Inkjet signatures on "To Kill a Mockingbird" screenplay.
PipestonePete
Posts: 1,937 ✭✭✭✭✭
I just received a copy of the final screenplay for the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird" that was advertised as being signed by screenplay writer Horton Foote and author Harper Lee. My first impression when seeing the item in-hand was that the signatures looked good. However, when I viewed the signatures under magnification I noticed a "halo-ing" effect of tiny colored dots surrounding each letter of the signatures. Upon seeing the dots I immediately assumed these might be inkjet copies. I photographed the signatures and forwarded the images on to Steve Zarelli for his opinion. Steve is the recognized world leader in astronaut authenticating and has plenty of experience spotting forgeries and copies of all kinds. It didn't take long for Steve to get back to me and confirm my suspicions. I am attaching a number of photos to demonstrate how these signatures look at various degrees of enlargement.
Comments
Wow! Good job. Very convincing copies.
I got a very good photocopy of a document and under magnification I figured it out.
I wonder if the script itself is a fake as well?
hope you got your money back
IMF
Currently it's an ongoing saga. No response from the seller...Ebay is confused about the reason selected for instigating the return request. I'll update when the dust settles.
Just curious, if you care to share....
Did you use Zarelli's email quick opinion service or is there a backdoor way to get an opinion?
I have a couple Neil Armstrongs (one TTM and one purchased years ago) that I want to run by him.
I used the email quick opinion. Steve is definitely who you want to contact about the Armstrongs. I would love to take a look at them, as well, if you wouldn't mind PMing or posting them.
Thx.
When I take pics I'll post here as well. I'll have to open the "vault" for those so I'll have lots of other good stuff to show also.
The Armstrong photo came from his office directly in the early 90s so I'll be devastated if it comes back as questionable. I know it isn't an autopen.
The other signature is on an antique stereoview card of the moon. I bought that one from a reputable dealer years ago. Very neat item but I'll want that one scrutinized.
I've probably owned 20 or more Armstrongs over the years. The only two that I still own are the two he signed for me TTM back in 1989.
Those are great.
The second one looks like a govt postcard.
Here is my NA. I'll post on the other thread as well.
From the early 1990s. I wrote to him again about a year later and got a rejection letter saying I had already gotten one. So I hope that was a good sign.
That is jaw-dropping beautiful. No doubt about the authenticity and non-personalized to boot!! That is honestly one of the nicest examples of a non-personalized Armstrong that I have ever seen. And now it looks just as bright as the day it was signed. Unimprovable and much much rarer than a personalized example. Absolutely stunning.
Thx!
It's never seen the light of day for more than a minute or two to look at it.
That screenplay is scary how well it's forged.
The font used on the front page is different from what is used on the remainder of the script. Also, the multi-colored dots don't appear on any page other than the front.
Steve Zarelli came back fast today with the Email Opinion: "likely to pass full authentication."
I'd live to get a full letter but I don't want to entrust it to the mail.
That is absolutely beautiful! Not only is it not personalized like many but it’s not at all faded. That’s probably one of the best Neil Armstrong signed astronaut photos I have ever seen. One recently sold for $4000 on RRAuction but it was a little faded. This one belongs in a museum!
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As for the script in the original post - scary fake. However I have learned 99.99% of signed scripts on eBay are all fakes. Very few people actually sign scripts. It’s very easy to find a script online, print it off on a laser printer, then either forge signatures on the front page or take the front page and put it through an inkjet printer with signature template you want on it. Many of those look fake though as they are usually same color and match popular examples readily available online in an image search. Another thing forgers do is buy an actual original script and forge signatures on it - or add forged signatures to an already authentic signature on it (for example a script for E.T. might have an authentic Dee Wallace signature but forger adds child Drew Barrymore signature, Spielberg, Henry Thomas etc.) to it. So be careful. I tend to avoid scripts all together.
Thx for the comment on the NA. I never displayed it, which accounts for its condition.