Booth signature--authentic?

[alfagta]

I got this a few years ago and was assured of its authenticity, but a Lincoln letter I got at the same time has been declared fraudulent by the Papers of Abraham Lincoln experts. I would appreciate opinions from this site. Thanks, Bill

[RJNorton]

Welcome to the forum, Bill! This is not an area where I have expertise in, but I am afraid I have to vote "no."

[Eva Elisabeth]

Welcome, Bill - you may find this thread interesting:
http://rogerjnorton.com/LincolnDiscussio...l#pid25436

[John Fazio]

Bill:

Neither am I an expert, but an intelligent guess is that it is not genuine. I compared it with Booth's unquestionably authentic signature on the card he left in Browning's box for Johnson. There are major differences. To begin with, the card is signed "J. Wilkes Booth", not "John Wilkes Booth". Secondly, the "k" in "Wilkes" is substantially different, as is the capital "B" in "Booth". The underscoring line in your sample does not appear on the card, though there is a subscription. There are other differences of a subtler kind.

John

[LincolnMan]

I have to agree with the others for reasons stated. It is still a notable item in that it is not authentic.

[alfagta]

Thanks, all.

[Jim Garrett]

There are more spurious John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln signatures in existence than the real deal. Much of them were the work of Eugene Field II back in the 20's and 30's. However this does not look like the work of Field.

[Gene C]

Jim's comment got me curious, so I Yahoo'd Eugene Field.
Here is a bit more information regarding what Jim just posted.

http://www.autograph-market.com/books-a-...y-mr-field

[Craig Hipkins]

I would be reluctant to purchase any historical signature without there being some provenance to back it up. I have watched too many episodes of Pawn Stars!