For about $600, individuals might purchase restricted editions of Bob Dylan's new guide, "The Philosophy of Trendy Tune," with the promise of the guide being hand-signed by the famed musician himself. Now, the guide and its writer are underneath fireplace as patrons revealed that the supposed hand signature was really a reproduction.
A now-erased webpage for Simon & Schuster, the guide's writer, presents an "unique version" of the guide "assured to be personally hand-signed by Bob Dylan." The itemizing worth for the guide was $599, closing sale, with no returns accepted. In the meantime, the unsigned copy of the guide is listed by the writer for $45.
Simon & Schuster is a division of Paramount International, as is CBS Information.
The guide even got here with a letter from the writer's president and CEO, Jonathan Karp, dated November 15, that additional ensures the signature's authenticity.
"You maintain in your fingers one thing very particular, considered one of simply 900 copies obtainable within the US of The Philosophy of Trendy Tune signed by Bob Dylan. That is Bob's first guide of recent writing since Chronicles, Quantity One, revealed in 2004, and since profitable the Nobel Prize in literature in 2016," the letter states, ending with a easy promise, "This letter is affirmation that the copy of the guide you maintain has been hand-signed by Bob Dylan."
However when patrons of those restricted editions acquired their copies, they have been shocked to seek out that the signature was not hand-signed. It was a computer-printed reproduction.
The revelations of the reproduction signature emerged a month in the past, earlier than many individuals obtained their books. One YouTuber widespread for selling fan mail and autograph amassing posted a video on October 21 that confirmed a signed copy of the guide that somebody had acquired by way of Canadian bookseller Indigo.
"It was painfully clear that it was by no means signed by Bob," the YouTuber says, saying it was clearly made by a machine for quite a lot of causes. "...It simply does not appear to be Bob's signature. Secondly, the strains are 100% uniform and have distinctive beginning and stopping factors."
And at last, he stated, "at 81 years previous, you'll anticipate to see some shake in his signature."
"Should you ordered a replica, now's your time to cancel," he warned.
One one who bought the guide stated on Reddit that it seems to be prefer it had been signed with an "auto-pen," a machine that reproduces somebody's signature.
"Undoubtedly NOT an actual signature," one other particular person tweeted this week after getting their copy of the guide. "I've 3 precise Bob autos that look nothing like this. Anyway, glad I am getting my a reimbursement. The letter is a whole joke."
Simon & Schuster publicly addressed the scenario on Sunday, issuing an apology to those that bought the supposedly hand-signed guide.
"Because it seems, the restricted version books do comprise Bob's authentic signature, however in penned reproduction type," the assertion says. "We're addressing this instantly by offering every purchaser with an instantaneous refund."
Dylan has not publicly commented on the signature snafu.
The guide was initially introduced in March for a November 8 publication. It is the legendary singer and songwriter's first guide of recent writing since his 2004 guide "Chronicles, Quantity One." In it are greater than 60 of Dylan's essays about music and songs, during which he breaks down their rhymes and syllables and reveals how genres are intertwined – even bluegrass and heavy metallic.