CHAMPION AUTOGRAPH HUNTER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22743, 2 December 1935, Page 10

CHAMPION AUTOGRAPH HUNTER

Jack Dempsey, 2s Gd; Harry Roy, 6d; Lloyd George, £5 ss. This is not an extra,ct from the catalogue of an auction sale of celebrities. It is the value placed on the signatures of these famous people by a man who has spent 36 years collecting signatures from all parts of the world. He is Reginald Bray, known as “ The Autograph King.” Recently the adventures of Mr Reginald Hunt, of York, who has collected 10.000 signatures, were described in English papers. Mr Bray claims that his collection surpassed that of Mr Hunt. He has sent over 23,000 letters to famous people, and received more than 10,000 replies. Night after j night he spends writing letters to world-famous people. No famous person arrives in Britain without finding Mr Bray’s card on his doorstep.

No one can be “in the news ” long without getting a request for a signature from him. Hie “ den ” is surrounded with bulky volumes crammed full of signatures. Hie walls are decorated with scores of pictures and cards bearing famous signatures. And every post brings new captures. The collection is making mushroom-like growth. Mr Bray is trying to get Hitler’s signature. He has sent off eight requests to him. So far they have met with refusal. But he doesn’t give up. He has had 13,000 refusals since he started, and is used to them now! Mr Bray’s collection is believed to be one of the most valuable in the world.

■ Yet he confessed that it only cost him £125 for postage, stationery', and printing over the whole 36 years. “I- have never yet bought a signature,” said Mr Bray. He has adopted many clever ruses to obtain signatures. “ I wrote to Pope Pius X several times without getting a reply,” he said. “ Then I wrote to him in Latin,_ and he sent his signature back immediately.” This signature is one of Mr Bray’s most valued possessions. He approached Bernard Shaw and asked him for his autograph. Shaw has a printed slip he sends to autograph hunters, and Mr Bray received this. He didn’t apply again. He values Shaw’s signature at five guineas. Many celebrities would be shocked if they looked into a book kept by Mr Bray, in which he enters the value of signatures. He prices radio stars at 6d each. He is trying to get a complete collection of radio people. Ho is also seeking the signatures of all the people connected with the Abyssinian dispute. No celebrity_escapes the eagle eye of the autograph king. He reads the newspapers every day. and listens-in to the radio for news of them. As soon as anyone of importance is on his way to England. Mr Brav writes to them. His letter is awaiting the celebrity the moment he steps into his hotel. “ B'dng on the spot is the secret of success,” says Mr Brav. One of the most valuable sections of his collection is the military section. He has signatures of numbers of the famous people who held limb commands during the war—manv of whom ar° now dead—and some of these are rapidly gaining in, value. Mr Brav believes that in rears to come his collection will ho worth a fortune.