The Enid Blyton Society

She certainly had dementia and it was pretty severe at times too, but she also had lucid periods which we have seen before. If you remember we learnt that a Journalist visited her at Green Hedges about six months before she died and although some of her replies were a bit muddled he was still able to interview her.

Yes, I find that interesting, because our friend Betty had dementia for around 5 or 6 years due to hardening of the arteries, and she could never have written a letter like that during the last two or three years.

On the subject of forged signatures I thought you might be interested in this sale by the Northumberland Auction House.

https://www.easyliveauction.com/catalog ... e-lot-265/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This was in their catalogue with an estimate of £40 - £50, but as you can see it sold for £250. I phoned them the day before the auction and I was put through to the actual auctioneer and I explained who I was and told him in detail where this forgery came from along with dozens of others and even the police had been involved. He was reluctant to do anything about it at all and even suggested that I was doing this as I wanted to bid on it myself!
A 1968 reprint with no dustwrapper!!!! I have seen one or two books that this man signed that were published after Enid's death, but this one is not far off.

I told him that I assumed they were a reputable auction house and wouldn't deliberately want to sell someone a forgery and he said that perhaps he would say that the signature had not been authenticated. I wasn't pleased. I am sorry for whoever paid £250 for it as it is worth a few pence in a car boot sale.

SHAME ON YOU NORTHUMBERLAND AUCTION HOUSE

I think I've seen books for sale with a similar signature, Tony - I certainly wouldn't be fooled by that! It looks like something a child would do with a felt pen!

I've seen some real horrors on eBay - including many books that Enid signed after her death!!

Sometimes, I wonder how could people be so gullible and spend their money on something they aren’t even sure of?

That's terrible, Tony. People would expect to be able to trust an auction house.

It seems the book does have a dustwrapper even though it's not clear from the auction site, as the book is still featured on the Facebook page of The Northumberland Auction House (scroll down to 12th October):

https://www.facebook.com/northumberlandauctionhouse/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It seems as long as they get a sale & their share of commission, then they're not really bothered if the signature is real or a forgery! They're certainly not bothered about the poor soul who has bought the book, that's for sure!

I agree - although these days there's really no excuse - its easy enough to check online what looks like a genuine EB signature and what doesn't, in my opinion, so a buyer should be able to decide quite easily surely?

I’m horrified to read the above posts. It’s hard to believe that some booksellers will sink to such depths of dishonesty!

Anita has summed it up for me. Buyers would expect to trust an auction house that you would think has a reputation to uphold. I feel sorry for the buyer as, most likely, he would have been assured the signature was genuine.

That is really awful and suggests the auction house is more interested in making money than in being honest. I feel sorry for the buyer as well, when they find out the amount of money they've just wasted on an easily provable fake.

I admit I've seen some on eBay that have given me pause, unsure whether they are fake or not - but those are few and far between.

As a rough guide, I would say that usually Enid's signature was written in ink - but was never thick, usually 'fountain pen' and occasionally ( I think?) Biro. Also, she rarely wrote diagnally, as in the example in the link - usually she wrote fairly straight, and fairly neatly.

Those aren't 'Law' - but they are a start!

Also, going by authentic examples we've seen, she usually wrote "Love from Enid Blyton" when signing a book — I don't think I've ever seen a single genuine autograph where she wrote "Happy Reading". It also doesn't look a thing like her real handwriting, examples of which aren't hard to find, especially if you read the Enid Blyton Society Journal...

ENID BLYTON SIGNED BOOK FIVE GET INTO TROUBLE 1968 VERY RARE

ENID BLYTON SIGNED BOOK FIVE GET INTO TROUBLE 1968 VERY RARE

Enid has dedicated the book to Julie

Julie has written her name down the outside pages of the book and behind the front cover

Signed in 1968 her last year

Great Blyton collectable

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ENID-BLYTON- ... SwjTlZff6v" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any comments on this one?

Very interesting! I would initially have shouted 'Fake!' straight away...and might still do so, lol - but the writing certainly looks like Enid's in a way - though I would be alerted by the fact she just wrote 'Enid' and not 'Enid Blyton'...but then again, would a forger just write 'Enid'? And maybe at that late date, this would be indeed how Enid would sign her book.

Great find, Pete!