Until a few years ago the thought of getting a book signed had never occurred to me and then I started buying Redwall books for the boys and the Redwall website says, "all books purchased from the Redwall La Dita Book Club are autographed by Brian Jacques". As there was no extra cost for this, and I was buying the books online anyway, the books came signed as a matter of course. I have several of these.Not long after that the younger son started reading the Measle books by Ian Ogilvy (alert readers will have spotted The Saint connection) and, again, I was able to buy a signed copy of one of them online at no extra cost.
The first signed book that I got for myself was Jim Starlin's Dreadstar. Jim Starlin has been a big favourite of mine since the Warlock series in the early seventies so this was a nice treat to myself.
I'm not sure what other signed books I have, a clue that perhaps signed books are not that special anymore, but one is worth mentioning and that is my signed and numbered limited edition print of Pearls of Peoria by Philip Jose Farmer, pictured here.
Philip Jose Farmer is still my favourite author thanks, mainly, to the new worlds he invented and the fantastic stories he placed in them. The obvious examples are the Riverworld and World of Tiers series. Well worth a read, signed or unsigned.
I have an autographed copy of Blessings in Disguise, by Alec Guinness, a very entertaining memoir. The value of the signature, for me, is knowing that Mr. Guinness took a few moments to open the book, smooth the page, placing one hand on the book while signing with the other. Touched by greatness!
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