A Beautiful Blunder Autograph

[Rob Wick]

Quote:Geni.com traces Bill Bixby to his father, Wilfred Everett Bixby, Jr., who was the son of Wilfred Everett Bixby, son of Levy Samuel Bixby (1844-) who was born in Boston.

Thanks, Linda! That does put a relative named Bixby in Boston, but I wonder if Levy and Lydia were related?

Quote:Very interesting, Rob. I do not know, but here are some more handwriting samples

Roger, thanks for finding those. I wasn't able to see the first three clearly, but the last two looked much the same as the one I found.

I was originally skeptical that it was really Bixby, because I bought the book off of Alibris, and the seller didn't mention anything about Bixby's signature in the description. Plus, there's no date as to when Bixby supposedly got the book or signed it. It seemed to me that a major selling point for a $45 book is that one is getting a copy signed by a celebrity. At least that has been the case in books that I bought that were signed by James G. Randall, Otto Eisenschiml and Blanche Wiesen Cook. Of course, all three of those were the actual authors, but given Bixby's celebrity, and the oddness of being a descendent of a known historical figure, it seems the seller would have mentioned that. I guess I need to contact the seller to find out what they know.

[Update] I sent the seller a message and am waiting to hear back. The store is Feldman Books and they are located in Menlo Park, California.

Best
Rob