SS Book by Brigadefuhrer Friedrich Schmidt, marked and signed: Any info about this and authenticity?

[aechols83]

Hi, all. So I saw this book for sale and it is going for$30.00 USD. This book is from 1940, has an SS stamp and is, I think, about 80 pages . It says it was printed by the SS Norland publishing company. From the inside of the front cover it looks like the book was presented to SS adjutant Malloth who was at SS headquarters and written/signed by the author Brigadefuhrer Friedrich Schmidt. Does anayone have an opinion or further information on this book and this kind of item in general? I am curious as to how to judge the book's authenticity and value.

Thanks for the help!
-Adam

[Woske]

I might be mistaken, but it does not ring true to me. Not only does the handwriting look unnaturally erratic, but the dedication also appears somewhat "distant" for an officer to his adjutant. I don't like the rubber stamp either. Personally, I would avoid this.
Woske.

[hucks216]

I don't know anything about the book but the price of $30 should give you the biggest indicator that this is as Woske says. But, if the book itself is of interest to you then $30 doesn't sound so bad - but again, I don't kow anything about it although if you do a Google search you can find it available for free download.

[jock auld]

Mate,

What can you buy for 15 quid, if the book is period you have proffed, if the dedication is right then even better. From your photos, to my eye the book looks right. The dedication looks right and I think it is right, for that money who cares, if the book is interesting enough?

Treat yourself then do a bit more research when you have it in the hand, if it is a copy, then it cost more to copy than you payed?

Good luck,

Jock

[Woske]

Well, I wouldn't pay £20 (not £15) for a book you can pick up for next to nothing in a flea market and which has been ruined anyway by some twit writing in it to make it look something more valuable and failing miserably. Still, it's your money and it's up to you whose advice you take.
W.

[jock auld]

Well, I wouldn't pay £20 (not £15) for a book you can pick up for next to nothing in a flea market and which has been ruined anyway by some twit writing in it to make it look something more valuable and failing miserably. Still, it's your money and it's up to you whose advice you take.
W.

W,

I'm out of touch with the exchange rate, I'm sorry.
The book is ok and of the period.
I do a lot of fleamarkets though and I'm not tripping over these books.
I don't think someone has had a go at it or they would want more than that for it.
The dedication is a bit formal but so are Germans, even today but is in keeping with the gist of the book, and the stamp.
How much is a Harry potter book or any other top seller today, £20 is not the end of the world, I know cause I'm a tight twat.
I just think its worth a punt and if wrong not a great deal lost but a bit of fun to research.
One can always barter as well, try $20 or less?!

All the best.

Jock

[Woske]

W,

I do a lot of fleamarkets though and I'm not tripping over these books.
I don't think someone has had a go at it or they would want more than that for it.
The dedication is a bit formal but so are Germans, even today but is in keeping with the gist of the book, and the stamp.
I just think its worth a punt and if wrong not a great deal lost but a bit of fun to research.
One can always barter as well, try $20 or less?!

All the best.

Jock

Jock,
I understand what you are saying, but disagree with you on several points.
I've seen a lot of these books at fleamarkets and at the old militaria market in Islington, North London. They are plentiful and cheap.
I'm aware how formal Germans can be (I'm married to one!) and I have many relatives and friends in Germany. This dedication is not just "formal" as you put it, it is blunt and short, not something an officer would write to his adjutant. He hasn't even included the adjutant's rank or first name.
In addition to that, take a closer look at the handwriting. Slow and shaky, not flowing like ordinary natural handwriting. It appears drawn, rather than written....too laboured.
There would normally be a hyphen between SS and Hauptamt.
In this case the signature would not be just an initial and surname. He is more likely to write his rank and full name to his adjutant.
Finally, the ink stamp looks like a fantasy piece. In my opinion, a total fake.
In conclusion, this cost the forger nothing to produce and if real, it would have increased the value of a near worthless book quite considerably. It's not forged by an experienced forger; just a novice trying to make a few extra quid. I don't know how experienced you are on this type of thing, but this is my area of collecting and I think £20 wasted on this does not provide any satisfaction or any opportunity of fun researching it. It's a waste of £20.
Regards,
Woske.

[aechols83]

Thanks for all the feedback, opinions and debate guys. I ended up passing on this book. While interesting at first glance, Woske makes some keen observations and while I have no knowledge of the tone/formality of the dedication, I agree the handwriting and signature looks deliberate, rather than flowing as an original might.

Thanks for the counter-view, Jock. I agree it's not terrible to take a longer-shot chance and just pick this up since it's cheap. As a young collector, though, I think it's better I save my money for clearly authentic pieces that I like and will add to my little growing collection.

Thanks again, all!
-Adam

[jock auld]

Jock,
I understand what you are saying, but disagree with you on several points.
I've seen a lot of these books at fleamarkets and at the old militaria market in Islington, North London. They are plentiful and cheap.
I'm aware how formal Germans can be (I'm married to one!) and I have many relatives and friends in Germany. This dedication is not just "formal" as you put it, it is blunt and short, not something an officer would write to his adjutant. He hasn't even included the adjutant's rank or first name.
In addition to that, take a closer look at the handwriting. Slow and shaky, not flowing like ordinary natural handwriting. It appears drawn, rather than written....too laboured.
There would normally be a hyphen between SS and Hauptamt.
In this case the signature would not be just an initial and surname. He is more likely to write his rank and full name to his adjutant.
Finally, the ink stamp looks like a fantasy piece. In my opinion, a total fake.
In conclusion, this cost the forger nothing to produce and if real, it would have increased the value of a near worthless book quite considerably. It's not forged by an experienced forger; just a novice trying to make a few extra quid. I don't know how experienced you are on this type of thing, but this is my area of collecting and I think £20 wasted on this does not provide any satisfaction or any opportunity of fun researching it. It's a waste of £20.
Regards,
Woske.

Woske,

That is the problem with this hobby it is not black and white, a hyphen here or there on a hand written dedication?
As for slow and shaky, could he not just be a bad writer?
My staff writing was never up to much even with the old JSP and spell check, never mind if I was hand writing, even worse, short and sharp would be fine for me.
If you have a copy of it for sale I would be happy to buy it a £20 or (worth) less if that is the value you put on it.
As for the stamp, how many department variations must be out there for file copy, libary copy, property stamp, the stamp must have cost something to make?
Have you seen that stamp on other forgeries or has anyone else?
If so then that would shed a different light on it.
Lastly I would say it is always hard when you don't have it there to inspect closely?
I also collect the odd bit of paper and haven't done too bad.
If you are shopping in Islington I would be surpised to see anything with a swastika on it for less than £20 not even a day badge?

Regards

Jock

[Woske]

Jock,
I've been a Third Reich researcher and collecting this stuff for over 40 years. This is my specialist area in historical collecting and I've even covered it professionally.
This particular book is so common, it would not find space in my collection, so I'm sorry, I can't help you with a copy, but you'll easily find one in most good flea markets. BTW, I don't shop in Islington now (I think it might even have finished), but in the 1970s and 1980s there were some real bargains to be found. Towards the end, I just went to chat to some of the dealers and have a pint in the York, but even that stopped about five years ago.
If you were a specialist in this field, you would know that the simple omission of something like a hyphen all adds to the greater picture and helps build a final assessment. The omission in the title of a SS main office is bad German.
As for the stamp...well, I'll leave that to other experienced collectors to enlighten you.
To the experienced eye, this dedication and signature is an obvious forgery, but there'll always be people who will disagree and labour the point over a two-bit piece of nonsense. I'm not one of them.
I'm sorry, but I can see we'll just have to agree to disagree, but that's what these forums are all about isn't it.
All the best,
Woske.