From: JustKidding@comcast.net
On Tue, 22 Nov 2022 21:45:43 -0800 (PST), "K. Hematite"
wrote:
>New York Times
>By Remy Tumin
>Nov. 22, 2022
>Henry Bernstein has seen Bob Dylan 27 times in concert and owns three items
autographed by him: a copy of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” album, a photograph
of the singer and a “John Wesley Harding” songbook. His favorite song is
“Tangled Up in Blue.”
>
>So when Simon & Schuster, Dylan’s publisher, advertised limited-edition,
hand-signed copies of the musician’s new collection of essays for $600 each,
Bernstein was among 900 fans who went for one. Last week, he received his copy
of “The Philosophy of
Modern Song,” Dylan’s first collection of writings since he won the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 2016, with a letter of authenticity signed by Jonathan
Karp, the publisher’s chief executive.
>
>There was only one problem.
>
>Karp’s signature “looked more legit than Bob’s,” Bernstein said.
>
>Bernstein was one of hundreds of fans who sleuthed their way around social
media, reaching the conclusion that the supposedly hand-signed books had not,
in fact, been signed by Dylan.
>
>“I got the nostalgia bug,” said Bernstein, who already owned an unsigned copy
of the book, as well as a Kindle version and an audio version. He added, “If
he touches this book — he wrote it, signed it — it feels like the soul of Bob
Dylan is with me.”
>
>Instead, many fans suggested that the “autographed” copies of the book had
been signed by a machine.
>
>Justin Steffman, a professional authenticator who runs a Facebook group for
collectors, said the autograph was most likely created by an autopen. The
machine, which recreates signatures, is used by universities, celebrities and,
most notably, the White
House.
>
>Handwritten penmanship normally has a flow, Steffman said. But “with a pen
machine, it goes from point to point,” he said, adding that the beginning and
the end points of each stroke apply more pressure to the page. Dylan’s
autograph in the new books
also appears to have a “slight shakiness throughout the signature,” he said.
>
>“It does not look like something a person signed; it looks like a copy,”
Steffman said.
>
>As orders began arriving last week, Dylan fans began comparing notes online,
and it quickly became clear that something was amiss, Steffman said. Steffman
collected images of at least 17 signatures that all looked as if they had been
created by a
machine. Items autographed by Dylan typically sell for $1,500 or $2,000, he
added.
>
>“They started popping up, everyone received them the same day and it was
instant — we all realized it was an autopen,” Steffman said. “More and more
people shared their copies, and we all put it together.”
>
>Steffman said Simon & Schuster’s customer service had originally refused to
issue refunds and had even denounced “online rumors” about the possibility
that the signature was a fake. Twitter and Reddit users also chimed in; a chat
board organized by a
fan encouraged others who had purchased the book to write directly to Karp,
the Simon & Schuster chief executive. Fans flooded his inbox, including
Bernstein, who, like others, received a personal response from Karp promising
a speedy refund.
>
>By Sunday, Simon & Schuster had issued a public statement that offered few
details but acknowledged that Dylan’s signature had been rendered “in a penned
replica form.” The publisher said it would give buyers “an immediate refund.”
This is one reason why the whole memorabilia scene has no interest for
me. Why does anyone care about having a celebrity's autograph?
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
