Exciting donation to Age UK Gloucestershire's shop

“You can see several signatures of Edward M Kennedy on the TomFolio website. I don't think that any of them look like the one in the book.”

“Sorry for some reason I cant post the graphic but it definately varies a lot. I will check the ISBN code and see what the Museam says.”

“I must admit that the signature doesn't look much like some I've seen. The guaranteedautographs website has a couple of Ted Kennedy signatures and the K is a definite K and the D of Ted and Y of Kennedy don't look the same. Of course, it still could be a genuine signature if he was not in the best of health, after all, everyone's signature changes a bit over time, especially if you're getting on a bit!

I think the clincher to see whether it is the right limited edition book or not is to check the ISBN number and if it doesn't match the one I gave in my earlier message, along with the publisher's information, then it's more than likely not the right one. I have seen the ISBN number for the regular book and it appears to be ISBN 0446539252 or ISBN 9780446539258 both of these are different to the limited edition one. (From January 2007 ISBN's went from 10 numbers to 13) ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. More research needed I think!”

“Here is a really interesting graphic of how Senator Kennedy's signature varies. I am really looking forward to seeing what the museum say.”

“I suspect that the highly respectable donor may have been conned into thinking that the book was worth far more than it actually was.”

“By the way the book did come from a very highly respectable donor.”

“Thanks for your comments everyone they are really helpful and I am very grateful. As a charity worker it is so great when a member of the public gets involved and offers some help to achieve our aims. With regard to the authenticity of the signature, I have the American Museum in Bath on the case. I will keep you all informed.”

“There was a recent news article on the BBC news pages about some book dealer who has been convicted of buying old books from junk shops and forging signatures in them, then selling them for huge amounts. Anyone can write someone else's name in a book.”

“Can anyone explain where the photograph of Ted Kennedy's signature that accompanies this article comes from? It bears no resemblance to the one that has been posted more recently by LifeinCharity. I think that the one with this article is a genuine signature by Ted Kennedy, and the one in the 'limited edition' book is a forgery.”

“So, it seems that you might have the "expensive" book! It' would be good to find some that had been sold rather than ones that were for sale. In the book dealing world, what book sellers pay for one and what they sell them for are miles apart! Price guides show values that are what you would expect to pay from a professional book dealer NOT what you can expect to get if you sell it. The dealer will have bought it for a lot less than the price he's asking because he will have to put up the asking price to cover his expenses. Having said that, I sold the £1.50 Sebastian Faulks Birdsong for more or less the guide price of £300.

A good place to look for sold book prices is Bloomsbury Book Auctions. Dominic Winter book auctions at South Cerney will give free valuations and probably plenty more auction houses will do the same but you know what it's like with antique valuations done on TV, the experts don't always get it right!!. The Alibris website shows a limited edition one for sale for £1,332.78 (peculiar price!) but they said it is in a dust jacket and is a signed leather bound book but it didn't mention a box. If the book that has been donated has not got a dust jacket and the original book was issued with one then the value plummets to about half the value of one with the jacket. There is another of the books for sale, not the limited edition one but with a loose piece of paper with Kennedy's signature on and that is over £300. Remember those are the ASKING PRICES, they may not sell for that price.

I am finding it hard to find any of the limited editions that have been sold, only a few for sale. I know the articles before publication said that the book was going to be offered for sale for $1000 so anyone paying that isn't really likely to want to sell it, especially for less than what they paid for it. I shall keep looking for auction prices and hope to be lucky.”