# Your views on Autographs



## Eledhwen (Apr 4, 2005)

I just saw, on ebay UK, a copy of FotR EE signed by four cast members. It will probably sell for a small fortune. The other week, I saw a text book being sold that JRR Tolkien had owned; Tolkien had 'ex-libris' marked it and heavily annotated it throughout. The bid when I saw it was over £1,500 (about $28k).

I can see why the Tolkien book was valuable, as it had his insights written into it; and I can see why a personal dedication to the present owner is treasured; but what does a signature alone have that so many people are willing to pay so much for it?

Please tell me!

Eledhwen


----------



## Hammersmith (Apr 4, 2005)

I think that they're nice as memorabilia. I bought my dad an autographed Bob Dylan portrait for Christmas and he loved it. My sister met Dom Monaghan and Karl Urban and had a painting she made and her copy of TTT autographed.

Then again, I'm somewhat a perfectionist, and I like to have everything complete and perfect. I love autographed CDs and merchandise, just to display them and collect them. I suppose that last part - the collecting of something - is rather important. I wouldn't pay much for an autograph though. I'd either buy it to give, or I'd collect the item as a memory of meeting the person.


----------



## Barliman Butterbur (Apr 4, 2005)

Eledhwen said:


> ...what does a signature alone have that so many people are willing to pay so much for it?



If I had the chance to request an autograph of a great man or woman and they gave it to me — such as a great scientist or spiritual leader or politician — it would be a lovely moment to remember: the time when my life intersected the life of a truly great person: the autograph would be a permanent record of the event, a physical reminder of that fleeting wonderful moment when our paths crossed and I touched greatness.

Barley


----------



## Alcuin (Apr 4, 2005)

Autograph hounds chasing a cinema “star” for an autograph are about as respectable as paparazzi, who feed upon the same desire and inclinations, and as comic as a replay of the old Keystone Kops. 

That being said, I would delve into my meager savings for a copy of _The Hobbit_ signed by J.R.R. Tolkien, and might even consider a more sizable sum for the newly discovered Tolkien letter. An authenticated signature of William Shakespeare is out of my league: those are auctioned with fanfare at Sotheby’s or Christy’s, where Tolkien’s letter would likely also be sold, were it to come to market. A signed, original score of one of Beethoven’s symphonies recently traded at seven figures, whether sterling or dollars. 

A copy of the American Declaration of Independence – presumably the copy once belonging to North Carolina looted during our Civil War – is a matter of legal wrangling between the aggrieved North Carolinians and the heirs and successors of an industrious Union soldier with an eye for history. 

There is a sports bar in Boston near the old Boston Gardens (now replaced with a new arena) with baseballs and baseball bats signed by Mickey Mantel, Ted Williams, and Babe Ruth; basketballs and jerseys signed by Bill Russell and Larry Bird; and a hockey stick, helmet and jersey signed by Bobby Orr. No matter what you think of Pete Rose’s personal activities off the field, he was a tremendous athlete, and it’s neat to look at a baseball he signed with all his teammates after winning the World Series.

What would one of the world’s great museums or libraries give for an original, signed sonnet by Petrarch? What is the value of Cal Tech’s signed copy of Johannes Kepler’s _Harmonies of the World_? A copy of _Hamlet_ that belonged to Sir John Barrymore with his notes and commentary was recently discovered. What is that copy of _Hamlet_ worth to a collector? to a scholar? to an actor? to a director?

What then is the value of a book of signatures of actors and actresses of film, hounded at restaurants or ice-cream stands, or willing given from the red carpet runner of a Hollywood gala?


----------



## Hammersmith (Apr 4, 2005)

Alcuin said:


> Autograph hounds chasing a cinema “star” for an autograph are about as respectable as paparazzi, who feed upon the same desire and inclinations, and as comic as a replay of the old Keystone Kops.


I agree. I'd never hound a "star", but if I ran into one at a premiere or an event where he or she was there in an official capacity (as ludicrous as that sounds!) I'd consider asking for their John Hancock


----------



## Alcuin (Apr 4, 2005)

Eledhwen said:


> The bid when I saw it was over £1,500 (about $28k).


_(Psst – £1500 is about US $2800, C $3400, A $3660, NZ $4000 – today, at any rate, so to speak.)_


----------



## e.Blackstar (Apr 4, 2005)

I have an autographed pic of Timothy Goebel (a figure skater) and I just think that its cool to think that the person held this and signed it. I'm too cynical to enjoy it really, though, because I always realize that I'm just a nother fan to them. so yeah...


----------



## chrysophalax (Apr 5, 2005)

I have a few...but only of performers I've worked with. I've never sought them out.


----------



## Varda35 (Apr 13, 2005)

I don't have a problem with the idea of an autograph in and of itself. I understand why it can be meaningful to people. I have a personalized autograph from one of my favarite hockey players and I have a poster signed by andy serkis, but I think these two items are special to me not because of the autograph but because I got to meet the person while they were giving me their autograph. I don't quite understand why people pay large sums of money for autographed items, especially when they are signed by people who haven't even done anything truly spectacular. I can wrap my brain around paying a good sum of money for something signed by say a Shakespeare or an Einstien, but paying the same amount for something signed by Orlando Bloom or Britney Spears I just don't understand. And don't get me wrong, I LOVE Orlando Bloom, but having something with his autograph on it is just not worth any money to me. And as far as autograph hounds go, I think they're disgusting. Anyone who would go up to a celebrity in a restaurant or a store or when they're with friends or family and bother them has no respect for that celebrity as a human being. It's rude. The only appropriate time to ask for an autograph is at some sort of official function or press event or maybe MAYBE if the person is alone and doesn't look busy, but that's pushing it for me. Sorry if I've ranted but this has always bothered me. I live in New York and I see it all the time. You'd be amazed at how rude people can be just because they want an autograph. It makes me feel really sorry for celebrities. But then I think of all the money they make and I feel a little less sorry for them. haha


----------



## HLGStrider (Jun 11, 2005)

I get some of it, but not other bits of it. I mean, I don't believe in being more pesky than I have too (just pesky in little, catly ways like batting at someone or lying across their newspaper, not chasing them down and screaming) so the autograph hounds are laughable to me. 

However, to me an autograph to me would be a great, easily attained and easily kept souvenier of any meeting with any famous folk. 

On the other hand, if I didn't actually meet the person, the autograph would be kind of empty.

I own two autographed things: a shirt from a Riders in the Sky concert which they went over for me but it is fading after washing because I actually wore it afterwards; and a John Tesh CD which I won without trying by giving some website my e-mail address. . .John Tesh isn't my personal preference, but heck, it was free.


----------



## Hammersmith (Jun 11, 2005)

Joan Collins stopped giving autographs after someone slid a piece of paper under a loo door and asked her to sign it.

Minnie Driver was also asked to give an autograph after someone slid a piece of paper under a loo door but merely said, 'Could we do this outside?'

Andrea Corr was asked for an autograph while she was throwing up. 'I couldn't believe it. I told her it might be a good idea if I washed my hands first.'

Julia Roberts was asked for an autograph while she was on the loo. She said, 'I'm the tiniest bit busy.'

Pierce Brosnan was asked while using a urinal. He obliged but: 'I refused the guy's request to say "shaken not stirred".'

Taken from "That Book"

Wow. Celebrities have more patience than I would!


----------



## HLGStrider (Jun 11, 2005)

They also have more money which helps to ease the pain. . .


----------



## Elorendil (Jun 11, 2005)

I enjoy collecting autographs. All but one of them are from people I have met, and the one I didn't meet, my mom went through the trouble of standing in line for quite a while to get a CD autographed by my favorite Christian group, Sierra. All told, I have 4 CDs, 2 tapes, a concert program, two or three books, and a ticket stub or two that have been autographed.

My favorite autographs are from a pair of world-famous pianists I had the privilege of listening to and meeting. Both Emanual Ax and Yefmin Bronfmen shook my hand (which I jokingly vowed I would never wash again) and autographed my program from their concert. Mr. Ax also autographed one of his CDs for me, which has his rendition of a piece I was working on! That autograph meant a lot to me, as Mr. Ax is my hero  

For some reason, when I had a few CDs produced with 3 of my songs, Mirelena absolutely insisted that I had to autograph hers 

But would I pay large amounts for something that had been autographed? No! It doesn't mean as much to me if I didn't meet the person.


----------



## Eledhwen (Jun 11, 2005)

I am somewhat heartened to see that the final category in the poll has remained (as yet) unticked. I read in Christopher Lee's autobiography that someone accosted him with a briefcase full of film posters and asked him to sign the lot. CL obliged, much to the astonishment of his companions. He realised afterwards, when they explained it to him, how much he had just increased the autograph hunter's personal wealth by.


----------



## 33Peregrin (Jun 25, 2005)

There was a time when I would have wanted something autographed by Elijah Wood more than anything.... You know, something he actually might have _touched._... but I have never actually gotten myself to buy one on Ebay or anything. Since then, I haven't really cared too much about them...and wouldn't do anything out of my way to get to one. I wouldn't mind having one if I actually met the person to get it. But besides that, I woulnd't go out of my way. A while ago there was an LOTR poster hanging in my best friend's coffee shop with the autographs of 13 members of the cast. I was kind of in awe to be in the presence of it, and I would stare at it for a while, but I never went out of the way to get the 1200 it would have cost to buy it.


----------



## BobDaNob (Jun 27, 2005)

I have a few autographs, but they are from people that I have the utmost respect for and are nothing short of heroes in my eyes, so for me to have a CD with 'Steve Vai' scrawled across it in my car or one of my favorite comics with 'Alan Moore' written on it means more to me than money or prestige.

For me, it's about the honour of them personalizing something they created that I cherish deeply.


----------



## Eledhwen (Jun 28, 2005)

BobDaNob said:


> For me, it's about the honour of them personalizing something they created that I cherish deeply.


That's a good reason for an autograph. Even better when it's dedicated too.


----------

