Signed Books International Book Collectors Association Sponsors Help us build a valuable collection of signature samples that our visitors can use to help authenticate signed books. The book collecting community will be forever indebted to you as the IBCA is enabled to impower collectors with additional reference resources. This collection of signatures is the start of the International Book Collectors Assocation reference work for autograph comparison. Use it to quickly tell if a signature may be original.
Signatures are very difficult to tell and often a hand writing expert is needed for authentication.
Many book signatures are auto-penned and mass produced thus not consituting an original signature. One of the most famous examples is President Grant's Memoirs were the first edition bears his signature and an inscription. One give away clue in this case and useful for all books is to see when the book was published and compare it to the date the author died. You'll be suprised how many dead authors are still signing books.