Bob Dylan Apologizes for Using Autopen to Sign Books (original) (raw)

Bob Dylan has apologized for using an autopen to sign copies of his recently released book, The Philosophy of Modern Song. The 900 limited edition copies that were billed as being personally signed by Dylan )and included a letter of authenticity) were sold for $599. Fans began speculating online that the signature was created with an autopen, but at first, publisher Simon & Schuster denied it. The company later admitted that Dylan didn’t sign the books by hand.

“To those who purchased The Philosophy of Modern Song limited edition, we want to apologize,” Simon & Schuster said in a statement posted on Instagram. “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.”

In a rare statement released on his social media platforms on Friday, Dylan apologized to fans who bought the auto-signed books. The 81-year-old singer said that he has been suffering from vertigo since 2019 and “it continued into the pandemic years,” making it impossible for him to sign the books himself.

“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 said. “So, during the pandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help.”