Bob Dylan has a couple of excuses for why the books promoted as autographed by the folk-rock legend were signed by an auto-pen.
The 81-year-old singer-songwriter issued a rare public apology after fans found out that the $600 autographed books they purchased weren’t hand-signed at all.
“The Philosophy of Sound” was released on November 1 and included a letter that said, “You hold in your hands something very special, one of just 900 copies available in the U.S. This letter is confirmation that the copy of the book you hold in your hand has been hand-signed by Bob Dylan.”
Fans on social media discovered that their book signatures all looked identical, which led them to conclude they weren’t being produced by hand.
Now Dylan is explaining what happened and why. In a statement posted to his Facebook page, the musician explained that vertigo and the COVID pandemic were partially to blame.
“I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversy about signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited-edition of Philosophy Of Modern Song. I’ve hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there’s never been a problem,” Dylan shared in the statement.
“However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into the pandemic years. It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me to help enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workable way to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging,” he continued.
“So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. With contractual deadlines looming, the idea of using an auto-pen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds,” Dylan added.
“Using a machine was an error in judgment and I want to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to do just that.”
The publisher had already apologized to fans and offered a full refund to purchasers, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“To those who purchased the ‘Philosophy of Modern Song’ limited edition, we want to apologize,” Simon & Schuster announced in a statement on social media just after fans figured out the problem. “As it turns out, the limited edition books do contain Bob’s original signature, but in a penned replica form. We are addressing this immediately by providing each purchaser with an immediate refund.”