Bob Dylan Said ‘a Lot’ of His Auctioned Memorabilia Are Forgeries That Should Be ‘Easy to Spot’
Bob Dylan is a notoriously private celebrity, so some fans have relied on auctioned letters and documents to better understand the musician’s personality. Through letters, transcripts, and early drafts of songs, some hope to get better insight into the celebrated artist. The problem is, many of these high-priced documents never actually belonged to Dylan. He explained that many of the auctioned documents are inauthentic. He also said that there’s an easy way to spot the forgeries.
Bob Dylan’s auctioned love letters sold for nearly $670,000
When Dylan was still a high school student in Minnesota, he wrote a series of love letters to his girlfriend, Barbara Ann Hewitt. Forty-two of these letters, totaling 150 pages, sold for $669,875 in a 2022 auction. A Portuguese bookstore bought the letters, which Dylan wrote between 1957 and 1959.
“Wide-ranging in scope and content, the young Dylan reveals his dreams of changing his name and selling a million records, offers bits and pieces of poetry, and professes his never-ending affection,” RR Auction said. “He prepares for the Hibbing High talent show; invites Barbara to the Buddy Holly show in Duluth; speaks of singing, songwriting, and recording; comments on the cars and clothing of the late 1950s; and writes on the records he’s listening to. Every letter is accompanied by its original mailing envelope addressed in Dylan’s own hand, with nearly all also signed on the flap: ‘Bob.’ Also included are a signed Valentine’s Day card and a brief unsigned handwritten note.”
Bob Dylan said many of the auctioned documents are forgeries
Given Dylan’s level of celebrity, his old writings and photographs sell for thousands of dollars in auctions. Despite the high price point, some of these artifacts don’t actually have any value. According to Dylan, many of the auctioned documents are forgeries. When a journalist asked about a transcript Dylan wrote in the 1990s about John F. Kennedy, he said this didn’t exist.
“I’m not aware of ever wanting to write a song about J.F.K.,” he told The New York Times in 2020. “A lot of those auctioned-off documents have been forged.”
Luckily, he said the forgeries always have a tell.
“The forgeries are easy to spot because somebody always signs my name on the bottom,” he said.
He issued an apology for inauthentic autographs in his 2022 book
Dylan himself got in trouble for inauthentic signatures in his 2022 book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. Autographed copies of his book sold for $600, but fans soon realized that Dylan hadn’t actually signed them. Instead, he used autopen to issue his signature on each copy. Dylan issued a rare public apology, noting that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and his vertigo made it difficult for him to sign many copies of the book.
“Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately,” he wrote. “I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that.”
The publisher, Simon & Schuster, also apologized and offered full refunds to everyone who bought an autographed copy.
