An Inscription from Truman Capote to Harry Potter - What Is Real?
- by Michael Stillman
The Thanksgiving Visitor by Harry Potter's friend Truman Capote.
By Michael Stillman
A little while back, we reviewed the wonderful new autograph guide published by autograph dealer The Raab Collection (click here). Among the reams of information provided by Steven and Jonas Raab are guidelines to avoid fake or forged signatures. Within this area is a subset, the not fake but misleading signature. This is the authentic signature of someone who is not who you think he is (and probably, his autograph is worth a whole lot less).
Among examples provided by the Raabs is Winston Churchill. We all know the cigar-chomping bulldog of a prime minister who led Britain through its darkest yet finest hour. What you may not know is that in the 1800s, when this Winston was a young man, there was a better-known Winston Churchill. This Winston Churchill was an American writer, now long eclipsed in fame by his British namesake. An autograph signed by the American Winston Churchill is an authentic Winston Churchill signature. It's just not what you think it is (or nearly as valuable).
Other examples include descendants. Charles Dickens' son was also named Charles Dickens, and his signature was very similar to his father's. U.S. Grant's grandson was also a U.S. Grant, and he, too, had a signature similar to that of his famous forebearer. When you run into such signatures, you should check factors such as context, place, and most notably date. While there may be some overlapping, the chances are the people wrote letters during different times. Grant the third was not born until after his grandfather died, so a date will immediately distinguish these two.
All of this brings us to a curiosity AbeBooks recently came across on their website. It was a copy of Truman Capote's The Thanksgiving Visitor, inscribed by Capote to Harry Potter. Harry Potter? Can this be authentic? Evidently, it is. It is Capote's real signature. What about the recipient? We all know Harry Potter is a figment of J.K. Rowling's imagination. No amount of wizardry can make him real. Was Capote really gullible, or playing along with a joke? The answer is neither. A little chronological knowledge will solve this riddle, and save you from making a very embarrassing mistake. Capote died in 1984. The young wizard Potter was not "born" until 1997. Not only was Capote not inscribing the book to the Harry Potter we know, he would not even have been able to appreciate the irony in the inscription he was writing. You got the joke, but Truman did not.
As it turns out, the Harry Potter to whom Capote inscribed this book was a physician from New Jersey. Perhaps this Harry Potter conducted wizardry with a scalpel, but not with a broom. He may have received a degree from Harvard or Yale, but certainly not Hogwarts. If he made someone "disappear," that person can probably be found in Giants Stadium. We know nothing of the real Harry Potter save that he was real. This Harry gets to reside in the nonfiction aisle. And buyers, armed with a little knowledge, get to avoid confusing fiction with facts.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue, inscribed by the author pre-publication. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 11: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph sketchleaf including a probable draft for the E flat Piano Quartet, K.493, 1786. £150,000 to £200,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/00d5fd41-2542-4a80-b119-4886d4b9925f.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 11:</b> Darwin and Wallace. On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties..., [in:] <i>Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society,</i> Vol. III, No. 9., 1858, Darwin announces the theory of natural selection. £100,000 to £150,000.")
