Last week, NTB was able to write that Bob Dylan fans were upset that the “handwritten” version of Dylan’s latest book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song”, which cost a whopping NOK 6,000, it wasn’t handwritten.
The book will be about songwriting and received good reviews in the press.
He had used a pen
When fans compared the signatures in the book, they found they were identical, and it was later revealed that Dylan had used a so-called autopen.
It is a signature machine that copies and reproduces a signature. In autograph collecting circles, such signatures are considered worthless as collector’s items. However, each book came with a certificate of authenticity, signed by the managing editor which “was hand signed by Bob Dylan”.
According to Variety among the 900, only 17 different Dylan signatures were identified.
Publisher Simon & Schuster was quick to apologise, stating that “the books were found to contain Bob’s original signature, but in replica form.”
Then it became known that the buyers get their money back and can keep the book.
He suffers from vertigo
Over the weekend, Dylan also covered the magazine and commented on the situation.
In a Facebook post, the rock legend explains that he’s been struggling with vertigo since 2019, which was the reason he didn’t hand sign all 900 books.
He also blamed the pandemic for making it extremely difficult to implement.
– It takes a team of five to work closely together to help with these signing sessions and we couldn’t find a safe and feasible way to complete what I needed to do while the virus raged. So during the pandemic it was impossible to sign anything, and dizziness didn’t help, Dylan explains.
(The article continues below the post).
With contract deadlines approaching, the idea of using a fountain pen has been mooted, Dylan writes, with the promise that this sort of thing happens “all the time” in the world of art and literature.
– It was bad judgment to use a car and I want to fix it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery owners to do just that.
Dylan concludes the post with “with my deepest regret”.
