Ah signature

[Kyle Harrington]

Personally I would not touch anything concerning an AH autograph, however I have been asked by a mate to ask opinions on this.This is from a insidecover of a Mein Kampf circa 1936:

Thanks
Kyle

[Br. James]

Interesting. Hitler's signature was never printed on the "insidecover of a Mein Kampf" edition that I am aware of, so it might be hand-written. Authors usually sign on the title page, and with editions of MK, there was the Hitler portrait page which included a facsimile of his autograph on the bottom margin. Can we see a photo of the whole page on which this signature appears...it might tell us something more?

Thanks Kyle,

Br. James

[Kyle Harrington]

Thanks mate

I meant to say it is an alleged ink signature as opposed to printed /facs as per inside cover. The provenance is intriguing but as yet I have no full picture of the page, hence my request as to its validity.Thank you Br. James

Regards Kyle

[Kyle Harrington]

Inside page

Here is the signature again:

[Br. James]

Thanks, Kyle. The signature is on the flyleaf, not on the inside cover, and sometimes authors do sign copies of their works on the flyleaf.

I'm sorry to say that I can't get a visual impression of this signature from the photos you've provided. If you could provide a significantly-enlarged version, that might be of assistance. Of course, others here may have better eyesight than I do...and I'm sure they do!

Cheers,

Br. James

[honorringman]

Kyle : From the enlarged photo of the signature that you have posted it is consistent with Adolf Hitler's signature from 1936 as you will find in Charles Hamilton's book on signatures of the Third Reich volume one. Charles was a friend of mine who past away late in 1990's he did a two volume series . The signature has a nice clean flow of the pen and does not seem to be a forced signature as done by a forger. I have had between 200 to 250 original Hitler signatures over the years . If this book was offered to me with the picture you posted I would have no problem purchasing it . Hitler signed may things at Rallies or when he came to a town and people would hand him things to sign so it could be signed anywhere. It is from my personal opinion this looks to be an original signature . If you or your friend are going to collect signatures I think Charles Hamilton's two volume book would be an asset and is loaded with information. Just giving you my thoughts. Regards Don Boyle ( Honorringman )

[Br. James]

Hi Don,

So good to see you here! Indeed Charles Hamilton's name is writ large among us who collect autographs and I thank you for your reminiscence. Mr. Hamilton died on December 11, 1996 and "The New York Times" published a fine obituary two days later, titled "Charles Hamilton Jr., 82, An Expert on Handwriting." You can find this obit by Googling "Charles Hamilton, autographs."

With all good wishes to you,

Br. James

[honorringman]

Br. James : Thanks for the information . Much appreciated . Mr. Hamilton was born about 20 miles from my house in Factoryville, Pa. He told me when we talked it was his children that convinced him to do the 2 books as he did not think it would sell well. He was a very nice person and we talked from time to time until about a year before he died. He started to get so form of dementia or Alzheimer's and he did make sense when we would talk . Nice to be here again after all these years. Don

[Br. James]

Thanks for the additional background on Charles Hamilton, Don. I'm sure he was "a very nice person" -- and there are still many of them here in our hobby, I'm happy to say! I see that Factoryville is outside of Scranton in northeastern PA, which means that you are from the exact opposite of the State from me; I was born in Uniontown, outside of Pittsburgh in southwestern PA.

Again, glad to have this chance to chat for a moment with another of the great gentlemen of our hobby...YOU! Cheers,

Br. James