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Dates Are Important!
ates in books can be very important, as they can sometimes by Bill Werber who wrote about hunting on the Eastern Shore of
expose forgeries. My friend and ex-partner in the olde book biz Maryland with baseball legend J. Franklin “Home Run” Baker. Baker
DKen Callahan of Callahan and Co. Books sent me this article was almost as famous as Babe Ruth in his day and is credited with
by Brandon Simmons from 2013 about another impossible inscription winning the 1911 World Series. Baker was from my hometown of
in a paperback copy of Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It Trappe, Maryland, but nevertheless, Baker material is very hard to find.
which was inscribed “December 1990, Think the guy could handle one I have never seen Baker’s signature in any books, but he did sign
shifty Augusta Creek? See you. Norm.” baseballs that are very collectible!! I could have had one as Baker lived
Brandon contacted Peter Gambitsky of Fireside Angler who next to my grandfather in town and I remember meeting him and
confirmed his suspicions by stating that not only did Norman Maclean shaking hands with him and used to see him sitting on his porch in nice
not sign his books “Norm,” but had also died in August 1990. So, weather when I got off the school bus, but NO, I had to be the only
Brandon decided not to buy this copy which was priced at $50. boy in the world who was not interested in baseball!
I heard of two kids he did sign baseballs for. One of them, being a
kid, took it home and played ball with it until there was nothing left of
In This Age of Discovery
As I noted in one of my recent articles, sometimes it does not it. The other kid kept it in a drawer for many years before finally selling
take an expert with years of experience to recognize a fake signature, it on eBay for hundreds of dollars.
sometimes anyone with internet access can do it, like looking up an I did know the book by Werber, and when I opened it, there
author’s date of death. This is not the only posthumous signature I was what seemed to be an
know of as I’ve seen a couple myself. inscription in the
One famous example is in General Grant’s autobiography front that was signed
which is actually a printed signature and not written by Grant by both Werber
personally (nor in any of the approximately three hundred and and Baker.
fifty thousand copies printed) Naturally, I did
as he died before the book not want to draw any
was published. attention to it, so
Of course, now the internet I snapped it shut
makes it easier for forgers to fake and nonchalantly wan-
signatures, too, but surprisingly dered around looking
sometimes they still don’t think at other things, before
to do that before putting pen handing it to the check-
to paper. out lady who scarcely
Other bogus signatures I’ve glanced at it and charged
had recently were an Edgar Rice me two dollars.
Burroughs dated 1914 in a copy Back at Unicorn headquarters, I had time to examine the book
of Tarzan which wasn’t published more closely and immediately saw two big problems with it – all
until 1915, and two fake of the handwriting seemed to be in the same hand—and that
Hemingways – one in a copy of hand was not Baker’s—and the book’s publication date, 1981,
Old Man and the Sea with a date was 18 years after Baker’s death in 1863.
that was before that story was Well, I was definitely disappointed that it could not have been
published in book form. And signed by Baker himself (who normally signed his name
I recently had another in a copy of J. Franklin Baker), but I realized that this was not a forgery or
A Moveable Feast. The tip-off there done with any intent to deceive. What the inscription read was
was that the autograph was in a “Compliments of Franklin Baker and his shooting buddy Bill
book published in 1964, three years Werber.” So Werber was signing it for his deceased friend, Baker.
after Hemingway committed suicide in 1961. And the signature While it was not the home run that I had hoped for, it was still
was written on the pages of the book and was not an earlier genuine interesting enough that I kept it for myself. If it had actually been
signature that someone had glued in. signed by Baker it would have been worth many hundreds of dollars,
but as is, it’s obviously just a fraction of that!
Still, better than nothing! It was still a good day and I am glad that
On the Hunt I bought it even if it wasn’t the collector’s homer that I had expected,
I went to a yard sale the other day. It was the last day of a two-day and it serves as another reminder that dates are important and can make
sale, so I was not really expecting anything. Just as I was leaving, one or break an item.
book caught my eye. It was a local item titled Hunting is for the Birds

James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975, when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get
a “real” job. For a born collector like Jim, having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about 30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just
about all subjects are represented. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD 21673; 410-476-3838; unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; www.unicornbookshop.com

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