Because it is from a time period prior to Hawking's fame there are few signature exemplars. It is also a signature prior to the ravages of his disease. Although I asked for their suggestions, none are forthcoming.

Does anyone have recommendations--groups, experts, collectors--for authenticating an early Stephen Hawking signature (pre-ALS)?

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

Without even looking at the signature, my first concern would be the fact that the book is an American edition, priced in cents.

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@yankeebob1951 wrote:
-At 1st glance I'm intrigued by what looks like " 495-5332 Ruth Ann Platt" written at the bottom of the page...could be useful to establish some further provenance as you continue your research...did a flirtacious young Hawking convince Ms Platt to write her name & number in a handy paperback he happened to be carrying?

It's an American phone number. An online search identifies Mrs Platt as being a native of Oregon. I don't want to be more specific (for obvious reasons), but it is the same number and the same name.

sonomabarn67 · ‎12-14-2018

Starting to sound like National Enquirer material!

Seriously, wouldn't the authentication service have followed up on that lead?

sonomabarn67 · ‎12-14-2018

And, if there are few comparisons for his early sig, how can we be sure there are not other people named Steven Hawking who might have owned this book?

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
And, if there are few comparisons for his early sig, how can we be sure there are not other people named Steven Hawking who might have owned this book?

The only 1960s example I've come across is the well-known one from his thesis:

The problem is there are so many fake autographs of well-known people out there, and it's just so easy to do. Without proper provenance there will always be a cloud of suspicion that no "certificate of authenticity" can remove.

In this case, there are things that increase the suspicion. Why would Hawking's copy of a G.K. Chesterton work have been an edition not sold in the UK? Why does the name Stephen look like it has been partly overwritten?

I do not think any auction house would touch it with a bargepole without supporting provenance. If Hawking had an interest in Aquinas then that is interesting, but it proves nothing. I have a few books on Aquinas lying around, and could write a signature like that. Anybody could, and that's the problem.

If it's OK to mention specific dealers, I would send a photo to RR Auction and ask their opinion. They've sold a book that was signed by Hawking in 1973 - see pp. 108-9 of this catalogue:

https://issuu.com/rrauction/docs/461vcb

There's also this, from 1974:

https://www.sotherans.co.uk/2103737?utm_campaign=December2018&utm_term=more%C2%A0%E2%80%A6&utm_mediu...

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
Starting to sound like National Enquirer material!
Seriously, wouldn't the authentication service have followed up on that lead?

I don't think that's their job. They take the signature as sent to them and compare it with other extant examples. Doing background research into the provenance isn't what they're paid to do.

maxine*j · ‎12-14-2018

I agree with your points, except I wouldn't make quite so much of the fact that the paperback is an American edition.

The used-book trade, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, was lively and I had many paperbacks that were UK editions, with UK prices on them. (Lots of UK Penguins.) Especially in university towns, books from all over the world appeared in the used books shops.

However, taken in conjunction with all the other issues, it does become a factor in the doubt.

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@maxine*j wrote:

The used-book trade, especially in the 1960s and 1970s, was lively and I had many paperbacks that were UK editions, with UK prices on them. (Lots of UK Penguins.) Especially in university towns, books from all over the world appeared in the used books shops.

True, but it's a not-particularly-uncommon book by a well-known British author. If Hawking owned a copy, a cheap American reprint wouldn't be the first thing you'd expect. And you would expect there to be a price in sterling somewhere. On the other hand, if you were in the US and wanted to try your hand at faking a celebrity signature, you might not have any British editions to practice on. So I would say it's a ground for suspicion, but one which could be overturned by solid evidence to the contrary.

maxine*j · ‎12-14-2018

@argon38 wrote:
... So I would say it's a ground for suspicion, but one which could be overturned by solid evidence to the contrary.

Or, as I put it, a factor in the doubt. But not as big a factor as others.

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@maxine*j wrote:
@argon38 wrote:
... So I would say it's a ground for suspicion, but one which could be overturned by solid evidence to the contrary.
Or, as I put it, a factor in the doubt. But not as big a factor as others.

Yep. And the problem is that there is nothing to counterbalance the doubts.

sonomabarn67 · ‎12-14-2018

I think a phone call to Ruth Platt is in order if it has not been done. If it turns out positive, that is as good as the one you show in that auction. If she says she gave him the book or asked him to sign it there very well may be a solid provenance with all this which would be an auction home run.

Bargepole, haven't heard that in a while!

argon38 · ‎12-14-2018

@sonomabarn67 wrote:
I think a phone call to Ruth Platt is in order if it has not been done. If it turns out positive, that is as good as the one you show in that auction. If she says she gave him the book or asked him to sign it there very well may be a solid provenance with all this which would be an auction home run.

Bargepole, haven't heard that in a while!

I agree, except that the Internet gives her age as 86, so a letter might be a better idea. But if it turns out she owned a book worth tens of thousands of dollars and sold it for next-to-nothing...

sonomabarn67 · ‎12-14-2018

So they should hurry up and at least make contact and...I have done this before, offer the previous owner half of the auction final results. But, common sense says to obtain and verify her story first.

sonomabarn67 · ‎12-14-2018

If not a phone call then an overnight FedX.

leathernlace · ‎12-14-2018

If I have the correct information and Ruth Ann Platt lives at the address in T. (For privacy) Oregon that house is only about 30, or so, miles from me but it is listed as having been sold earlier this year. Perhaps the OP should try the phone # first.