Hi all
A local listing on Craigslist is offering an Edison signed document for
$12,995. Ridiculous price, but my concern is if it is a stolen item. They
appear to be pages cut from a corporate journal of meeting minutes or
something. Signed by both Thomas and Charles Edison, as well as other officers,
it raises a flag. How would something like this get into public hands?
I wrote to the seller and he sent me the following explanation (which really
doesn't explain anything): "Thanks for your interest in the signed Thomas
Edison notes. When my grandparents first came to the United States, they held
Franklin Roosevelt
in the greatest esteem, so they would write letters to him every once
in a while. In the years that followed, Roosevelt corresponded on more
than one occasion, and my grandparents began collecting these letters.
Later on, they also attained signatures from a number of presidents, Benjamin
Franklin, Abraham Lincoln,
and plenty of other folks. I can't trace each of the items back to the
source; fortunately, PSA DNA uses a plethora of methods to determine the
authenticity of each of the documents and signatures. I know that the
company measures ink pressures, aging, signature characteristics, and a
number of factors before determining the legitimacy of each autograph.
Upon confirming that a signature is real, they'll swab some sort of DNA
marker on the sheet, as a method to permanently label the piece of
memorabilia as being authentic. "
Anyone else have an opinion on this? Here is the Craigslist link:
http://santabarbara.craigslist.org/clt/1853328747.html
For good measure I wrote to Leonard DeGraaf, Archivist at the Edison Historic
Site, and to Gerald Fabris, curator forwarding them a copy of the link and
asking their opinion. It just doesn't seem right that pages form a corporate
book would be in public hands. I have made no accusations and I am not saying
they are stolen, I am just curious about this.
John Robles
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