Thanks John R

diane.walker wrote:

 > Thanks for all the info. Itried to reply to your e-mail but it cam back
 > undelivered.

Hmm. That was my work e-mail address. Perhaps there's a hiccup on the
server. If it's still not working, try john RemoveThis @rarebooksinjapan.com.

 > My book on Story is signed by Story and dedicated to John James the
writer.
 > This is a bit strange as the publishing date is 1861, and from what I have
 > gleaned so far about Story, he seemed to have died in 1860.

Well, he did a good job of convincing the world that he died then, so if it
wasn't for real he certainly put on a jolly good show.

 > So he either
 > came back from the dead to sign it, which must make the book incredibly
 > valuable, or it is a forgery. Or he signed it before publication. I think
I
 > like the first one best.

It's an unlikely forgery. Not impossible, of course, but unlikely (forgers
tend to go for big names that will add big bucks to the book's value). The
description I sent you says his signature is "in a clear, strong hand" and
he added the date. If this is also in a hand that fits that description it's
quite likely his, and if it's dated then I'd lay good odds on it.

I think someone mentioned a case of a signature being transferred to a book
posthumously in thread a few months ago, so that's possible. Another
possibility is that it's a facsimile. Indications of whether this is likely
should be clear from the exact wording and the placing (endpaper, or
whatever). Signs of the ink "bleeding" would also indicate it is genuine,
but to be absolutely sure you'd have to compare it with another copy. I
couldn't find anyone offering it for sale online, but there's a copy in the
British Library and another at Sheffield (and perhaps others you can chase
up).

 > Glad you liked the girlie comment.

Sure; anything that raises a smile gets the thumbs-up from me!

Good luck with Robert Story!

--
John
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