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Author
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Topic: Cosmonaut and Taikonaut Autographs Guide
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 08-19-2018 03:38 PM
   
Cosmonaut and Taikonaut Autographs: An Identification Guidebook 1961-2018
by John R. Mitchell Identification of Cosmonauts' and Chinese astronauts' autographs is very difficult to those of us who don't read their language. This guidebook is illustrated with examples of autographs to aide the collector in identifying these men and women who have flown in space. - Paperback: 90 pages
- Publisher: John R. Mitchell (August 8, 2018)
- ISBN-10: 0692165711
- ISBN-13: 978-0692165713
Sample pages courtesy the author: 
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Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 08-20-2018 10:29 AM
Are those covers signed in-person, through the Chinese government or space agency, or through a dealer? If it's the latter, especially a dealer in China, one can't be 100 percent (or close to 100 percent) sure. Enough Yang Liwei in-person exemplars exist, yet they vary widely that unless one really knows the person who got the in-person, most of them would be labeled suspect. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 08-28-2018 08:21 AM
As a collector of cosmonaut autographs, I ordered the book. I will review it when I receive my copy. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 09-05-2018 06:00 AM
I have been contact with John Mitchell, the author. He told me there were a few errors in the book he is going to correct. He is reprinting the book with the errors corrected. As far as my book review, I would highly recommend the book for any collector of cosmonaut autographs. |
Bob M
Member Posts: 1744
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 10-13-2018 09:12 AM
As a long-time collector of cosmonaut autographs I would greatly recommend this very well-done and useful guide book of cosmonaut and taikonaut autographs. This is an update of the long out-of-print and 25+ year old Datz cosmonaut autograph guide that was all our hobby had as a reference until Mr. Mitchell made his available.As far as the authentically of taikonaut autographs in this guide and elsewhere, I'm afraid that us poor collectors will have to be somewhat trusting and accepting of what is available from limited sources. It is believed that no one has received any taikonaut autographs via mail-in requests to the taikonauts. There have been two original sources of taikonaut autographs that I'm aware of and one is from Red China. So their provenance is limited or non-existent but many, including dealers who have distributed many of them, are satisfied that they are authentic but typically lack any solid provenance. Occasionally flown taikonauts will make appearances and in-person autographs are known of some and it would be beneficial and meaningful if those with examples of any in-person taikonaut autographs would compare them to examples found in Mr. Mitchell's guide and give their opinions here. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 10-14-2018 01:03 PM
The XXVI Planetary Congress poster has the signature of Liu Boming of Shenzhou 7, while the XXIII Planetary Congress has that of Fei Junlong of Shenzhou 6 and Yang Liwei of Shenzhou 5.I have not read the book, but I hope that at least these three examples were included as examples of ironclad genuine signatures. |
Bob M
Member Posts: 1744
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 10-15-2018 03:17 PM
I have John Mitchell's cosmonaut/taikonaut autograph guide book and I carefully compared the autograph examples of Boming, Junlong and Liwei in his guide with those in the Planetary Congress' posters and all were very close and very similar, especially Boming's and Junlong's.Mr. Mitchell's guide was not intended as a tool to determine authenticity of cosmonaut and taikonaut autographs, but as he states in his guide, they are presented mainly as examples and not necessarily for authentication purposes. Cosmonaut and taikonaut autographs typically give no or little hint as to who they were signed by and Mr. Mitchell's guide is intended to help identify who the signers of the autographs were. As a contributor to Mr. Mitchell's guide, I know that the autograph examples found in it came from many different sources, such as, thru the mail from Star City, various dealers and auctions and a few in person. So absolute authenticity of these many autographs in the guide can't be assured, but as stated, his guide is intended to show examples and not necessarily intended for authenticity purposes. It should be a very welcome and useful addition to the space collecting hobby. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-10-2019 05:49 PM
Editor's note: At the suggestion of a reader, this topic has been moved from the Publications forum to here, the Autographs forum. |
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