Framed picture and Signature of Gen James Longstreet. Is it real?

[Ammoman]

Today i hit my local thrift store and came up with a framed picture of a man dressed in a suit as well as a signature under it. I posted the picture on the thrift store finds section here on T-net hoping someone might recognize the person or at least make out the name or names on the signature.

Sure enough, in less than an hour T-net member Wilsondog nailed it as a picture of Civil war General James Longstreet



Until today, i had no clue who Longstreet was but now i do. He was called "My old war horse" by Gen Lee and was Lee's trusted friend and adviser.

Anyhow, i paid 3 dollars for the framed picture and signature. It looks like the Longstreet signature is one that commands big bucks making my find less likely to be real. Still, even if its not real, i learned something about the civil war that i never knew making my 3 dollars well spent.

Here is a picture of an authenticated signature next to the one i have.

It says Yours truly James Longstreet



So, that's my find for the day!

HH everyone!

 

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[coinman123]

Amazing thrift store. The paper and ink look pretty old to me. I would definitely try to get it authenticated. Based on Google, most of his signatures are pretty inconsistent with each other, so it is hard to compare them to other known ones. Congrats on such a historical find if it is authentic! Even if it is not authentic, you still got to have the fun of researching it.

 

[Ammoman]

Yes the signatures are all over the place. I was surprised to find the authenticated signature to be very close to the one i have. I am not sure if i want to drop 150 bucks to find out if its real or not. I may let it stew on my mind for a while before i make a final decision.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

The capital "L" in Longstreet looks weird to me. It has a thin line that looks like someone was trying to copy it and messed up. Just my take on it, but I could be wrong.

 

[Ammoman]

I looked at that as well as the extra line in the J. I have used non ball point ink pens before and it may just be from a stray fiber caught at the tip of the pen. Or like you said an attempt to trace.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I'm no handwriting expert but it looks like the real deal to me. The OP's signature looks like it was done by someone who did it a thousand times, not by someone trying to make a copy. It is so close to the example signature I would not hesitate to buy it. Gary

 

[huntsman53]

Nice find! A Civil War Museum may have an Expert that can authenticate the signature for free.

 

[A2coins]

I doubt any one here can say for sure there are sires like antique road show that have experts live for a fee if its valuable could be worth the risk if it is why are they selling it for 150 good luck

 

[Reanm8er]

Outstanding! And a banner find.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratulations on the very nice find!

 

[Plumbata]

Looks perfectly legit to me, but I'd try taking it out of the frame to determine if what ya see is all there is or if the rest of the letter or document is folded up or otherwise hidden. The extra mark in the J is strange, but the L just appears to have been the letter his pen ran out of ink on, the faint line being him trailing-off the paper to go dip the pen?

Awesome find!

 

[Doubter in MD]

I doubt any one here can say for sure there are sires like antique road show that have experts live for a fee if its valuable could be worth the risk if it is why are they selling it for 150 good luck

I agree that no one here can authenticate the signature based on photographs, but it's fun to speculate.

They paid $3.00 for the picture at a thrift store. The $150.00 that was discussed was the authentication fee for the signature.

 

[xcopperstax]

Hello Ammoman,

Not sure if you came across this in your search but there was a WWII liberty ship named the SS James Longstreet. It was used to transport troops and later used by the navy as a target in Cape Cod Bay in the 40's. It became affectionately known by locals as "the target ship" and it went on to have it's own history for many years. When I was a kid I saw it every time we went to the beach and always hoped that someday I would get to visit it. The bombing eventually ceased and it became kind of a tourist attraction that you couldn't actually go to but was great to photograph. I got certified to dive and dove on it several times despite it being illegal to dive due to safety. Filled with enthusiasm I found an intact but heavily encrusted rocket that was probably 3 and 1/2 feet long. I inflated my dive vest and rose to the surface with the new prize. I looked at my dive buddy and he said "it's liiiiive" I'm like "what?" He repeated: "it's live ordinance" so I hastily dropped it. The winter storms have taken their toll over the years and you can no longer see the ship, but it's still there below the surface. I have no idea if your signature is real but it was a great opportunity to tell this story!

 

[Worm-Slicer]

If you look closely, the L in Longstreet has the same extra line in the authenticated one. Overall, many parts of it are a match and it still retains that distinct difference every signature has, even with the same person. Just write your own signature out, no way it can ever truly be exactly the same. The flow of it is smooth and not like one that was traced either, so my bet it's legit and well worth getting authenticated. The only way I would say that it wasn't, is if it is a facsimile, but you can't tell that from photographs, but if you look at the actual signature you can easily tell if it's printed or not. That's one way to distinguish fake Confederate bills from real ones.

CERTIFIED BY AASOA (ARMCHAIR AUTHENTICATOR SOCIETY OF AMERICA)

 

[Ammoman]

If you look closely, the L in Longstreet has the same extra line in the authenticated one. Overall, many parts of it are a match and it still retains that distinct difference every signature has, even with the same person. Just write your own signature out, no way it can ever truly be exactly the same. The flow of it is smooth and not like one that was traced either, so my bet it's legit and well worth getting authenticated. The only way I would say that it wasn't, is if it is a facsimile, but you can't tell that from photographs, but if you look at the actual signature you can easily tell if it's printed or not. That's one way to distinguish fake Confederate bills from real ones.


CERTIFIED BY AASOA (ARMCHAIR AUTHENTICATOR SOCIETY OF AMERICA)

Its definitely not a facsimile. I guess its time to open the frame and see whats inside. Before i do, is their any reason i should not?

 

[Plumbata]

I guess its time to open the frame and see whats inside. Before i do, is their any reason i should not?

Nope, not unless you have a habit of being a stick-in-the-mud! Crossing my fingers that you reveal some interesting additional information.

 

[Ammoman]

Ok i did it. Nothing major to report. Looks like the picture is a reproduction and the signature was cut out of a thick piece of paper.

 

[Reanm8er]

As long as the paper's still supple.

 

[dansalata]

ive dealt with many signatures..i feel its the real deal...those who say nobody here can id it?? how do they know?everybody is more than just bein on tnet...fantastic find...i worked in a rare book store in southern calif...the owner had the original draft to bram stokers dracula...it sold for $800,000.....

 

[FreeBirdTim]

PSA/DNA has a service called "quick opinion". They will check out a listing on eBay and for $10.00, will give you their opinion on the authenticity of an autograph. All you would have to do is slap it on eBay for a ridiculously high price (to discourage anyone from buying it) and have someone pay $10.00 to get PSA/DNA's opinion on the autograph. Sounds complicated, but it wouldn't be hard to do.


https://www.psacard.com/store/t-quickopinionebay.aspx