Bob Dylan told fans Friday he’s sorry for limited edition copies of his latest book and certain “artwork prints” being sold with a replica, machine-generated signature rather than his own original autographs.
Dylan had signed copies of his $599 book The Philosophy of Modern Song with an autopen, prompting disgruntled buyers who were initially promised “hand signed” copies of the book to seek refunds from publisher Simon and Schuster, UPI reports.
“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 The Philosophy Of Modern Song. I’ve hand-signed each and every art print over the years, and there’s never been a problem,” Dylan said in a statement Friday.
Dylan blamed a “bad case of vertigo” in 2019 that continued through coronavirus pandemic for hindering his ability to personally sign books. He continued:
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.
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 autopen was suggested to me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’ in the art and literary worlds.
The 81-year-old singer/songwriter said he had “deepest regrets” for the “error in judgment” and that he wanted to rectify the situation immediately for his fans.
Simon and Schuster acknowledged the mistake on Wednesday and said the company would be offering each purchaser an immediate refund for selling items endorsed with a “penned replica form.”
A gallery that has specialized in selling Dylan art prints, the U.K.-based Castle Galleries, issued a statement of it own Saturday announcing it was “reaching out to each and every one of our collectors who purchased any print from the (pertinent) editions to offer a solution to fully rectify the matter.”
It’s believed galleries that sold the recent artwork will be announcing a plan to deal with the issue as soon as Monday.