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3 Jul, 2006
2006-7-3 8:24:58 AM UTC
I wonder whether this seller IS a non-profit organisation raising money for a cancer cure. It's beyond belief if this is the case.
4 Jul, 2006
2006-7-4 5:54:20 PM UTC
A dodgy signature from a seller with a history of selling doubtful signatures. They seem to have a suspiciously large range of signatures. I would avoid at all costs. The organisation may have nothing to do with the seller of course.
6 Jul, 2006
2006-7-6 6:30:06 AM UTC
Beren,

I was looking at the David Miller Items on your site and found this item http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/dmiller/000282.htm

If you look at the picture of the 'signed' Fellowship of the Ring http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/dmiller/images/000282.jpg, it is the same as the 'signed' Farmer Giles of Ham. The illegible scribble above Tolkien's signature according to Mr Miller says 'Yours truly'

Both items look dodgy to me as I am sure that the Professor could write 'Yours truly' so that you could read it.

Trotter
6 Jul, 2006
2006-7-6 7:38:13 AM UTC
And now i remember where I saw a similar thing before! Indeed they very much look alike... i'll have to write David Miller and ask some more info and put the two signatures next to each other.

Thnxs for pointing it out!
8 Jul, 2006
2006-7-8 8:31:32 PM UTC
Thanks Beren

I'll be interested in any reply from David Miller. From reading between the lines David seems to have got these particular books from the same sellers that Deagol describes as "A dodgy signature from a seller with a history of selling doubtful signatures. They seem to have a suspiciously large range of signatures"

As it stands it seems a bit strange on your web site to have an article warning about the dangers of buying Tolkien signatures and then having directly below it an advert for a 'signed' book that myself and other contributers to this post believes is fake.

What do others think?
9 Jul, 2006
2006-7-9 10:27:14 AM UTC
Looking at the two signatures and inscriptions side by side I am inclined to think that the cureforcancers one is a copy of the David Miller one. The Miller signature looks ok to me.
10 Jul, 2006
2006-7-10 12:07:51 PM UTC
Every signature is tricky ... and i'm almost sure that David his signed set came from an auction house. Because i remember the set to be stolen in a Hilton hotel and then recovered later. It was taken by an employee instead of sending it. I'll post more on the David Miller set once i get news from him about it.
12 Aug, 2006
2006-8-12 12:39:24 PM UTC
A bit "after the fact", but still pertinent I believe.

Before any such acquisition, eBay (especially) or not, one should contact the seller and ask for a letter of provenance. If they can not or will not provide one, pass on the item. If the provenance is incomplete or suspect, pass on the item. That letter is critical to prove its authenticity and its value. When you have an authentic item, you hold something that the man held, and it doesn't matter how much you paid (at least for us Tolkien enthusiasts). When you buy a fake, it doesn't matter how little you paid for it. So be cautious and take your time. There will "always" be another such item to consider purchasing.

Here is my experience with a signed item:

I acquired a 1974 calendar signed by the professor. I know, "He passed away in September 1973". However, the calendar was issued in August 1973. I asked for and received a detailed explanation before the auction and a personalized and absolutely wonderful letter from the seller after. You may read it and check out his signature (and a short inscription) on my website:

www.angelfire.com/tn3/tolkiencalendars

Away from the Green Hill Country,

Parmastahir
13 Aug, 2006
2006-8-13 7:57:42 AM UTC
I agree with Parmastahir's comments and that you have a real signed calendar with good provenance, but the issue is that a lot of signed items have no provenance and that Tolkien's signature is very easy to fake and adds considerable value to a signed item.

Consider this scenario, I have a early 'Fellowship of the Ring' which I could sell for about £50-100 on Ebay. If I wanted to get a lot more money for this then I could do the following.

Look for names of Professor's in Oxford who were there at the same time as Tolkien and who are no longer alive, Fake a letter from one of their relatives stating that Tolkien had signed the book for this Professor who he knew at Oxford, and insert a fake signature into my book.

If this came up for sale, how would you know if it was authentic. At the moment Forger's do not appear to go to this much trouble, witness the Seymour Hobbit Forgery, as people are still trusting when it comes to signatures and believe that they are genuine.

As well as collecting Tolkien books, I also collect Stamps. For a long time Stamps have suffered from Fakes, Forgeries, Varieties being manufactured, such as cutting out the centre of a stamp and reversing it and sticking it all back to together. I have some postally used German stamps which are probably 90% forgeries.

To get round this, if I want to sell an expensive stamp, each county in the world has an expertising service, where you can send the stamp to a committee, usually at least three recognised experts, who will check and either authenticate the Stamp or state that it as a fake, for a small fee.

This is probably the long term solution for Tolkien signatures as well.
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