Greetings, JR here. I make my meager living selling Hunter Thompson & Ralph Steadman books on the internet. In the last 3 years I’ve sent a little over 4000 books all over this planet. I have never sold a signed Hunter Thompson book on an auction site. Why? I could not afford to purchase a book with a known provenance, autographed by the Doc & attempt to re-sell it.  In book listing services autographed HSTs usually start at around $300. and go up, sometimes way up. If you are looking for autographed Hunter books on an auction site, BE SCARED, BE VERY SCARED.  You should assume there’s a very good possiblity it’s NOT authentic.  I’m not saying all autographed HSTs in auction sites are fakes. I will never make a claim to be an “expert” on HST autographs, I’m not. I do own a few books signed by the Doc.

I have heard time & again from several collectors, some of whom are experts on autographed Hunter material, state that the majority of his books sold as “signed” in auction sites are fakes, they are bogus.  Possibly as much as 90%. That’s 9 out of 10.
  I have purchased a few signed Doc books. The sellers satisfied my mind as to background & history. How could you maybe know if an autograph is real? Ask questions. Email sellers. Ask questions such as, “Do you have any background on this signature? Can you tell me anything that will help me to consider this real?”  There are cases where a seller may not have any information to share. It’s an unknown book. They could have found it anywhere & got lucky. Or? They could have faked a Hunter signature, signed it yesterday, and put it at auction today.

This is an HST autograph, (below) it’s not real. I signed this for Marty, it’s in a book that was published after the Doc died. no chance it could be real, it was just a joke.

  For me a seller saying “I guarantee this” is easy to say, sometimes means nothing & is much harder to back up.
If they can provide some background (like I got this signed on this date at this place, or it came from so & so’s well known collection, or I ran into the Doc in the Woody Creek Tavern in ’92 & after he yelled at me, he signed my book) & appear to be an honest seller that’s a step in right direction. A seller saying “I bought this on a auction site” could mean anything. It does not mean the signature is valid. It’s not very helpful in trying to figure out if a signature might be real. I’m not saying that if ? A person selling a signed HST book cannot provide any answers that the book is faked. It just makes it much more difficult. I take people at face value, but without some kind of proof, or background, something logical, I am aware a seller could say anything. Would a person selling fake autographs say “Yeah it’s fake?” No.

  Here are a few guidelines, maybe say warning signs to look for. This is from my viewpoint as a seller. Be leery of an auction that runs only a short time, like 1 day or 3 days. WHY? would anyone who thought their “signed” HST book may sell well, rush it in a abbreviated auction? Normally speaking, less days at auction, means less exposure, means less chance for a better selling price. OR? here’s a thought. It’s fake, the seller is aware it’s fake & they hope to capitalize by selling it quick, for whatever. If you have a $10 book, add a fake signature and sell it for $100. That’s a pretty good way to make some cash. Over the last 3 years I have seen a few different sellers, on way too regular of a basis, keep offering at auction another “signed” copy. Like clockwork. It maybe once a month, maybe every few weeks. Too many alarm bells go off in my head. Where would any one person acquire 10 or 20 copies “signed’ of the same book & still be able to constantly sell them?  For instance, I see the Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (movie tie in edition)  “signed’ and constantly offered at aution from the same person. How? could a seller have copies of a 10 year old book, supposedly “autographed” and still have stock of them to offer for sale 10 years later? Oh, yeah, they are probably fake. Anyone could “sign” HST’s autograph & have a life times supply of autographed books to sell. With a little practice, how hard could it be to fake 3 letters of the alphabet? That seems like one answer. Possibly an very accurate thought. How could any one seller constantly have lots of different Hunter titles “signed’ to offer for sale. Where did they come from?  If a seller cannot answer your questions & concerns about where this autograph book originated, cannot provide any logical answers to your questions, or says something like “It looks fine to me, I think it’s real”. Be Scared. Assume it may be fake.

Unfortunately it’s simply some what of a crap shoot. If you take the time to research known, real signatures of Hunter, maybe some of the more shaky scary “autographs” will be more apparent. Usually Hunter’s bookplates are safe. Do some research instead of going nuts bidding on unknown “signed” HSTs looking for a bargain. Photos of known signed books, such as the limited signed Taschen Curse of Lono, or the first issue of Screw Jack are out there. They crop up and usually include a scan of the autograph. Look around the Internet.  It’s still not an easy answer. I don’t have one. If a seller offering numerous autographed HST books is buying up numerous HST books. That’s not a good sign in my mind. Why would someone selling “signed” HST want a stock of Hunter books? Oh yeah, to sign them and resell. Ask lots of questions, keep an open mind but be very wary. Good Luck, real autographs are out there and sometimes can be found for reasonable costs.