[78-L] Autographs

Mon Jan 25 14:48:30 PST 2010

Jeff,  I'm not sure about those particular checks,  but plenty of George 
Gershwin's own cancelled checks have been on the market for some years, 
many having been obtained from Ira and from Ira's estate.  But I don't 
recall ever seeing any checks of this early vintage and endorsed by Gershwin 
or the others...so maybe they are safe somewhere.

Jack London's widow,  Charmian,  was the all-time expert at selling old 
checks of a celebrity.  For many years after Jack's death she peddled his 
old checks to rare booksellers and collectors.  There are still so many of 
them kicking around that you can pick one up for not a lot of money.

And,  she was one of the first and most successful to pull a very irritating 
scam:  She had a ton of bookplates printed up which say "From the library of 
Jack London" with an illustration of a wolf's head.  Her original plan was 
to make sure that all his books which had been in the house when he died 
were so marked.    But there seems little question that she ended up 
slapping them into books which Jack London had never even seen,  much less 
owned.

Always be careful when someone tries to assign a big value to something just 
on the basis of their say-so that it once belonged to someone.  You need 
some sort of provenance,  and best of all,  some writing or signature of the 
person on the object itself.

Sorry to drift off topic here....but I hate to see people get scammed by 
scams!

Taylor

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Sultanof" <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 2:39 PM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Autographs

> My understanding is that an autograph on a piece of paper is not as 
> valuable
> as an autograph on a legal document of some type.
>
> Some years ago when it was discovered that the Warner Bros. Secaucus, NJ
> warehouse had hundreds of pages of Kern, Gershwin, Porter and many other
> manuscripts (including orchestrations from the Princess Theatre shows), we
> who worked there heard that there were other boxes that had other 
> treasures.
> One day a WB executive (whose name I will not reveal) came to the NY 
> office
> with piles of checks that he showed us. Imagine hundreds of checks dating
> from 1921-22 made out to Jerome Kern, George Gershwin and Victor Herbert 
> and
> which had been endorsed by these men. My boss and I were in near shock at
> the sheer importance of this find, as well as the dollar value these
> handfuls of checks were worth on the open market.
>
> P.S. - I never did find out what happened to them, and I don't ever 
> remember
> hearing that they were donated to the Library of Congress along with most 
> of
> the other manuscripts.
>
> Someday when I am old, I will write about my take on the "Secaucus find."
> Too many people still alive (although one of the dramatis personae, John
> McGlinn, died not long ago).
>
> Jeff Sultanof
>
> On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 5:21 PM, Taylor Bowie <bowiebks at isomedia.com> 
> wrote:
>
>> The Bowlly is not as rare as you might think.  When he was over here with
>> the Noble band at The Rainbow Room he signed lots and lots of these
>> sepia-tone head shots.  Last one I sold some five years ago was around
>> $250.
>>
>> The Fox with the drawing is more rare,  but of less value,  no doubt.
>>
>> As a rule,  signed pieces of paper,  pages in autograph albums,  etc.  do
>> not fetch the kind of money you'd get for a fine photo or a signed letter
>> with some good content.
>>
>> If you can send me scans of them,  I'll give you my "take' on them.
>>
>> Taylor
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "David Lennick" <dlennick at sympatico.ca>
>> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 2:12 PM
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] Autographs
>>
>>
>> > Years ago, someone sent me three pages of autographs of the members of
>> > British
>> > dance bands. One of them is accompanied by a letter on BBC stationery,
>> > dated
>> > around 1932. Roy Fox draws a fox..Al Bowlly is on one of the pages. 
>> > Would
>> > it be
>> > difficult to authenticate these? And will I be able to retire?
>> >
>> > dl
>> >
>> > Taylor Bowie wrote:
>> >> Perhaps in later years....the Goodman sigs I've had pass through my
>> hands
>> >> were earlier and legit.
>> >>
>> >> One show biz figure who was legendary for sending out secretarial sigs
>> >> was
>> >> John Wayne.  It is almost impossible to get a legit Jean Harlow signed
>> >> photo,  as nearly all those sent out were signed by her mother.
>> >>
>> >> I have seen many secretarial signatures over the years for all manner 
>> >> of
>> >> celebrities and political figures.  Usually,  the recipient is so
>> pleased
>> >> to
>> >> get something that they never bother to verify that the signature is
>> >> actually good.
>> >>
>> >> I recall about twenty years ago that I was asked to appraise an
>> inscribed
>> >> photo of President Kennedy,  which had been sent by him to a very well
>> >> known
>> >> Ohio politician.  I can still see the expression on the daughter's 
>> >> face
>> >> when
>> >> I had to tell her that one of her Dad's proudest possessions had been
>> >> signed
>> >> by one of Kennedy's secretaries.
>> >>
>> >> My point is...these fakes are nearly always easy to tell when put 
>> >> along
>> >> side
>> >> and compared with  a real one.
>> >>
>> >> Taylor
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message -----
>> >> From: "Jeff Sultanof" <jeffsultanof at gmail.com>
>> >> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
>> >> Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 1:53 PM
>> >> Subject: Re: [78-L] More on Shaw
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> Russ Connor says as much in his introduction to "Wrappin' it Up," the
>> >>> supplement to his Goodman discography, that he or Goodman's secretary
>> >>> would
>> >>> sign Goodman's name. I wish I had the book in front of me so I could
>> >>> supply
>> >>> a page number.
>> >>>
>> >>> Jeff Sultanof
>> >>>
>> >>>> This is the first I've heard about any secretarial or other illegit
>> >>>> Goodman
>> >>>> autographs...in my years in the rare book trade, I've handled many,
>> >>>> including ones I bought from Russ Connor,  and have never found one
>> >>>> which
>> >>>> was no good.
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>> _______________
>> >>
>> >
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>> >
>>
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