THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 2, 2015
4
PAGE 3
RILEY MORTENSEN/KANSAN
This is the book where University student Zach Hill found a handwritten letter from famous illustrator Norman Rockwell.
RILEY MORTENSEN/KANSAN
A University student found this Norman Rockwell signature inside a book in a Kansas City bookstore. The signature is worth an estimated $350 to $700.
LETTER FROM PAGE 1
dated March 23, 1960, read "Dear Mr. Mears: Thank you for your very interesting letter. I received a lot of amusement from it. Thank you very much. Sincerely yours, Norman Rockwell."
The letter was marked $50 and the book was $10. Hill said he was unsure of the signature's authenticity and went back and forth with the idea of buying it. He called his dad, a high school art teacher in the family's hometown of Sabetha, figuring he would have a pretty good opinion on it.
"He said go ahead and buy it," Hill said. "If it is authentic, that's a net gain on your part of at least $400. If it isn't then it's a net loss of 30 bucks, so $400 versus $30, which one sounds better to you?"
Hill said his father made a convincing argument, so he decided to buy the book and the letter. The next day, Hill contacted a few of the instructors in the design department asking for help authenticating the signature.
Associate Professor Richard Varney emailed Hill several samples of Rockwell's signature pointing out the similarities between them. There were subtle inconsistencies, Hill said, but there are also characteristics to each person's signature that make it uniquely their own.
"They're so consistent that if that is indeed a forged
signature, it is a pretty damn good one," Hill said.
With the help of his instructors and several art historians from the Spencer Museum, Hill concluded that the signature is more than likely authentic and, if sold, could fetch a price of anywhere from $350-700
"This one's just in really, really good condition overall," Hill said. "It's probably more along the lines of $700, but at least bare minimum $500 is what it could probably go for online to a collector."
After finding out how much the letter could be worth, Hill felt a little guilty that the bookstore had been cheated out of close to $650. But he had always admired the "Four Freedoms" artist, so his discovery meant much more to him than money.
"I can't tell you how many different projects I've done over the past couple of years where Rockwell has been the inspiration for it," Hill said.
As far as what's next, Hill said he's definitely going to keep the letter and book for now.
"It's one of those that I will never find another one ever," Hill said. "If I ever sell it or give it to someone I'll make sure that it's someone who will appreciate it and take care of it, but for now, I think I'll hold on to it."
Edited by Samantha Darling
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