All I know is I wouldn't bid on that book--picture too small, price too high, signature appears suspect. Enough said.

Oh, I see. The book sounds interesting, nonetheless, though that makes the event a bit less appealing if it is Chris Tolkien rather than Christopher Tolkien. :)

Wow, wish I could be there for the CT book signing. Unfortunately, I live in the US. :(

Here is a sample of his signature from 2004. Hope this helps.

Josh

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Personally, I wouldn't pay anything to view such a database, and when it comes down to it, regardless of what security measures you take to prevent people from reproducing or trying to fake the signatures you upload to this website, there are dozens, maybe even hundreds of other sites and pages that contain Tolkien letters and signatures. In addition, many of the auction houses now have archives of many of the Tolkien letters that have sold (or not sold) with pictures and all you have to do (at the most) is sign-up for a free account to view the images. Then you have eBay and random personal pages and the list goes on and on. I think, if anything, this site has done an outstanding job in spotting the fakes and seeking to counter and eliminate them. I think we should continue to be in dialogue about Tolkien signatures and their authenticity, and if that means uploading pictures occasionally, I'm all for it. I can see Beren's point, but I just disagree that a forum like this is going to contribute more to the counterfeiting; in my opinion, the counterfeiting is going to go on whether this site exists or not.