Signed copies of Bob Dylan's new book were on sale for $600 each. Then fans spotted a problem

• Author: Remy Tumin
• Published date: 23 November 2022
• Publication title: Irish Times: Web Edition Articles (Dublin, Ireland)

So when Simon & Schuster, Dylan's publisher, advertised limited-edition, hand-signed copies of the musician's new collection of essays for $600 each, Bernstein was among 900 fans who went for one. Last week he received his copy of The Philosophy of Modern Song, Dylan's first collection of writings since he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016, with a letter of authenticity signed by Jonathan Karp, the publisher's chief executive

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There was only one problem.

Karp's signature "looked more legit than Bob's," Bernstein says.

Bernstein was one of hundreds of fans who sleuthed their way around social media, reaching the conclusion that the supposedly hand-signed books had not, in fact, been signed by Dylan.

"I got the nostalgia bug," says Bernstein, who already owned an unsigned copy of the book, as well as a Kindle version and an audio version. He adds, "If he touches this book – he wrote it, signed it – it feels like the soul of Bob Dylan is with me."

Instead many fans suggested that the "autographed" copies of the book had been signed by a machine.

Justin Steffman, a professional authenticator who runs a Facebook group for collectors, says the autograph was most likely created by an autopen. The machine, which re-creates signatures, is used by universities, celebrities and, most notably, the White House.

Handwritten penmanship normally has a flow, Steffman says. But "with a pen machine it goes from point to point", he says, adding that the beginning and the end points of each stroke apply more pressure to the page. Dylan's autograph in the new books also appears to have a "slight shakiness throughout the signature".

"It does not look like something a person signed; it looks like a copy," Steffman says.

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As orders began arriving last week, Dylan fans began comparing notes online, and it quickly became clear that something was amiss, Steffman says. Steffman collected images of at least 17 signatures that all looked as if they had been created by a machine. Items autographed by Dylan typically sell for $1,500 or $2,000 – or about €1,400 to €1,900 – he adds.

"They started popping up, everyone received them the same day and it was instant – we all realised it was an autopen," Steffman says. "More and more people shared their copies, and we all put it together."

Steffman says Simon &amp...