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Author
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Topic: How to validate signatures in space books
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bibliophile
New Member Posts: 4
From: Brooklyn, CT USA
Registered: Jan 2020
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posted 09-01-2025 05:31 PM
  
My collection of books on space exploration includes some that are allegedly signed but I have no provenance of any kind. Three examples: - Volume 1 of Briefwechsel by Hermann Oberth has a simple "H.Oberth" on the front free endpaper (FFE). Under a 10x lens it doesn't look like the text print but autopens go way back, so....
- "Diary of a Cosmonaut" is signed under the photo of V. Lebedev facing the title page. Autopen?
- "America's Astronauts and Their Indestructible Spirit" appears to by signed by Dr. Fred Kelly.
There are a few others so I'm open to suggestions. |
Axman
Member Posts: 804
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-02-2025 05:17 AM
Hermann Oberth was a prolific signer. I have little reason to believe he ever used an autopen, especially not on an endpaper of a bulky object like a book.[Edit] I've had it confirmed through private correspondence that Oberth did not have an autopen machine. |
cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 869
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 09-02-2025 01:16 PM
Alan, I fully agree with you. Hermann Oberth did not have an autopen.Russian cosmonauts also did not have an autopen till ASTP in 1975. Aleksei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov had autopens at Houston MSC. I am not sure, whether later cosmonauts flying with US astronauts like ISS-1 Yuri Gidsenko and Sergey Krikalov had autopens. |
bibliophile
New Member Posts: 4
From: Brooklyn, CT USA
Registered: Jan 2020
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posted 09-03-2025 05:02 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Axman:
Hermann Oberth was a prolific signer.
Thanks. That seems to imply that the chances of the signature being genuine hand-signed have increased. Is Oberth's signature a known target for forgery? |
astrobock
Member Posts: 241
From: WV, USA
Registered: Sep 2006
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posted 09-03-2025 06:10 PM
No. |
Axman
Member Posts: 804
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 09-04-2025 06:01 AM
As astobock says, he wasn't a target for forgery. He signed so many pieces, and his autographs aren't greatly sought after that as a consequence they aren't particularly valuable, and therefore not a forgery target.And, his usual signature is a plain "H. Oberth" |
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